Wandia Njoya

MONICAH MWANGI

What is now being praised as a “peaceful” election was in fact the connivance of racist global capital against the Kenyan people. The so-called victory of Uhuru Kenyatta is a victory of private business. Kenyans should expect the collapse of public institutions in the next few years and increased militarization to keep the people in perpetual fear.

NT

Is President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya plain dumb? It is nearly a month since all public schools shut down following a strike by teachers. National exams are supposed to start next week. Kenyatta’s handling of this crisis, like his performance in previous instances, raises serious questions about the abilities of the man who won a bitterly controversial election two-and-half years ago.

The latest unbelievably thoughtless statements by President Uhuru Kenyatta about runaway insecurity in Kenya are testimony enough that the lives of citizens mean little to him. It was not their votes that put him to power, but his wealth and tribe.

Nation Media

Wambui Otieno, a 'solitary woman who fought against patriarchal values', may have 'struggled against oppression, but her story is simply a struggle for love and dignity,' writes Wandia Njoya.

Though confessing that she was originally unconvinced about the call for a seven-day sex fast from the G10 women's coalition, Wandia Njoya discusses her surprise at the chauvinistic and hyper-masculined reaction to the fast from much of Kenyan society. Given that the majority of Kenyan men clearly do not expect sex from their wives every single day, Njoya considers what really informs the sexist outpouring of discontent, concluding that it is ultimately about power and domination. Essentially...read more

I was greatly offended by Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's article, which amalgamated complex political and historical situations in different countries into a faulty continuous fabric. I was at first shocked to read the one-sided statement that Kenyans "swore that Raila would never be president, not because of anything other than his being Luo...A 100% Luo is not good enough for them as President of Kenya but they are supporting a 5O% Luo to be president of the USA!"

Abdul-Raheem's statement ...read more

The focus of African women activists on gender violence and on women’s rights remains disconcerting. But before I get into the details of why this is so, I would like to highlight the historical figure named Mary Nyanjiru. Nyanjiru entered the local Kenyan legends in the 1920’s after she challenged the men in the crowds outside a colonial prison to exchange their trousers for skirts if they were afraid to protest the arrest of Harry Thuku.

The decision of the Nobel Literature Prize committee to name Doris Lessing as this year’s laureate should raise red flags in the minds of those concerned with the integrity and cultural autonomy of African literature, writes Wandia Njoya. The fact that Lessing has finally received one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the Western hemisphere comes as no surprise, since she has been proposed for this award before but has been bypassed by previous laureates. What should raise eyebrows, ...read more