“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
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
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
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
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.
2017 is an election year, and right before the election, we have this spectacle called political party nominations. It usually looks (to outsiders like me) like a trainwreck – messy and destructive. I’ve seen pictures of all manner of campaign tactics – there’s an MP aspirant for Bureti called Kibet Komingoi who has his face and hopeful title on a packet of salt and a bag of sugar.
Why are party nominations important? We all know that certain parties are more popular in certain regions because of the tribal nature of our politics, and the fact that political parties here … Read More
Though widely thought to be taken from the Hippocratic Oath, the phrase as we know it does not appear in the historic document. The Oath instead says “I will utterly reject harm and mischief.” However, this phrase remains a key guideline for medical professionals – when faced with a problem, it is better to do nothing than to cause more harm than good. When acting, or failing to act, we must consider the possible harm of our actions or lack thereof. We must weigh the inherent costs against the benefits, of which many times we are not certain.
This principle … 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
I remember sitting my Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams vividly, mostly because it was a period I wanted to be over and done with as fast as possible. My first paper was English (Paper 1), and my exams went on for almost three weeks. I sat my final paper, Business Studies (Paper 2) on a midweek morning in mid-November, after which I debated on whether to promptly go and start an academic bonfire, or just pick up my things in peace and wait to be taken home. I went with the latter. What followed was a tense two … Read More
I hope this finds you in good health. It has been a while since I addressed you directly, but I have been busy with work, and life, you know how these things are.
I saw you in the news recently, looking visibly frustrated and complaining about corruption, as you like to do. I must say, you have really nailed the act. Well done. The delivery was quite sympathetic, and for a moment there, I almost fell for it. Allow me to quote you for reference.
“As president, if there is one issue that has frustrated me, it is … Read More