Why eccentric presidential candidate’s quest for a ‘happy nation’ is rocking Kenya’s political and religious class
Once a street child in Kenya and a grave-digger in the UK, George Wajackoyah, has become a political sensation by running for Kenya’s presidency on a promise to turn the East African nation into a major exporter of marijuana, snake venom and hyenas’ testicles. However, both his voters and rivals...
Africa’s ‘forgotten’ Sahel conflicts have claimed over 11,270 lives in the past 1o years – report
The Sahel – a 5,000 kilometre long strip of the African continent stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea – has become the most neglected and conflict-ridden part of the planet. Millions of people have been displaced in the region. Mass murders and property destruction occur almost daily....
As South Africa remembers last year’s violence, it’d be risky if lawmakers and police ignored digital vigilantism
As South Africa last week marked the first anniversary of the July unrest that swept through KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, the use of social media to instigate and agitate high-stakes events is in the spotlight. Social media is often used for good – but can also be a tool to...
Kenya heads to elections with serious integrity concerns hanging over polls agency, technology reliability
Leading candidates in next month’s presidential election in Kenya, Raila Odinga and William Ruto have expressed reservations about the country’s polls agency’s capacity to deliver free, fair and credible election. They fear the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is unprepared for the upcoming polls, raising alarm bells that the...
How long running and bitter standoff between Kenya president and deputy will impact August 9 polls results
Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto had a falling out with President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018, ending a decade-old partnership dubbed “Uhuruto.” Ruto presents himself as an “insurgent candidate,” deriding the Odinga ticket as a continuation of the dynastic politics of the Odinga and Kenyatta families that have loomed large over...
Kenya’s August 9 elections a test of its bumpy road to democracy in politically volatile continent
Kenya’s competitive presidential elections reflect hard-earned progress in establishing independent constitutional and judicial guardrails, although a history of electoral violence demands all sides show restraint. Kenyans will vote on August 9 in their fifth presidential election since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in 1991. The competitiveness of the elections, and...
Theatre of Dreams: Man United squads of recent seasons would be European champions if titles were won on excuses
Manchester United have made it very easy to be pessimistic about anything emerging from Old Trafford. Almost a decade of mis-management has made it the instinct of anyone with even a casual relationship with reality to be sceptical about the Red Devils’ prospects, despite the dawn of the latest of...
China abandons non-interference policy, now wants to ‘silence the guns in Horn of Africa’
China is offering to help “silence the guns in the Horn of Africa,” an ambitious undertaking given the multiple conflicts in the region, and an indication that Beijing may be moving away from its traditional “non-interference” stance towards more active diplomatic engagement. China’s special envoy for the Horn of Africa,...
Why United Kingdom is turning to mushroom farming in peatland to meet is Climate Change goals
In a huge industrial shed on Leckford Estate, a farm owned by the supermarket Waitrose in a beautiful part of southern England, a revolution is stirring in the world of mushroom growing. UK production of this crop relies on peat, the incredibly carbon-rich organic matter found in bogs and fens...
Rwanda, DR Congo on brink of war as United Nations accuses Kigali of bankrolling M23 rebels
The seeming rapid deterioration of security in the eastern DRC and resurgence of M23 are an outcome of longstanding regional rivalries between Rwanda and Uganda. The precipitous escalation of the security crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) risks reigniting interstate conflict in the Great Lakes region....
