The union is abnormal. As an African and a church leader, I am ashamed. We should advice others not to do the same,"

"My name is Kamau."

That was the lanky English volunteer introducing himself to me. He wore Maasai bracelets made in Kikuyuland, Brazilian beads, the ubiquitous Bob Marley T-shirt and what I call Volunteer Denim (jeans perfectly worn out and dyed an even shade of dirty).

It is not often that participants in ethnic cleansing confess to it openly, but William ole Ntimama has managed it twice: in a 1996 interview, and more recently. The brazenness of the impunity is revolting: it is natural to want accountability and reform, and equally natural to think we can have both.

This, unfortunately, is a bit of a farce: stable reform and calling the violent to account are incompatible. The key is to see that the main strand of political violence in multiparty Ken

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Corrupt, pathetic, hopeless, basket case, failed state, pirate haven - these are some of the nouns and adjectives used, with different degrees of accuracy, to describe Somalia. Regarding our war-ravaged, bandit-infested eastern neighbour, Kenyans appear to agree on one thing: something ought to be done. But as Capt. Collins Wanderi Munyiri's essay, Let Somalis be illustrates, discord emerges only on the issue of what exactly we should do to help and how we should go about it.

In recent press photographs and TV images of President Kibaki-the primary modes through which most citizens see the president-one notices his obvious pained fatigue. Also unmistakable is the blankness of an elderly man contemplating a world beyond the cameras, as if to project the boredom he finds in the terrible tedium of the formalities his job sometimes requires him to perform.

The Chinese philosopher, Confucius (551-478) once proposed nine cardinal rules for anyone aspiring to high office. The first of these nine is cultivating personal conduct. The second is honoring worthy men and women. One of the most enduring legacies of Prof. Wangari Mathai is saving Uhuru Park from being grabbed during the Nyayo Era. For this, she was always harassed and brutalised by state security agents.

When in 2002 she was sent to Parliament, the new administration denied her...

As we know, one of the central explanations for the violence in the Rift Valley was land; more precisely, disputes about ownership and access, and the ethnicity of those who did have them.

The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy has patiently researched the history of land ownership in some of the most hotly-disputed parts of the Rift; its findings are guaranteed to surprise. 

Kenya’s national symbol is the lion – the pride of Africa. Our Vision 2030 imagines 10% growth in the tourism sector as one of the main pillars to support the nation's economic growth. Kenya’s attraction is the safari destination; the most sought-after species is the lion; every lion in Kenya, it is estimated, is worth US $ 1 million in tourism revenues.

Reality check: today Kenya’s lion population stands at a mere 2,100 individuals -- that’s fewer th...

Three important events occurred on the faith front in Kenya this week.

My Anglican friends now have a new Archbishop, the Right Reverend Eliud Wabukala. It was an exciting process, with the Daily Nation telling us ethnic and regional realpolitik weighed in some, and the Standard insinuating some money might have been 'poured'.

A study by Dimopoulos et al. has revealed a novel way to eradicate the malaria parasite. The scientists from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that by using a gene silencing technique, the Anopheles mosquito's immune response to the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is increased, enabling resistance to this parasite.

Human Rights Watch has released a new report with evidence that the Kenyan government is failing its obligations to Somali refugees (and, almost certainly, Kenyans of Somali origin) resident in Kenya.  From the summary: 

...Kenya has the right to regulate the presence of non-nationals in its territory and may, therefore, prevent certain people from entering or remaining in Kenya, including those deemed a threat to its national interests. However, international and Kenyan la
...

  David William Cohen
 Lemuel A. Johnson Collegiate Professor of African Anthropology and History at the University of Michigan

 February 26, 2009

Yesterday, February 25, 2009, I learned the very sad news of the passing in Kisumu, Kenya of dear colleague Prof. E. S. Atieno Odhiambo, following an extended illness.  I was not able to grasp the nature of this illness but I recognized that this illness was constituting an immense gap in a world of learning, ...

I make no spurious claims to speaking on behalf of Kenyan feminism as a whole. I can barely lay claim to speaking about the perception of Kenyan feminism in my generation-- women in their mid 20s. So. I speak only for myself, and (if they'll permit me to quote them) the fabulous group of women I am privileged to call my friends.

NAIROBI, Kenya: Kenya's National Council of NGOs is located in an old bungalow in Hurlingham, a Nairobi suburb. At the gate, a white panel proclaims the council's mission, to provide "leadership to the NGO sector." But the gate opens onto a more threadbare reality. A slight air of exhaustion hangs over the institution, which officially represents the country's non-governmental sector.

You'll have seen Keguro's latest. I don't buy it. I'll be upfront about my prejudices: I think Kenyatta and Mboya made substantially correct choices at the founding of the post-colonial state; for brains and influence, they're the two most important Kenyans ever.

Conservatives, careless Christians and Blaise Pascal have offered instrumental reasons for Christian belief. Parris' wager is the most recent contribution to this distinguished tradition. Familiarity having bred boredom, the plot is varied by the atheism of our author and his choice of Africans for the wager's bettors.

John Howard was in power for 11 years (1996-2007) making him Australia's second longest serving Prime Minister. Australian democracy has no set terms, so leaders can keep ruling if they keep winning elections. Another quirk of our democracy allows incumbents to decide the date of the election within an approximately 3 month window. Until Kevin Rudd was elected in November 2007, there were many Australians who had no political consciousness without John Howard.

Meno. And how will you enquire, Socrates, into that which you do not know? What will you put forth as the subject of enquiry? And if you find what you want, how will you ever know that this is the thing which you did not know?

Socrates. I know, Meno, what you mean; but just see what a tiresome dispute you are introducing. You argue that man cannot enquire either about that which he knows, or about that which he does not know; for if he knows, he has no need to en

An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education demonstrates that African universities face a crisis in hiring and retaining new Ph.D. holders, many of whom choose to go into industry or NGOs. Fewer than half of University-based academics have doctorates in their respective disciplines. As the piece points out, "most institutions have focused on raising student numbers rather than on improving the quality of education and research."

The Cockar Commission into the sale of the Grand Regency Hotel (as was) has completed its work and handed its report to the President. Since not a single witness, among them his erstwhile accusers, mentioned the Kipipiri MP adversely, it is expected to absolve him of any wrongdoing, either of omission or commission, in this matter.