August 22
Kenya: How Debt and Taxes Conspired to Rob Nairobi's Slum-Dwelling Youth of the Promise of a Better Life
Throughout the summer of 2024, young Kenyans have taken to the streets of the capital, Nairobi, in a series of anti-government demonstrations. Read more »
August 20
Kenya: Jomo Kenyatta, Father of the Nation? Kenya's First President Built Up a Myth Which Masked His Faults
Kenya's legacy as a state is deeply intertwined with Jomo Kenyatta's influence on the nation. Kenya's founding president died on 22 August 1978 in his sleep at State House,… Read more »
August 16
Africa: Kenya Topped Africa's Olympics Medal Table - but a New Strategy Will Be Needed to Keep Winning
Kenya topped Africa's medal tally at the 2024 Paris Olympics, as the east African country did at the last two games in 2020 and 2016. Kenya is a dominant force particularly because… Read more »
July 25
Kenya: Faith Kipyegon Has Made Olympic History - What Kenya Needs to Do to Keep Producing Athletes Like Her
Kenyan running star Faith Kipyegon is considered one of the greatest 1,500m athletes the world has ever seen. Particularly after winning her third consecutive Olympic gold in… Read more »
August 07
Kenya: Kenyan Protesters Are Demanding President Ruto Be Removed
In June 2024, many Kenyans took to the streets to protest what they believed were punitive taxes imposed by President William Ruto's government. Though the president caved in and… Read more »
August 05
Ghana: Data Protection Is Poor for African Farmers Who Use Digital Services - Kenya and Ghana Cases Highlight Gaps
Across Africa, agricultural producers are turning to digital solutions to get information about farming methods, market access or financial services. By 2022, there were 666 of… Read more »
July 31
Kenya: Protests in Kenya and Uganda Highlight Corruption At the Top - but Political Elites Don't Give in Without a Fight
The recent protests by young people in Kenya and Uganda have highlighted a form of corruption that is difficult to deal with: political corruption. Read more »
July 25
Kenya: Faith Kipyegon Is Set to Make Olympics History - What Kenya Needs to Do to Keep Producing Athletes Like Her
Kenyan running star Faith Kipyegon is considered one of the greatest 1,500m athletes the world has ever seen. If she wins her third consecutive Olympic gold in Paris, she'll become… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya's New Cabinet - Finance Minister Faces an Uphill Battle Against Corruption, Unemployment and Debt
Kenya faces difficult times ahead because of pressure to pay debts, create jobs for the youth, offer improved services to citizens and uproot entrenched corruption. Read more »
July 22
Kenya: Kenya's Former President Daniel Arap Moi Mastered the Art of Silencing Critics - Why His Tactics Wouldn't Work Today
Countrywide protests, police killings, mass arrests and calls for the president to stand down. This is Kenya in 2024 - and, for many, it's evoking memories of another era: the… Read more »
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 »
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