Articles Tagged Sunday Nation

Chief Executive Officers of Kenya: please pay attention. Your country needs your services. We are going to hell in a mkokoteni cart, and all men and women of vision, authority and management expertise need to step in to avert disaster. Assume, for a moment, that Kenya Ltd is your company, and you have just taken […]

Oh, colonisation! We’re still paying a heavy price, after all these years. We seem unable to move on, leave our history behind us and just get on with things. New books like ‘Britain’s Gulag’ and ‘Histories of the Hanged’ have disturbed our old wounds, have rekindled the demands for reparations for ancient atrocities. But that […]

Is our Jua Kali (informal) sector a good thing? Opinion differs. The government clearly takes some pride in telling us that most of the 500,000 jobs “created” every year are in the informal sector. Like it or not, Jua Kali is a fact of life in modern Kenya. It is everywhere: on the streets of […]

Insecurity will be our undoing. If there is a single thing that stands in the way of economic growth and development, it is the fact that violent crime is out of control. If a populace does not feel safe then there is no future. It’s really as simple as that. It doesn’t really matter what […]

April 1st is the day that newspapers traditionally try to make fools of us. All sorts of spoof stories are planted in the paper to mislead, beguile and amuse us. This year was no different. I opened the Daily Nation with a keen eye to try to isolate the satires and the parodies from the […]

We are again engaged in endless debates in bustling bar rooms and virtual chat rooms about who our next leader should be. What qualities should he or she have? How do we ensure that we avoid the failures of the past (and present)? Which party really stands for the people? Here’s a thought: forget the […]

“If you want to go east”, a famous Indian sage used to say, “you mustn’t go west.” Underlying this deceptively simple aphorism is the realisation that we often profess to have certain goals, yet all our actions work in entirely the opposite direction. In a week when an international UN study has ranked us 11th […]

Are we a very poor country or a very rich one? I only ask because I find it very confusing most of the time. Read the statistics books and you will be left in no doubt: a country with one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world cannot be described as anything other […]

Once upon a time, we looked at the people around us and respected many things in them. We saw certain virtues and placed a high value on them. We had quite simple people as our role models, and we tried hard to emulate them and live up to the ideals we saw embodied in them. […]

Watching Kenyan television news is a depressing pastime these days. After a few days’ continuous intake, thoughts of hibernation, or worse, migration, tend to grip the sensitive soul. Why is the country in such a pathetic state? Who is at fault? Why do we all seem to hate each other? Why are we all shouting? […]

You don’t need to be a biologist to know that biodiversity is a good thing. A multiplicity of species of plants and animals on our planet increases everyone’s chances of survival. Genetic variety matters a great deal: it ensures that there are always organisms on the planet that can cope with seismic or climatic upheavals. […]

Oh, we’re in big trouble again. Accusations are flying, the mob is baying, the suspects are denying. Investors are nervous, donors are suspicious, civil society is riotous. The Executive sleeps, the economy creeps, and the poor Kenyan weeps. Another fine mess we’ve got ourselves into. What is it with us? Here we are again at […]

Do you dream of being a leader in Kenya? Do you want to be a cabinet minister, and see that flamboyant flag fluttering on your bonnet? Perhaps a permanent secretary, in total control of thousands of minions? Do you want to see Kenyans gape at you in open-mouthed awe as you pass by? Do you […]

We are all getting very excited again. Kanu’s elections, political realignments in Narc, shifting alliances, third forces…Kenya is abuzz again, just like in 2002. The air is filled with new possibilities. Can Uhuru Kenyatta now revamp and revitalise Kanu again? Can there be an emphatic change of guard, and will the youngsters finally make their […]

Conflict. Of. Interest. Three simple words in the English language which, when put together in Kenya, create a concept that appears to be a mystery to most. Judging by recent pronouncements by high-ranking people who really ought to know better, there is a need to go back to first principles where conflict of interest is […]

Last week, we looked at the quantity aspect of education in Kenya – how many get through the system. This week, let’s talk quality – let’s take a trip inside the classrooms to find out what those little boys and girls are being taught. We all know that most of our children are being educated […]

After 30 years of neglect, 6,000 rats were reportedly killed at Wakulima Market recently, with another 6,000 allowed to escape. After 30 years of neglect, our education system now annually allows 350,000 children to proceed to secondary education. Another 350,000 are told “Sorry, house full”. Why am I comparing our children to rats? Because as […]

On Boxing Day 2004, the word “tsunami” was imprinted on our collective consciousness forever. The sea, exploited and polluted by mankind for aeons, bit back. On that day, we finally understood the cruelty that nature is capable of. The giant waves came crashing in all over the Indian Ocean, destroying everything in their path. The […]

How does a country develop? Much in the same way a successful company does. First, a few visionary men and women get together and think deeply about what they want the country to be and stand for. Then, they define the common values that hold the country together as a nation. Next, some specific, measurable […]

It is fashionable at this time of year these days to offer predictions for the year ahead. So allow me to chance my arm, climb the prophecy tree, go out on a limb and look into my crystal ball, all in one smooth movement. Here’s what I think 2005 portends for Kenyans. Let’s start with […]

What is achievement? When should we recognise people’s accomplishments? As a society, what do we appreciate in the work of our people? The notion of achievement in Kenya has taken on some rather strange shapes and colours. We clearly value the acquisition of great wealth, position and status above all other things. The need to […]

Dear Young Kenyans, It’s good to be young, isn’t it? The skin is vital and the eyes bright, and raw energy courses through your veins for 24 hours a day. Hope lights the road of life ahead, like a spectacular flare in the darkness. You can be anything, do anything! What is it you actually […]

Professor Jeffrey Sachs was in town this week and, as usual, he made waves. Our health minister’s much-debated, much-maligned NSHIF Bill was listing dangerously, having been breached below the water-line by employers, employees, hospitals, insurers and actuaries. Just as it was about to capsize, the famous professor came to its rescue. He praised it in […]

We’re all very busy, aren’t we? At least those of us with jobs and businesses are. This is the paradox of modern Kenya: a large number of citizens sit idle, unemployed or under-utilised; simultaneously, a small number of workers are buzzing around like deranged bumble bees, seemingly carrying the weight of the entire economy on […]

Yes, we need new jobs – half a million of them every year. Yes, we need to boost average incomes and purchasing power in this economy. But we do NOT need to create nonsensical “non-jobs” in order to achieve these goals. This should be obvious but apparently is not, even amongst the powers that be. […]

Kenya appears to be in the throes of “Obama Fever”. One of “our sons” has just become a senator for the state of Illinois in the USA, and the news seems to have triggered the onset of a strange affliction. The malady first cropped up in a small group of family members, but has rapidly […]

Ngugi wa Thiong’o is Kenya’s best-known literary figure. He is a novelist, playwright and essayist of worldwide repute. He is a professor of English and Literature, and has held positions in leading American institutions. He is the winner of an array of literary prizes. Prof. wa Thiong’o chooses not to live in Kenya. Ali Mazrui […]

You are asked to believe some remarkable things these days: that a foodstuff can “give your children the confidence to face the future”; that a toothpaste will make very attractive members of the opposite sex flock around you in helpless abandon; that once you buy a certain type of life assurance you are protected from […]