How Kenyan MPs’ lavish lifestyle set off a revolution by ‘social media tribe’ that consumed parliament, forced president to fire cabinet
In April and May during the build-up to the protests, ruling party MP Zaheer Jhanda posted videos of himself on TikTok admiring his gleaming Range Rover, a Mercedes G Wagon and a Lexus, triggering angry online commentary.
Protesters have since tried to storm his home, southwest of the capital Nairobi, in Kisii town. Jhanda did not respond to requests for comment.
‘You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, revolutionary Gen-Z are ready to storm State House and uproot Kenya’s corrupt president’
The opposition, meanwhile, has been surprised by its newfound irrelevance. Like the 19th century French politician Alexandre Ledru-Rollin, who during the French revolution is said to have declared, “There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader”, opposition leaders are belatedly rushing to hitch their wagon to the movement. How far their light has dimmed is illustrated by contrasting today’s movement with their attempt last year to capitalise on popular discontent over tax hikes, which failed to generate much lasting political pressure.
How Rwanda’s pluralist democracy pits ‘Kagame against Kagame’ in upcoming presidential poll
Paul Kagame, 66, took power as the leader of rebels who took control of Rwanda’s government and ended the genocide in 1994. Kagame was Rwanda’s vice president and de facto leader from 1994 to 2000, when he first became president. He has since ruled the East African country as an authoritarian who is intolerant of political dissent.
Being Volodymyr Zelensky: Comedian who became president, carries around ‘drag bag’ as he never knows where he’ll sleep next
The clean-shaven, boyish Zelensky sworn in as president in Kyiv in 2019 wearing a stylish suit fitted to his slight frame has been replaced by a much older looking, heavier-set, brooding figure typically clad in paramilitary fatigues with unshaven stubble and dark circles under his eyes.
News conference shows Biden’s strengths overshadowed by questions about his capabilities
President Joe Biden kicked off the press conference by talking at length about NATO and its value to the United States — one of his strongest political issues against Trump, who has been openly sceptical of the alliance and once suggested he’d encourage Russia to attack NATO members whom he considered delinquent.
UN experts estimate up to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers fight alongside M23 rebels in Congo
Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi, along with US and UN experts, have accused Rwanda of giving military backing to M23. Rwanda denies the claim, but in February it effectively admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border.
