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…
Author: Mbugua Ng’ang’a
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at the weekend announced plans to “bring back” alcoblow, the correct position is that the tests have never been withdrawn and are administered on drivers in Nairobi every end of week.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…
Whereas there are those who have argued that football fans without tickets for last weekend’s Kenya versus Gabon game did well to storm the Nyayo National Stadium, I wish to advance the view that the reprehensible means did not justify the end. Football, like all civilized activities, demands order, rule of law and predictability. As such, it was wrong for goons to breach one of the gates of the stadium and illegally access areas reserved for paying fans. This makes nonsense of the idea of ticketing. It beats logic for a law-abiding citizen to spend time and money acquiring a…
Edward Kisiang’ani’s removal as Permanent Secretary for Broadcasting and Telecommunications on Thursday, March 20, marked a major turning point in the relationship between the government and the media. During his two-year stint, he muddied the waters so much that there is now no love lost between government and media. This at a time when the government has come under unrelenting criticism on social media, in large part because operatives like Kisiang’ani consider legacy media to be the cause of the government’s migraines, which have been worsening by the day, largely because of its intransigence. True, the relationship between the two…
June 27, 2021 would have passed as just another fun-filled and dusty day in the bundus of Hell’s Gate, Naivasha, where the Safari Rally championship was taking place. The then Sports minister, Amina Mohammed, had invited Lisa Christoffersen to enjoy the last leg of that year’s World Rally Championship (WRC) Kenya tour. Together with their friends and family, they were cheering on the roaring vehicles which were zooming towards the finishing ramp when Lisa noted a peculiar trend: There were no women drivers taking part in the rally! “I am only seeing ladies standing on the sidelines as cheerleaders,” she…
