The outspoken chief budget auditor has been arrested in politically convenient circumstances
The arrest of Margaret Nyakang'o, the widely respected head of Kenya's budget watchdog, on what appear to be trumped up fraud charges, has prompted concerns about the scale...
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Kenya names first batch of state companies up for sale as part of plan to prioritise debt repayment but has increased reliance on IMF and World Bank
Kenya's Treasury has published a list of 11 state companies that are up for sale to private investors but the market is likely to be underwhelmed by the...
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Vol 64 No 23 |
- KENYA
- HAITI
Plans to deploy personnel to tackle gang violence in Haiti have been held up in the courts and by a lack of funding for training
The mission in which 1,000 Kenyan police officers would lead a UN multinational deployment in Haiti appear are being held up by disputes over funding and training, ministers...
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Kenyans are bracing themselves for at least two years of fiscal austerity as William Ruto's government prioritises its Eurobond repayments. And the pain just keeps coming.
The government aims to raise quick cash from privatising state assets but opposition is mounting
The radical plans to purge the political elite and its economic projects after William Ruto's presidential election victory last year are running out of steam. In some places...
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In Kenya this week, the British monarch will try to strengthen ties with a key partner and acknowledge past wrongs as calls grow for a reckoning for European colonialism
Britain's colonial legacy and human rights abuses hang over the four-day visit by King Charles to Kenya this week. The visit is the first by the King to...
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Musalia Mudavadi is the main winner as technocrats gain ground and some political jobbers are moved sideways
Loyalty over talent was a common criticism when President William Ruto unveiled his ministerial team last September. Co-opting former rivals and rewarding those who backed his presidential campaign...
A new cross-party committee will strengthen ambitious politicians and steer clear of the cost-of-living crisis
The prospect of a political deal between President William Ruto and opposition Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga is unsettling some of their followers and allies who fear...
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The government wants to revive commercial deals on state assets to raise more revenue to pay off debts
President William Ruto's government has revived a plan to concession sections of Lamu, Kisumu and Mombasa ports in a bid to raise up to US$10 billion from private...
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William Ruto advances his own, and Kenya's interests, but fails to pull in much climate finance from industrial economies
Having spent much of the first year of his presidency staking out the ground as one of Africa's leading voices on climate change and energy policy, Kenya's William...
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Just 15 out of 54 African leaders are due to attend the critical climate summit in Nairobi on 4-8 September
The UN and the Kenya government have promised that a string of multi-million-dollar green investment deals will be signed at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi which starts...
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The terms of a new defence treaty between London and Nairobi are about to be tested in public
Relations between London and Nairobi are likely to be strained by a parliamentary inquiry to assess accusations of human rights abuse by British soldiers based in northern Kenya...
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The President has frozen gasoline prices as he tries to balance revenue-saving commitments to the IMF against protests over the cost of living
President William Ruto has executed a small but significant U-turn by unpicking plans to increase the cost of fuel. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced on...
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Vol 64 No 17 |
- KENYA
- SOMALIA
Border row between Mogadishu and Nairobi opens up as regional mission against Al Shabaab prepares to quit Somalia
Somalia's dismissal of Kenya's call mediation over a long-running maritime dispute, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decided in Somalia's favour in October 2021, could undermine wider...
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Vol 64 No 16 |
- KENYA
- HAITI
Kenya's offer to send 1,000 police to help train and assist the Haitian National Police in the Caribbean state's battle against criminal gangs has been warmly welcomed by...
Bolstered by another billion from the IMF, President Ruto reckons he can face down a militant but uncoordinated opposition
Austerity economics and street protests are dominating William Ruto's first term in the presidency after he rejected restructuring Kenya's debts in favour of two years of fiscal belt-tightening....
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Some of those who voted for William Ruto report buyers' remorse as economic conditions worsen
Kenyans are bracing themselves for two years of budgetary austerity but the scale of the hit to payslips will be delayed after the Supreme Court blocked the Finance...
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With economic woes at home, President Ruto is pitching himself as a foreign policy player – from climate finance to reform of the African Union
Few expected William Ruto to devote much time to foreign policy when he claimed the presidency after narrowly defeating Raila Odinga in last August's elections. After running an...
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Vol 64 No 14 |
- KENYA
- FRANCE
Kenya's President wins starring role after he leads regional demands to transform international financial system
Frustrated by the lack of progress on debt relief schemes and the launch of a UN-managed tax to compensate countries for 'loss and damage' caused by climate change,...
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Member states will have to cede more powers to the continental organisation argues Kenya's president
After nine months in power, Kenya's President William Ruto has not appeared shy about wielding executive power. So, he has surprised his counterparts with a call to reform...
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The government says its new plan will help home buyers but it risks hurting low and middle-income workers
Pressure is piling on President William Ruto's government over planned tax rises in the Finance Bill due next week that has prompted the country's public service trade unions...
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Kenyatta's botched exit from politics has triggered new fissures in the opposition camp
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta had appeared intent on retiring from politics. Instead, he wants to stay on as leader of the rump Jubilee party following a chaotic week...
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Raising taxes and paying down the debt, the President wants to stabilise the economy before the next election
As a candidate ahead of last August's presidential elections, William Ruto opposed a housing levy and new fuel taxes. Eight months after winning, President Ruto has introduced both...
