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$1.7 billion of health assistance announced as replacement for USAID funding
Kenya will get US$1.7 billion of United States funding in the first of a series of bilateral health spending pacts that will replace assistance from the United States...
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The president’s party and its allies won most of the seats on ‘Super Thursday’ – yet numbers show a coalition fraying at the edges
President William Ruto and his semi-official allies in the late Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) enjoyed a bumper by-election day on 27 November, winning 16 of the...
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No agreements reached after latest IMF staff missions
Kenya and Senegal both continue to experience slow progress towards agreeing new lending arrangements with the International Monetary Fund.
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At the Environment and Land Court in Nairobi on 13 November, justices began hearing a landmark lawsuit seeking to ban multinational manufacturers and local distributors from placing toxic...
While the Orange Democratic Movement works out its future, President Ruto is shoring up his support in its heartlands
The death of Raila Amolo Odinga has left Nairobi’s political class with a compelling question: how much longer before his Orange Democratic Movement splits? At stake is a...
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The act hands the state sweeping online censorship and surveillance powers
Veteran oppositionist Raila Omolo Odinga’s death appears to have offered President William Samoei Ruto an opportunity to bury bad news. Hours before the opposition leader’s passing was...
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A generational battle to decide who succeeds the veteran leader may also seal the fate of President William Ruto’s government
Until the death of Raila Amolo Odinga from a heart attack on 15 October, President William Samoei Ruto’s path to re-election in August 2027 had seemed clear: having...
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Unable to keep the streets clean, Johnson Sakaja is the latest victim of the Nairobi governor curse
In a country where the power of incumbency is so strong, it is a striking anomaly that no Nairobi governor has secured a second term since devolution became...
Millions mourn a man who lost five presidential elections but changed the country, campaigning for political freedoms and constitutional reform
Raila Amolo Odinga, whose activism helped launch multi-party politics in Kenya and reformed the constitution after winning a national referendum, died on 15 October following a heart attack...
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Heavy-handed approach to policing state funeral may increase pressure on Ruto’s coalition
Two mourners died in a stampede at Raila Odinga’s state funeral on 17 October, a day after three were killed when police opened fire and used tear gas...
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The trials of over 50 activists charged with treason for offences linked to the 25 June protests against police killings and the 7 July Saba Saba (‘Seven Seven’)...
Many see the constitutional reform bill as a means for leaders to carve out new jobs and entrench their political control
Few events contributed more to William Ruto’s presidential victory in August 2022 than the collapse of the Building Bridges Initiative that April. The product of a 2018 handshake...
The relocation of several United Nations agencies – including UN Women, the UN Children’s Fund and the UN Population Fund – to Nairobi, as part of the UN80...
As dissent mounts, the government is counting on loans, interest rate cuts and a stalled privatisation programme to ease its debt woes
To ease the cashflow crisis that triggered mass protests and weakened the shilling – as the Treasury used precious dollars to pay its Eurobond debts – President William...
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Kenyan delegation expected to visit Washington soon to discuss trade deal
Kenya has signalled its intentions to kickstart talks with United States President Donald Trump’s administration on a trade deal by signing a US$2.1 million contract with Washington DC-based...
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An ODM top official is threatening to quit – as party grandees jostle for influence in Ruto’s second term, unity is on borrowed time
The price of propping up an unpopular president is rising for veteran opposition figure and kingmaker Raila Odinga. He still wants to chart a course that preserves his...
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Party challenge to Odinga potentially harms Ruto’s 2027 re-election bid
Orange Democratic Movement General Secretary Edwin Sifuna has stepped up his attacks on the deal between his party leader Raila Odinga and President William Ruto. Sifuna says that...
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Vol 66 No 16 |
- KENYA
- UGANDA
The path towards a revamped passenger and freight rail link between Kenya and Uganda has become clearer, after the London Court of International Arbitration dismissed a US$2 billion...
The president’s pledge to end elite capture and patronage has been dropped for the ethnic identity politics which dominated the old one-party state
President William Ruto’s falling out with his core Mount Kenya constituency – followed by the impeachment of his former deputy, Rigathi Gachagua – has become the defining crisis...
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Former Chief Justice Maraga and veteran politician Musyoka are top contenders to lead the campaign against beleaguered President Ruto
With personal ratings stuck between 10 and 15%, few dispute that President William Ruto is toxically unpopular – especially among young Kenyans. Yet most expect him to be...
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New chair with links to President Ruto may face battle over voter registration
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) finally has new leadership following more than two years of inertia after a court in Nairobi ruled against a petition challenging...
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Vol 66 No 14 |
- KENYA
- BRITAIN
The oil companies arrived with pledges of roads, schools and clean water. Instead there has been negligible production but lots of environmental damage
More than 15 years have passed since British-based Tullow Oil came to the remote plains of northern Kenya, raising expectations of transformation. Once oil was confirmed, it was...
With police barricading every available route into Nairobi’s central business district and effectively suspending business activity across the country, the hotspots of protests marking the 35th anniversary of...
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Police moves to arrest an officer for human rights abuses shows government nervousness in face of popular anger
The murder of Albert Ojwang, a teacher and blogger, and attempts by the police to cover it up, have brought Kenyans back to the streets. On 12 June,...
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Founded by the Vodafone team behind M-Pesa, M-Kopa has seen similar commercial success and political backing. At a 2015 entrepreneurship summit with President Barack Obama, then-President Uhuru Kenyatta...
Vol 66 No 12 |
- KENYA
- TRIBUTE
A champion of African literature and the rejection of colonial languages as a means to convey it, Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o, who died on 28 May, was often...
