Essays, Gender, Politics, Socio-cultural

The F-word: The Place of Feminism In Contemporary Kenya

Brenda Wambui

This is a transcript of a talk I gave at the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) on the topic “The F-Word”: What is the Place of Feminism in Contemporary Kenya?

“Patriarchy, in many ways, is the primary form of oppression. Its victims comprise half of the world (there are 102 men for every 100 women on the planet) and it transcends all other forms of discrimination – be it on race, religion, education, social class or sexuality. It is pervasive – transcending time, all social strata and affecting all societies. It is the most universal form of oppression.”

All … Read More

Economy, Environment, Essays, governance

Kenya’s Ban On Plastic Bags

Brenda Wambui

After three previous unsuccessful attempts to ban the use, sale, manufacture and import of plastic bags in 2005, 2007 and 2011, we finally managed to do it on 28th August 2017 when the ban came into effect. It was gazetted by the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Professor Judy Wakhungu, on 28th February 2017 and Kenyans were given a six month grace period to prepare themselves for lives free of plastic bags.

The ban is with good reason: plastic bags take between 500 to 1,000 years to break down, and are a major contributor to the 8 million tonnes … Read More

Essays, governance, Politics

Now More Than Ever, Your Vote Counts

Brenda Wambui

“On Sunday the 30th July, 2017 a missing person report was made at Embakassi Police Station at 08:00 hours by one Eva Buyu under OB No 15 of 30th July 2017 that her husband Christopher Musando, who was the Deputy Director of ICT at IEBC, had not returned home since Friday, 28th July, 2017. Today 31st July 2017, following police investigations the body of the late Christopher Musando was identified at City Mortuary by the family, having been found on the 29th July 2017 within Kerwa location in Kiambu County by the police and brought … Read More

Essays, governance, Politics

Why Are Kenyan Elections So Expensive?

Brenda Wambui

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has placed the cost of the upcoming general election on 8th August 2017 at KES 49,981,666,599 (quoted as KES 49.9 billion in the rest of the essay). We have 19,611,423 registered voters, bringing the average cost per voter to KES 2,396 (USD 23.05). Considering that not all registered voters turn up to vote, this figure may even be USD 30 or more after the election. This makes the 2017 general election Kenya’s most expensive election. It also makes Kenya’s election one of the most expensive in the world when the cost-per-eligible-voter metric … Read More

Economy, Essays, governance, Politics

Why Do You Pay Tax?

Brenda Wambui

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) deadline for filing individual tax returns came and went on the 30th of June 2017, and with it came much whingeing and wringing of hands by Kenyans, both online and on mainstream media. It was understandable, because this time, the penalty for non-compliance was KES 20,000, twenty times what it was in 2016.

There were ads everywhere reminding us that kulipa ushuru ni kujitegemea (paying tax makes us self-sustaining), and this time, the KRA went a step further and decided to shame us into filing returns on time. One particular image stood out for … Read More

Economy, Environment, Essays, Politics

What We Learn From Building Collapses in Kenya

Brenda Wambui

On the night of Monday, 12th June 2017, a seven storey building collapsed in Kware Pipeline in Embakasi. This building had been condemned by the National Construction Authority (NCA), and marked with an X on the outside to indicate this. The tenants in the building had been warned of its collapse, and most of them had evacuated it. They did so after cracks opened up in its walls and it was visible that the building would not survive much longer. However, they said “two to ten or more people were missing” having refused to leave the building when they … Read More

Essays, governance, Politics

An Overview of the 2017 General Election

Brenda Wambui

We have 62 more days before our election on August 8th 2017. We are in the middle of campaign season, which started on 28th May and is set to end on 5th August 2017. It’s a great time to discuss the players in this election.

Kenya is always in-between elections. Unless something changes, the next five years will probably go like this: This year, we’ll have the election. In 2018 we’ll have jostling for positions, appointments to institutions and victory tours/homecoming parties. In 2019 we’ll have a major scandal unearthed since the winning guys will want to … Read More

Economy, Essays, governance, Politics

Kenya and Its Maize Scandals

Brenda Wambui

Kenya may be in the middle of yet another maize scandal. How did we get here?

We are still experiencing food inflation, and part of the reason for this is the drought we’ve had since 2016. We have a scarcity of sugar, and a 2kg packet is currently retailing for KES 400, up from KES 250 in late 2016. More importantly, up until May 17th 2017, a 2 kg packet of maize meal was retailing for KES 150 to 200, up from around KES 90 in late 2016.

The price of maize meal has been blamed on two … Read More

Africa, Economy, Essays, Politics, Socio-cultural

The Babylon System

Brenda Wambui

We refuse to be what you wanted us to be

We are what we are

That’s the way it’s going to be.

You don’t know

You can’t educate I for no equal opportunity:

Talking ’bout my freedom, people freedom and liberty

Yeah, we’ve been trodding on the winepress much too long

Rebel, rebel!

Yes, we’ve been trodding on the winepress much too long:

Rebel, rebel!

Babylon system is the vampire,

Sucking’ the children day by day,

Me say de Babylon system is the vampire, falling empire,

Sucking’ the blood of the sufferers,

Building church and university,

Deceiving the people continually,… Read More

Arts, Essays, governance, Socio-cultural

On Censorship

Brenda Wambui

Ezekiel Mutua’s recent attempt at seeking relevance involved an attempt at regulating social media. Something that social media sites like Twitter and Facebook themselves struggle with, he believes he can do with ease. The Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) CEO wants to stop people from people from using fake names on social media, saying:

To deal with the spectre of fake news, we are proposing a law that will bar people from using fake or pseudo names. If you are not into any mischief why do you want to have a fake facebook account? If you must give your true … Read More