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Facing financial woes, President Ruto has brought back a front-rank orthodox economist to run the central bank
Former Treasury technocrat Kamau Thugge's rehabilitation looks complete after President William Ruto nominated him to replace the retiring Patrick Njoroge as governor of Kenya's central bank.
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Cronyism is nothing new in Kenyan politics and the latest move to raise eyebrows was President William Ruto's decision this week to nominate Mary Chebukati Wanyonyi, wife of...
The opposition leader has got the talks he demanded but that may not keep his supporters off the streets
After weeks of insisting that there would be no compromise and no 'handshake'-style deal with veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, President William Ruto followed his two immediate predecessors...
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Europe's biggest economy is getting more serious about Africa ahead of its hosting of a finance summit with France
During his three-country tour of East Africa on 4 May, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz became the latest European leader to give its support for a permanent African Union's...
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The discovery last month of mass graves bearing the bodies of more than 130 people near the popular tourist town of Malindi has shocked Kenyans. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul...
Public sector wages arrears have exposed the scale of the government's debt burden and revenue problems
The failure to pay the March wages of civil servants, teachers and politicians has blown a hole in the economic management record of President William Ruto's government after...
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Financial pressures are mounting on President William Ruto's government but his chief economic advisor rules out debt restructuring
The Treasury in Nairobi says that it is expecting some $1.9 billion in emergency funding from the World Bank, the IMF and a consortium of foreign commercial banks...
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The leak of a caustic aside by the deputy head of the UN triggers a diplomatic furore
Of the over 500-gigabyte cache of classified defence documents in the so-called Pentagon leaks, a conversation between UN Secretary-General António Guterres and his deputy Amina Mohamed, a former...
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President Ruto has agreed to bipartisan talks about the electoral commission but rejects all the other opposition demands
After winning a commitment by President William Ruto to debate reform of the electoral commission in parliament, opposition leader Raila Odinga is demanding that the talks should include...
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Kenya expects to complete a trade deal with the United States by the end of this year, the first bilateral pact inked by President Joe Biden's administration, say...
The Mombasa-Nairobi trains are full, but repaying the debts on the loss-making railway is stretching the state treasury
Many see the new Standard Gauge Railway from the capital to the coast as a disaster for public finances but that has not stopped Kenyans from enthusiastically using...
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Offering deals and political jobs, the ruling party is getting key opposition politicians to defect
President William Ruto continues to win over supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga in his traditional strongholds in Nyanza. The President recently gained the support of eight national...
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The opposition's threat of weekly protests and business shutdowns could force Ruto to make concessions
Heavyhanded policing saw initially peaceful demonstrations descend into running battles in Nairobi and Kisumu between activists and police as opposition leader Raila Odinga's had promised to mobilise his...
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Borrowing from Daniel arap Moi's playbook, President Ruto's allies plan to turn his coalition into a single, dominant party
After painstakingly building an alliance of mainly small parties to carry him to power last year, President William Ruto is determined to subsume them all into his victorious...
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Battle over Chinese retailer in Nairobi and mounting debts could ratchet up tensions between Beijing-Nairobi
Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria's brash response to protests of unfair competition by a retail store in Nairobi is threatening a diplomatic spat between the country and China....
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Signs that President Ruto was behind opposition leader's departure from African Union post
Opposition leader Raila Odinga's exit from his role as the African Union Commission (AUC) envoy for infrastructure development in Africa has fired up debate over whether he jumped...
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Claims by Israeli contractors to have manipulated elections could have swayed votes in Kenya
The tepid reaction of Kenya's political class to an investigation detailing how Israeli national Tal Hanan's group of disinformation experts (known as Team Jorge) were hired to manipulate...
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Scores are being settled as the new president orders probes of his predecessor's aides
A late night police raid at the home of Fred Matiang'i former Cabinet Secretary in the Interior Ministry, on 8 Feburary is the latest and highest profile case...
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As a tribunal hears claims of fraud in the electoral commission, President Ruto and Raila Odinga accuse each other’s supporters of treason
As President William Ruto's government tries to fast-track the selection of new commissioners to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), it has been exchanging allegations with its...
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Vol 64 No 2 |
- KENYA
- TANZANIA
Making gradual reform moves at home, President Samia Suluhu Hassan has moved faster to mend fences in the region and boost her country's GDP growth
Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan's regional diplomacy is gradually resolving longrunning tit-for-tat trade disputes in the region in the first few months of her tenure, the president visited...
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Six months after its defeat in national elections, the Azimio coalition hasn't agreed on strategy or a new leader
The news that former president Uhuru Kenyatta will step down in February as the chair of the opposition Azimio la Umoja coalition has prompted fresh speculation that the...
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The new President has quickly established political dominance at home as the direction of his government takes shape
Having secured, however fleetingly, full-spectrum dominance over the domestic political scene, and with the debt crisis in remission after the International Monetary Fund injected an additional $550 million...
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Nairobi is racing to find buyers to bail out the state airline, formerly the pride of the region
President William Ruto made little secret of the object of his affections ahead of the 13-16 December African leaders' summit hosted by United States President Joe Biden; US...
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