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Vol 66 No 11 |
- KENYA
- TANZANIA
Boniface Mwangi was held for four days before being dumped at the border
The detention and torture of Boniface Mwangi, one of Kenya’s most prominent civil society activists, is the latest move by President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s increasingly authoritarian government. Hassan...
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The launch of Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) marks the latest challenge to President William Ruto’s standing in central Kenya, a region where he claimed...
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Treasury seeks revenue via heavier enforcement and digital surveillance as protestors hold fire
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has ruled out any new tax rises in his budget plan for 2025/26, arguing that greater efficiency in revenue collection will be sufficient.
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Officials from President William Ruto’s government have vainly tried to intimidate journalists and activists as they attempt to control the fallout from a BBC Africa Eye documentary Blood...
Kenya’s embattled president calculates that being nice to Donald Trump can only get you so far – his meeting with Xi Jinping may have netted billions
For a cash-strapped government and a deeply unpopular president, William Ruto’s five-day trip to China could hardly have gone better. He returned with the promise of new investment...
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After multiple setbacks President Ruto can celebrate some economic boosts during his trip to China
Kenya will overtake Ethiopia as East Africa’s largest economy this year, the IMF has said. Kenya’s gross domestic product will be US$132 billion in 2025, compared to Ethiopia’s...
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Government looks to China and the UAE for funding as growth and revenues fall short and it bets on a pre-election spending boom
At the heart of President William Ruto’s calculus ahead of his re-election bid in 2027 is a bet that Kenya’s economy will have recovered enough to allow him...
Vol 66 No 7 |
- KENYA
- WHO'S WHO
Edwin Sifuna, Secretary-General of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Senator for Nairobi County, has cut a frustrated figure during the political manoeuvring that followed last June’s...
A pact with his erstwhile foe may be the President’s best chance of winning the 2027 elections
The great survivor of Kenyan politics, Raila Odinga, has an uncanny ability to turn every electoral defeat into a strategic victory. His failure to secure the position of...
Running the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has been a poisoned chalice for those in the hot seat, but that did not stop a flood of applications that...
As its ties strengthen with the United Arab Emirates, President Ruto’s government is helping Sudan’s RSF militia
Kenyan diplomats and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) under General Abdel Fattah al Burhan have waded into a new diplomatic row over plans by his rival General Mohamed...
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Almost 40,000 people working on HIV-AIDS prevention have been put on unpaid leave and free drugs treatment stopped
The follow-on effects of the United States’ foreign aid freeze are set to include patients with HIV/AIDs and tuberculosis in Kenya. Those patients will now have to pay...
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Rarely do rival politicians celebrate new competition. Yet the launch of the People’s Liberation Party (PLP), the new party led by Martha Karua – Raila Odinga’s running mate...
The country’s leading media group faces financial struggles and competition from social platforms, while foreign outlets expand in Nairobi
A highly competitive and – by the region’s standards – vibrant media culture is among the legacies of Nation Media Group (NMG) founder and owner, Prince Shah Karim...
Kenya’s hopes of chairing the AU were thwarted – a blow to its candidate and to President Ruto’s prospects of re-election in 2027
In the end, African leaders chose the diplomat over the politician. Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf held off veteran Kenyan presidential candidate and dealmaker Raila Odinga to...
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Mbadi has managed to reintroduce revenue measures from the Finance Bill without reigniting street activism but more than half of the expected gains have been lost
Treasury ministers are paving the way to take on more debt in the coming months, starting with a US$1.5 billion supplementary budget to make up for missed tax...
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Despite assurances, the Kenya-led operation faces uncertainty due to funding issues and the need for UN support
The long-term status of the Kenya-led police mission to combat gang warfare in Haiti remains under threat, despite President William Ruto and United States Secretary of State Marco...
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The coalition building ahead of 2027 may be shaped by Raila Odinga’s fate in the AU elections in Addis Ababa in mid-February
The coalitions that will contest Kenya’s general elections in August 2027 are rapidly taking shape. For President William Ruto, the first step involves integrating the Amani National Congress...
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The President seeks to bolster the economy through new loans and trade deals with the UAE, while navigating diplomatic pressures and shifting alliances
President William Ruto has pinned his government’s economic hopes on new loans and trade with the United Arab Emirates, as he seeks alternatives to Chinese financing.
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Vol 66 No 2 |
- KENYA
- TANZANIA
The abduction of a Tanzanian campaigner, assaulted by unknown assailants in Nairobi, reinforces concerns about a spate of extraordinary renditions
The kidnapping and subsequent release hours later of the Tanzanian political activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai in Nairobi is the latest in a chilling series of abductions involving the...
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Six months after the Gen Z protests forced him to sack his cabinet and drop a finance bill, the President wants to befriend old rivals
After a year of turmoil when he appeared to be in office but not in power, President William Ruto wants to focus on building a new coalition to...
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Security agents are linked to wave of repression after national protests against tax hikes in the middle of the year
President William Ruto is under mounting pressure to halt a wave of abductions, mainly of youth activists since the nationwide Gen Z protests in June, which are widely...
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Vol 66 No 1 |
- KENYA
- UGANDA
The Uganda Law Council’s ruling to deny a Kenyan lawyer a certificate to represent opposition leader Kizza Besigye raises concerns about political interference
The Uganda Law Council’s decision to withhold a special temporary certificate for National Rainbow Coalition–Kenya (NARC-Kenya) leader Martha Karua to practise law in Uganda, preventing her from defending...
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