Startup Kenya

I disagree with many aspects of David Ndii's current role in President Ruto's government. However, his March 2016 article " Kenya is a cruel marriage, it's time we talk divorce " identified something fundamental about East Africa's structural challenges that deserves serious reconsideration. East Africa today faces the same pressures that historically drove European tribal coalitions to eventually form successful nation-states: artificial boundaries imposed by external powers, persistent ethnic divisions, resource competition, and increasingly authoritarian governance that stifles natural political evolution. The region's current borders, drawn by colonial administrators with no regard for ethnic or geographical realities, have created a powder keg of tensions that Kenya's Ruto, Uganda's Museveni and Tanzania's Suluhu Hassan are only making worse. East Africa's Colonial Straightjacket Prevents Natural Evolution The fundamental problem...

When President William Ruto announced Kenya's Panel of Experts on the Compensation of Victims of Protests and Riots in August 2025, many hoped it would finally address the police brutality that has plagued our protests since 2017. The 18-member panel, led by Professor Makau Mutua and Law Society of Kenya President Faith Odhiambo, has been tasked with identifying victims and recommending compensation within 120 days. But here's the uncomfortable truth: this panel, despite good intentions, falls far short of delivering real justice. As someone who has advocated for human rights in Kenya, I believe we deserve better than what amounts to a bureaucratic band-aid on a gaping wound. The South African Comparison That Doesn't Hold Up Panel supporters, including Chair Mutua, have compared this initiative to South Africa's famous Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). This comparison is misleading and insulting to what real transitional justice looks like. South Africa...