Since the advent of the ‘second liberation’ a decade ago, the ground seems to have shifted for three key players in Kenya’s political scene: the media, civil society and Western donor nations. Global realities have changed as well, and so these three need to re-evaluate their role going forward

A recent conference on Somalia held in Brussels has endorsed a new ‘Somali compact’ with development partners who are mainly from the North, pledging funds. The pact has many serious flaws – among them are the appointment of several foreign advisors without Somali counterparts

The Napoleonic syndrome of President Jammeh expressed through his recent withdrawal from the British Commonwealth conceals his gross human rights violations, executions of political dissidents and homophobic pronoucements – rather than any principled opposition against neo-colonialism

In Tanzania there is a prevailing assumption that if a single woman or a couple of women enter a hotel alone without being accompanied by a man, they are ‘prostitutes.’ The profiling of ‘prostitutes’ is deep-seated in many African societies and needs to be challenged head on

The Westgate terror attack brought out the best and worst in Kenyans in which Kenyans donated blood and elements of the military took time to rob high-class stores in the mall. The mentality of ‘our turn to eat’ is corrupting national security and signals a deeper malaise

The US government shutdown is underpinned by a failing economy with a huge debt, massive unemployment, poverty and homelessness. This exposes the limitations of the capitalist economy: It fails to eliminate poverty despite having a lot of riches

Kenya has registered remarkable achievements in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation. But as the world marks the International Day of the Girl Child, evidence shows that the government and other stakeholders need to step up efforts to fully eradicate the vice

America looks like a perfect nation, but upon deeper reflection, one gets a very unflattering image. The nation is angry, grumpy, indulgent, violent, fearful, divided, distracted, in debt, addicted to power and material stuff, and in a self-inflicted siege

The American government bears responsibility for the loss of life at the Kenyan Westgate mall, yet most Americans are totally unaware of America’s role in keeping Somalia in a constant state of war as a consequence of huge omissions in American reporting

American workers and the poor are not part of the conversation around spending and the debt. When the US government resolves this phony drama of the shutdown, racial and capitalist oppression will not have been altered in any form

The landmark ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice gives Caricom nationals the right of entry into Caricom member states for six months. It is a victory for strengthening the legal basis for the operation of the Caribbean Community

Given the injustices of apartheid, heritage has become a surrogate for the black majority in the country to attempt an earnest conversation with a historically privileged minority (whites) and underprivileged minorities (coloureds, Indians, and other Asians) that reaffirms the value and merit of Africanness in South Africa

Land reform in Zimbabwe was delayed by the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement and Britain’s subsequent failure to honour this agreement. Many African Heads of State applaud Mugabe for the stance he has taken to empower his people through land redistribution

When the Somali president tried to settle old scores with another clan, opportunity presented itself for Al Shabaab

The document is a bad deal for the people of Somalia because it violates the provisional constitution, delegitimizes the Federal Government of Somalia’s executive and parliament and creates clan satellites controlled by foreign powers

Today, communities all over the world are still engaged in an arduous resistance to the imperialist-capitalist system that is grabbing their lands, robbing their resources and destroying their lives. That is why Lumumba was killed

There seems to be a logic that if we get away from words that invoke the old neoliberal order, and instead transplant terminology from ecosystem science, the future will be secured for millions of hungry Africans. But the unstated agenda remains capitalist accumulation

Youth involvement in pan-African discourses is minimal because they have largely been excluded from the deliberative and decision-making spaces in continental institutions, especially the African Union. This needs to change

Discussions are ongoing inside South Sudan about building an oil pipeline through Kenya to the port of Lamu to better exploit the country's most important natural resource. But roads would be a better option

Rwanda's recent elections were a sheer wasteful circus, like previous ones since Paul Kagame came to power in Kigali. The ruling party has a choke-hold on the country's politics. Progressive forces have a difficult task to truly free Rwanda