Burundian reporter’s notebook: I feel sorrow for the death of my father, but joy at finally seeing his remains
Editor’s note: The bouts of violence that have shaken Burundi since the 1960s received little attention compared to events in neighbouring Rwanda. So, when a truth and reconciliation commission began digging up mass graves to investigate atrocities, journalist Désiré Nimubona picked up his notebook. For more than a year, he...
Kenya Air Force modernises its fleet with acquisition of 10 new fighter jets as internal and external threats loom
The Kenya Air Force is operating Grob G120TP turboprop trainers, following its earlier acquisition of G120A-K piston-engined trainers. The aircraft, the first of kind in Africa, are stationed in Laikipia Airbase, roughly 180 bird fly kilometres from the capital Nairobi, for training purposes. Since the deployment of the Kenya defence...
Livestock herders’ conflict stirs up fears of early signs of violence as Kenya gears up for elections next year
Eight people, among them three policemen, were killed and hundreds of villagers uprooted from their homes in Laikipia County in Kenya’s Rift Valley region following weeks of bloody inter-community clashes. The police and administrators link to brewing political tensions as the country prepares for elections next year. The political angle...
President Kenyatta’s education chaos: Legacy of vacuuming tool he calls Competency Based Curriculum
A few days back I watched the CBC (Competency Based Curriculum) debate on Citizen TV talk-show. It was just a talk-show – literally – with now substance at all. This thing (curriculum) is simply indefensible. None of the panellists, including the one who said he was part of the design...
Uganda grapples with new wave of grisly murders by machete-wielding gangs police link to opposition
Ugandan police questioned two prominent opposition lawmakers accused of orchestrating a wave of grisly murders by machete-wielding gangs. Villagers in Masaka region have been terrorised by thugs who police say have hacked to death up to 30 mainly elderly people in their homes at night in just two months. Ugandan...
Detained life: Kenya President Kenyatta knows not only his birthday, but also day and venue of his conception
A message in the visitors’ book in Maralal National Museum serves as a reminder that Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta knows where he was conceived: the detention house where his father had been transferred rehabilitation as they colonial government prepared him to take over the reins power at independence. He is...
Tanzania police say gunman who killed five people last week was a terrorist with foreign links
Tanzanian police said on Thursday that a slain gunman who killed four police officers and a private security guard on a rampage through a diplomatic quarter of Tanzania’s main city Dar es Salaam last month was a terrorist. In the August 25 attack, Hamza Mohammed shot police officers with a...
Lone Somali gunman kills 4, injures 6 in suspected terrorist attack on French embassy in Tanzania
A suspected Somali gunman killed four people in a mid-day shootout in Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Police also say that six others were injured in the incident that involved a lone gunman on Wednesday. It was not immediately established whether the injured were also police officers or civilians....
Guys, pause for a moment and listen to what our sisters want: ‘Give me a place to stand, to speak…’
One can forgive our parents for this monumental ignorance and its devastating consequences. I hear voices among some of my male colleagues now saying ‘I could never do that!’ But guys, let’s just pause and consider how we treat our sisters today. I will not even speak of those men...
Remaking a republic: The political and religious challenges young leaders face in refreshing Kenya
Should men and women be treated equally, or should they be treated as equals? What is the difference, and does it matter? To commemorate International Women’s Day on March8, 2009, one man shares his perspective. This memoir of personal reflection is dedicated to my dear wife, Katindi, my sisters and...
