The two widows of spy chief James Kanyotu and other beneficiaries of his estate — estimated at over Sh20 billion — have sacked their lawyers and closed ranks to end their long-running dispute over how to share his vast wealth. In a statement read by the elder of his two widows, Mrs Mary Kanyotu, the family accused the lawyers of dragging the succession case in court for over 17 years, frustrating attempts by the beneficiaries to amicably resolve the row over how to share out his wealth. “We as a family have come together to amicably settle this matter and…
Author: Mbugua Ng’ang’a
Japan has built a long tradition through which an outstanding artiste and cultural icon, such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o was, can be declared a “Ningen Kokuho” or “living national treasure”. Such an artiste is then funded by the government for life, assured of a pension and facilitated to mentor disciples and apprentices who can preserve that art form or take it forward. Had Ngugi wa Thiong’o been Japanese, he would most probably have been honoured as a living national treasure. He was not Japanese, unfortunately, and Kenya, his motherland, failed to honour him when he was alive. This failing notwithstanding,…
Although police spokesman Muchiri Nyaga has argued that police officers did not target journalists who were injured on Madaraka Day, it is worrying that the police — and by extension the Kenya Kwanza administration — appear to be reversing the freedom of press gains that Kenya had made. The result is that the country’s ranking on the global press freedom scale has been on a downward spiral. According to Mr Nyaga, the journalists were injured as police tried to prevent a group of rowdy youth from accessing the Raila Odinga Stadium, where the President was scheduled to be the chief…
The relationship between “committed” authors and State actors has never been rosy; not in Russia during the days of Maxim Gorky, not in South Africa during the apartheid era that produced Alex La Guma, and certainly not in post-independence Kenya, which produced the radical Ngugi wa Thiong’o. “Committed” authors are by definition creatives who use the power of their pens to defend or assert an ethical, ideological, political, social and sometimes religious worldview. They put their pens, not primarily to the service of art, but to a cause, such as justice. For Ngugi, that cause was fighting imperialism in its…
The detention and subsequent deportation of both People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua and Chief Justice Emeritus Willy Mutunga by the Tanzanian government will surely go down as one of the lowest moments in the recent history of the East African Community. The two, besides being senior counsel of repute, have built their credentials over time as human rights defenders. It is in these two capacities that they had travelled to Dar-es-Salaam as observers in the trial of opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lisu of Chadema party. No matter how one looks at the deportations — and the trial of…
One of the responsibilities of the media is to ensure that audiences are actively engaged emotionally and culturally and robustly challenged intellectually through content that highlights important issues that affect citizens. In this way, the media plays a critical role in national construction and in the moral development of the people. That is why it is crucial for media, especially broadcast media, to ensure that they balance the content they air so that there is a fine mix of education, information, and entertainment. Sadly, however, this fine balance has been interfered with by the exponential increase in the number of…
Whereas Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir at the weekend announced plans to “bring back” alcoblow, the correct position is that the tests have never been withdrawn and are administered on drivers in Nairobi every end of week. Despite this, the number of people dying in road traffic crashes continues to grow, with the latest data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) indicating that 1,139 people have died in crashes since January. This is a sad state of affairs and if left unchecked, the toll from crashes will be higher this year compared with 2024. However, to announce that…
The Ministry of Health should be challenged to reconsider its recent directive that the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) can only foot bed charges for patients seeking health services in faith-based hospitals. For families with terminally ill patients, this intervention is too little too late considering that they are required to pay one-year premiums before seeking admission in such hospitals. Whereas the quality of palliative care is generally satisfactory in faith-based hospitals, the cost remains relatively high due to the direct and indirect costs of securing the services. The upshot of this is that families will end up paying a…
A day after The Nairobi Law Monthly published a commentary challenging Football Kenya Federation (FKF) to address the challenges facing the sport, new allegations have emerged linking national team goalkeeper Patrick Matasi to a match fixing. In a leaked video released on Thursday, March 27, a man’s voice is heard instructing Matasi to ensure that he concedes a goal within the first half of a game. The voice is believed to be that of a match-fixing agent, who is heard promising the goalkeeper money from a third party on condition that he ensures a goal is scored. Matasi, whose face…
President William Ruto has effectively fired Mr Justin Muturi from the Cabinet just days ahead of his anticipated tour of the Mt Kenya region. Mr Muturi was the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Human Capital Development and Social Programmes. The President has nominated Mr Geoffrey Kiringa Ruku, currently the Member of Parliament for Mbeere North to replace Mr Muturi. Mr Ruku is a DP legislator, meaning that the pre-election Memorandum of Understanding between the President’s UDA party and the Democratic Party still holds. Mr Muturi was the leader of DP until his appointment to the Cabinet. In other far-reaching changes…
