Vol 60 No 19 | KENYA Bridge of sighs 27th September 2019 A bid to build alliances across the country’s ethnic divides owes more to political ambition than to altruism Due for release in early October, the wide-ranging report of the Building Bridges Initiative looks likely to deepen political conflict despite its lofty aims of lessening ethnic an... READ FOR FREE
Vol 60 No 18 | KENYA Spending on the hoof 13th September 2019 President Kenyatta wants to buy his way to a legacy. Sceptics say the economic outlook does not support this largesse On an impromptu stop at a function at Mwangoni Primary School in Kwale County on the south coast on 8 September, President Uhuru Kenyatta made an instant personal donation of 1 mil...
Vol 60 No 18 | KENYASOMALIA Jubaland row heats up oil tiff 13th September 2019 Tensions between Kenya and Somalia are rising fast over a dispute about politics and money in a Somali province Separate but inter-related arguments over elections in Jubaland and offshore oil blocks claimed by both Kenya and Somalia appear to be coming to a head in the wake of the May appoi...
Vol 60 No 15 | KENYA A killing joke 26th July 2019 A fake letter detailing an assassination plot against the Deputy President has widened the fault lines within the ruling elite The political drama sparked by a fake letter claiming that several cabinet ministers from President Uhuru Kenyatta's Mount Kenya homeland had been plotting to kill Deputy President...
Vol 60 No 15 | KENYA Spinner caught in web 26th July 2019 In the months leading up to the August 2017 polls in Kenya, rumours flew that data-mining consultancy Cambridge Analytica, then at the height of its notoriety, had been hired by Pr...
Vol 60 No 14 | KENYA Roads, rails, pots and kettles 12th July 2019 Westerners are fuelling fears about the government’s appetite for Chinese loans. But their funding models are not that different According to some of the opinion columns in its newspapers, Kenya is currently on a reckless borrowing spree in which the country has mortgaged some of its key assets – notably Mom...
Vol 60 No 13 | KENYA 'Rot' in the Commission 28th June 2019 A parliamentary probe into the management of the 2017 elections found serial irregularities and recommends possible criminal charges When, in April, the Kenyan parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) delivered its report on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission's performance during the 2017 el...
Vol 60 No 9 | KENYA Belt, road and pork barrel 3rd May 2019 The President heads into uncharted territory in dealings with China but also with opponents and allies at home While the leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Mozambique brought their official staff to China's recent Belt and Road Forum last week, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta also br...
Vol 60 No 8 | KENYA Big data state 19th April 2019 A new compulsory identity card raises questions about privacy, the succession and the President’s business friends Although overshadowed by President Uhuru Kenyatta's annual State of the Nation address on 4 April, the political establishment came together in a rare episode of bipartisanship to ...
Vol 60 No 3 | KENYA The President's anger 8th February 2019 Kenyatta’s frustration with the slowness of change is visible as he looks to his legacy and Ruto ponders the next election For a leader who has tamed the political ambitions of the main opposition party and brought it to support his government's national unity and development agenda, President Uhuru Ke...
