July 18
Kenya: Economist Maps Out Ruto's Limited Options
Kenya's President William Ruto fired all but one cabinet minister in his second shock decision following deadly protests triggered by tax increases. The first was the withdrawal of… Read more »
July 16
Kenya: Kenya Protests Show Citizens Don't Trust Government With Their Tax Money - Can Ruto Make a Meaningful New Deal?
Each year, the Kenyan government tables a finance bill outlining measures for funding the national budget. In the past, these bills have scarcely attracted public attention. This… Read more »
July 15
Kenya: Kenya's Digital Divide - Pastoralists Are Key to the Country's Economy, but They're Being Left Behind
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) hold great potential to expand African economies. They include mobile banking platforms, internet-enabled communication devices… Read more »
July 11
Kenya: 'Kinship Tax' Puts the Brakes On Business - Kenyan Study Measures the Impact of Helping Family
Imagine working hard to build your business, only to find that your success brings about a wave of requests for help that you can't turn down. This is a reality for many in African… Read more »
July 06
Kenya: Kenya's Protests Are Different This Time - 3 Things That Make It Harder for Government to Crush Them
On 25 June 2024, a youth-led protest primarily composed of Gen Zs, as they are popularly referred to, stormed Kenya's parliament. Legislators voted to pass the Finance Bill 2024 in… Read more »
July 03
Kenya: Kenya Unrest - Ruto Awakened Class Politics That Now Threatens to Engulf Him
Many of the grievances of Kenya's Gen-Z, young people who took to the streets in late June, have been palpable for years. Read more »
July 02
Kenya: The IMF Is Failing Countries Like Kenya - Why, and What Can Be Done About It
The recent Kenyan protests are a warning that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is failing. The public does not think it is helping its member countries manage their economic… Read more »
June 30
Kenya: Violence Is the Language of the Kenyan State - 5 Strategies It Uses to Control Citizens
Since the early 2000s, Kenya has come up with legislative changes and thrown a tremendous amount of funding at a range of reforms to improve the relationship between police and… Read more »
June 28
Kenya: Kenya Unrest - the Deep Economic Roots That Brought Gen-Z Onto the Streets
The generation of Kenyans born between 1997 and 2012 - the Gen-Zs - have borne the brunt of the country's slow economic growth. If a country has slow economic growth, it typically… Read more »
Kenya: Hotbed of Corruption - Kenya's Elite Have Captured the State - Unrest Is Inevitable
A strong undercurrent driving the unprecedented anti-tax protests in Kenya is outrage over theft of public resources coupled with the extravagant lifestyles of public servants. Read more »
June 27
Kenya: Kenyan Police Use Excessive Force Because They're Serving Political Elites, Not the Public - Policy Analyst
Public protests in Kenya have often been criminalised, leading to brutal police crackdowns. This played out in recent protests against the cost of living in Kenya, and amid an… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya's Protests Happened in Every Major Urban Centre - Why These Spaces Are Explosive
Kenya has a long history of protests. Mass protests took place during the colonial period and continued in the post-independence era. Read more »
June 26
Kenya: Ruto Pulling the Finance Bill Is Unlikely to Satisfy Angry Young Protesters - Here's Why
In a move that shocked observers, Kenya's President William Ruto announced on 26 June he was withdrawing his government's highly controversial finance bill. This followed two days… Read more »
Kenya: Kenyan Police and Protests - Researchers On a Violent, Corrupt Security Force That's Beyond Reform
Kenya's police are being criticised for their violent response to protests over the past week against government proposals to raise US$2.7 billion in additional taxes. Read more »
June 24
Kenya: Kenyan Protesters Have Taken to the Streets in Their Thousands - What the Law Says About Their Rights
Across Kenya, thousands of mostly young citizens are protesting against tax proposals tabled by President William Ruto's administration in its annual budget legislation. Using… Read more »
June 22
Kenya: Kenyan Protesters Driving Change From Screens to the Streets
Nationwide demonstrations have erupted in Kenya over a controversial tax bill. The Finance Bill 2024, initially presented to parliament in May, has sparked discontent with an… Read more »
June 21
Kenya: Khat in Kenya - Why Efforts to Ban This Popular Stimulant Are Unlikely to Work
Khat - the stimulant leaves and twigs of the plant Catha edulis - seemed to have secure legal status in Kenya despite being illegal elsewhere. It had been declared an official cash… Read more »
June 06
Kenya: Between Witchcraft and Terrorism - How Social Fears in Coastal Kenya Impact Religious Expression
Kenya's coastal region has, since about 2011, grappled with terrorist attacks carried out by the Somalia-based Islamic terrorist organisation Al-Shabaab. Read more »
May 22
Kenya: Kenyan President Will Receive White House Praise Over Troops-to-Haiti Move
Kenyan President William Ruto will attend a rare U.S. state reception for an African leader on May 23, 2024 - but much of the chat will be about a third country: Haiti. Read more »
May 21
Kenya: Kenya Is Badly Prepared for Floods - Four Steps to Reduce Devastation and Deaths
Floods in Kenya in April/May 2024 led to the deaths of over 250 people and caused damage estimated at 4 billion Kenya shillings (US$35 million). Read more »
May 17
Kenya: Kenya's Flood Evictions May Violate the Law - Scholar
Recent floods in Kenya have left at least 270 people dead, displaced more than 200,000 and destroyed property, infrastructure and livelihoods across the country. In Nairobi,… Read more »
May 16
Kenya: TikTok in Kenya - the Govt Wants to Restrict Its Use, but My Study Shows It Can Be Useful and Empowering
Every day, 750 million people around the world engage with Tiktok - the short-video sharing app. Kenyans are among its top users. Read more »
May 09
Kenya: Kenya Floods - As the Costs Add Up Pressure Mounts On a Country in Economic Crisis
There were early warnings that Kenya's long rain season - between March and May - was going to bring above-normal rainfall. The extreme intensity of the rain has resulted in… Read more »
May 06
Kenya: Kenya's Public Universities - Financing Model Overhaul Fails to Address Biggest Challenge - Funding
Kenya adopted a new approach to public university funding beginning with the 2023-24 academic year. Rapid student enrolment growth and declining state revenues have triggered the… Read more »
May 01
Kenya: Kenya's Devastating Floods Expose Decades of Poor Urban Planning and Bad Land Management
Floods in Kenya killed at least 169 people between March and April 2024. The most catastrophic of these deaths occurred after a flash flood swept through a rural village killing 42… Read more »