Law Society of Kenya on the COVID-19 State Curfew Published: 17 April 2020 Article On 25 March 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta issued a nationwide dusk-to-dawn curfew (7pm-5am), exempting 13 groups of workers offering essential services in order to contain the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya. Incidences of police brutality while enforcing the curfew were reported across Kenya.
State Capture: On Kenya’s Inability to Fight Corruption Published: 23 March 2020 Article In May last year, the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) published State Capture – Inside Kenya’s Inability to Fight Corruption, a report that hit the country like a meteor. Perspectives spoke to Gladwell Otieno, AfriCOG’s director and long-time anti-corruption campaigner, about what motivated them to take a fresh view in the analysis of corruption, and what this means for civil-society action.
Celebrating Whispers 15 Years On: How Satire Can Further Civic Discourse Published: 13 August 2018 This year, 2018, marks 15 years since the death of Wahome Mutahi (1954 – 2003), who was one of Kenya’s most prolific fiction writers, as well as a playwright, columnist, political satirist, pundit and public opinion leader. He was popularly known as Whispers after the name of the column he wrote for The Daily Nation from 1982 to 2003, offering a satirical view of the trials and tribulations of Kenyan life. According to George Ogola in The Idiom of Age in a Popular Kenyan Newspaper Serial, at a time when the state had all but monopolized public sites of expression in the country, Whispers kept the Kenyan popular media porous, opening up spaces for the discussion of social and political issues that could otherwise only be ‘whispered’. It became the most visible site of social, cultural and political expression for the last two decades at a time when freedom to such expression was highly constrained by the state.
Kenya: Short Film “Watu Wote” Nominated for the Oscars Published: 26 January 2018 After “Watu Wote” scooped the Students Oscars in September 2017 and numerous International Festival Awards, today’s Oscars Jury pronouncement further warrants this Film project the publicity it deserves not only in the East and Horn of Africa region but the world over. The film, based on a true story, narrates the experience of a group of bus travelers who on 21st December 2015 in Mandera (Kenyan-Somali border region) were attacked by Al-Shabaab terrorists. Like in so many incidences before, the militia had planned to massacre all the over 30 Christians on board the bus.
Kenya Arts Diary 2018 Arts Exhibition Published: 1 November 2017 The Kenya Arts Diary exhibition ran from 25th October - 4th November 2017, profiling some of the works featured in this year's edition of the diary.
Welcome to Somali Heritage Week 2017 Published: 4 October 2017 Somali Heritage Week is back this year with the theme being Enhancing Inclusivity. The event will run from 5th October to 8th October 2017 at Kenya Cultural Centre. Doors open at 9:00am till 7:00pm every day. Entry is free for all audiences.
Cartoonists Gado and Zunar, recipients of the 2016 Cartooning for Peace Prize Published: 5 May 2016 In order to celebrate the World Press Freedom Day on the 3rd of May, the Cartooning for Peace Swiss Foundation and the City of Geneva present the 2016 International Editorial Cartoons Prize awarded by the Honorary President of the Swiss Foundation, Mr. Kofi Annan, to the Kenyan caricaturist, Gado and the Malaysian cartoonist, Zunar.
Cartooning Obama: What Does Obama Mean to Kenyans? Published: 11 August 2015 Authored by Nanjala Nyabola - Heinrich Boell Foundation On 24th August 2015, under the hum of security helicopters, Kenyan cartoonists and their fans came together to examine the legacy of the Obama presidency in relation to Kenya. The US President was in Nairobi for a three day official visit as part of the official programme of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Although Obama has always been adored in Kenya, the relationship has definitely soured since his 2008 election after which it became apparent that Kenya would get no preferential treatment from the US because of the Obama connection.
Sauti Mtaani: Promoting Youth Participation in Governance Published: 30 July 2015 The potential of Africa’s growing youth population fuels the narrative of a continent on the rise. In Kenya, however, young people have been largely marginalised in governance as well as in development. Unless this is addressed, they are likely to be a threat to peace, a hindrance to development and an obstacle to building a strong democracy.
The Kenya Arts Diary Launch and Arts Exhibition 2015 Published: 6 November 2014 It’s now the second time that the Nairobi office of the Heinrich Boell Stiftung has hosted the launch of the Kenya Arts Diary. This year’s Launch and Arts Exhibition on October 21 attracted a large crowd of artists and art lovers. The German ambassador, Andreas Peschke who was the guest of honor, officially launched the 5th Edition of the Kenya Arts Diary an invaluable documentation and rare collection of art from Kenya and the region. The Diaries flew off the shelves in unexpected numbers, indicating the all around success of the evening
