By Irũngũ Houghton Today marks exactly three weeks since the violence broke out in Israel and the Palestinian Occupied Territories of Gaza and the West Bank. At least 500 hours of horrific violence preceded the crucial United Nations General Assembly vote yesterday. There are several reasons why citizens and states need to continue to care…
By Irũngũ Houghton Kilimanian Gloria Ntazola offered free driving lessons to a Nairobi County Inspectorate officer as two Government arms consulted on corruption and human rights violations this week. It remains to be seen whether both consultations were public relations exercises, or they will address growing public anger. Exhausted by rising police extortion on our…
By Irũngũ Houghton History is replete with religious and political leaders announcing warring crusades or pronouncing fatwas against Muslims, Christians, blacks, the sick, differently abled and women. Sadly, a small number of today’s generation seem ready to repeat this bloody history. On Friday, saw a milder yet similar call against a Kenyan minority community. Any…
By Irũngũ Houghton What might our police officers face and what lessons might they learn from the last six months of responding to our own civil strife and maandamano? On the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, Haitian Cabinet Minister Jean Victor Génus and Foreign Affairs CS Alfred Mutua in the presence of Prime…
By Benta Moige Kenya has experienced unprecedented impacts of Climate Change for a while now, from flooding across the country, especially in the Rift Valley, where rivers have been swelling, breaking banks, displacing hundreds, and destroying livelihoods, to extreme drought in Arid and Semi-Arid areas (ASALs). The consistency of these changes has slowed down the…
By Irũngũ Houghton Spending time among Mulot digital leaders in Bomet and African policy makers in Johannesburg days apart, has finally piqued my curiosity. What are the possibilities and perils of artificial intelligence for Kenya and what guidance must we expect from the ICT Ministry Sector Working Group, announced last week? Popular and policy debate…
By Irũngũ Houghton Flying to an international conference should not be a matter of distress for presidents. The relatively few African Heads of States at this week’s African Climate Summit was unfortunate. It is a wakeup call to Kenya and other African countries seeking to provide regional and international leadership. While the African Climate Summit…
Irũngũ Houghton and David Ngira Hosted by the Kenya Government and the African Union Commission, thousands of state and non-state delegates will participate in the inaugural Africa Climate Summit and several parallel public events this coming week. An important moment, the Summit Declaration must announce ambitious, sustainable, and long-lasting climate commitments and avoid the dangerous…
By Irũngũ Houghton The public debate that generated last week’s column on WorldCoin continued this week with two significant new developments. The National Assembly Ad Hoc committee have started their deliberations. The High Court has also been petitioned to rule on whether Tools for Humanity have broken Kenyan law. Initiated barely days apart, both processes…
By Irũngũ Houghton The WorldCoin controversy places Kenya in the eye of another digital storm (pun intended). The news that over 350,000 Kenyans have sold their irises to Tools for Humanity alerts us to the dangers of emerging digital technology and the importance of eternal legal vigilance. Over the last few months, hundreds of thousands…
Professor Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo’s passing away on 30 June 2023 could not have been more different than her discreet departure from Kenya in 1982. A month-long of remembrance activities remind us that our courage to stand up for a just nation is probably all that really matters. Aptly born on what would become Jamhuri day,…
Last week, there were reports that over 350,000 Kenyans had enrolled on Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency company collecting iris data. Worldcoin intends to be the world’s most prominent identity and financial public network, open to everyone regardless of country, background or economic status. So far, its website claims to have enrolled 2.18 million people. Although the…