Facebook has recently found itself in hot water after a whistle-blower came out to talk about how Cambridge Analytica, a firm associated with both Uhuru Kenyatta’s and Donald Trump’s elections, mined the data of about 50 million users of the platform and used it to target them with often divisive political messaging. This is far greater than the initial estimate made in 2017 of 30 million accounts. This cannot be considered a breach of data, as they did it using the tools that Facebook gives third party developers access to, but a breach of users’ trust on Facebook’s … Read More
Like many other Kenyans, I find myself constantly wondering about the hold our political class has on us, and why they continue to hoodwink and oppress us with impunity and consistency. We have analyzed our systems, institutions and approach to governance for close to four years on this website – yet somehow I still find myself coming back to this.
I was walking in downtown Nairobi this past week, and saw a game of karata (three card monte) near a bus stop. The game usually works like this: you are probably walking by when you see a man being told … Read More
We have been treated to weeks of intrigue following Kenya’s failed campaign for its current foreign affairs cabinet secretary, Amina Mohammed, to become the next chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC). The AUC is the executive arm of the African Union (AU). The election was instead won by Chad’s foreign minister, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
Our response this loss has been anything but diplomatic, with Aden Duale, who is the National Assembly majority leader, blaming Kofi Annan, a former United Nations (UN) Secretary General for manipulating the elections, and Amina Mohammed, the failed candidate, said that we should investigate… Read More
In the aftermath of the 2007 general election that ended in violence and the death of over 1,000 Kenyans, we decided “never again” and set up the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), to promote ethnic harmony and investigate complaints of ethnic or racial discrimination or any issue affecting ethnic and racial relations. The National Cohesion and Integration Act (2008), which sets up the commission, in Section 13 criminalizes the use of hate speech and stops the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour in any medium if they are intended to spur ethnic hatred.
We would therefore … Read More