Macharia Gaitho
Managing Editor - Special Projects
GAITHO: It’s polls season again
The silly season is upon us. Premature campaigns for a General Election that has not even been called are already in full swing....
GAITHO: Uhuru will be a cross between an IDP and a squatter
Mr Uhuru Kenyatta is now Deputy Prime Minister without portfolio. It cannot be fun holding high office without a desk or a chair to work from....
GAITHO: Why Kalonzo rushed to placate his colleagues after Mutula’s outburst
There is a sub-plot to this ICC saga. On Sunday, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka was engaged in a very open show of damage control. ...
GAITHO: Elections in December will do
I do not belong to that rarefied profession of men and women who rather pompously refer to each other as ‘‘learned friend’’. ...
GAITHO:Have they found Judiciary’s Achilles’ heel
Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza is undoubtedly facing personal agony over the now infamous Village Market incident....
GAITHO: Tribalistic drivel robbing Kenyans
If Mr Hassan Omar Hassan of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights stirred up the hornet’s nest with his ethnic-baiting diatribes; then it...
GAITHO: Omar must mind his tongue
Nearly two months ago, a friend approached me at the local with something that was really troubling him....
GAITHO: President should have gone on strike
President Kibaki really disappointed me on Monday. I expected a pronouncement to cheer all Kenyans celebrating 48 years of nationhood....
GAITHO: Kenya is no longer prepared to appease Bashir
After prostrating himself before Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, our Foreign Minister Moses Wetang’ula came home from Khartoum with a very...
GAITHO: They’ve tried to erase the memory of Sankara
In the Land of the Upright Man, one need not care too much about...
GAITHO: We handed Al-Shabaab propaganda tool
The military incursion in pursuit of Al-Shabaab extremists across the borders...
GAITHO: All seems to be well on the war front
Any large concentration and movement of loaded donkeys will be considered...
GAITHO: Raila can’t be happy with the dwindling figures
I wonder whether Prime Minister Raila Odinga took time off on Sunday while...
GAITHO: If the head of the snake is here, why go to Somalia?
To kill a snake, goes the popular truism, you cut off its head. Perhaps, then, somebody should explain why Kenyan soldiers are pursuing Al-Shabaab...
GAITHO: Foray against Al Shabaab will not be easy
As long as Al Shabaab retains the capacity to wage terror campaigns in pursuit of some warped jihadist agenda, sitting back and praying they do not...
GAITHO: What dissident dare defy joint edict from president and prime minister?
So this darned saboteur will not defy just the Central Bank, but can go ahead and treat with contempt pronouncements by the President and the Prime...
GAITHO: Don’t blame government for slum inferno
On February 2, 2009, the Daily Nation published an article entitled “The fire next time: Slum courts doom”....
GAITHO: Ruto, Uhuru might treat Ocampo to forbidden delights of Amsterdam
The eyes of the nation have been riveted in the past five days on a courtroom in a small city in the Netherlands....
GAITHO: What role will an emasculated AG play in the brave new Kenya?
Recently when I needed to look up the number of outgoing Attorney-General Amos Wako, I reached for the trusty old Telkom Kenya telephone directory....
GAITHO: Colonel is about to go, who will fund AU?
Now that Brother-Colonel Muammar Gaddafi will no longer dispense his largesse, the nabobs at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa might...
GAITHO: Panic buttons as full import of gender law on political careers hits
Early in July, what was billed as the Fourth Working Draft of the proposed...
GAITHO: Starvation: Kenyans need to take a long hard look
From the frying pan into the fire? The heavens have opened up and flash floods have already claimed lives. ...
GAITHO: Rather than donate food, why not change government?
My heart swelled with pride last Friday watching Kenyans happily raise hundreds of millions for the hungry. It was one of those ‘Najivunia Kuwa...
GAITHO: Why Miguna’s exit was as dramatic as it was predictable
The suspension of Mr Miguna Miguna from the Prime Minister’s office ...
GAITHO: Ministers who denied famine should be sacked
The government has rightly taken plenty of flack for being slow in response to the threat of famine. ...
GAITHO: Lesson in peaceful Gor-AFC match
That near full-house at Nyayo Stadium showed that despite mismanagement, charlatans and fraudsters, Kenyan football still has a future. ...
GAITHO: Credibility of 2012 poll on appointees
One can expect that appointment to the new Independent and Electoral and Boundaries Commission will provide theatre for the usual tussles ...
GAITHO:Special seats for women?Perish the thought
Somebody has come up with a barmy idea on how gender parity can be achieved in the next Parliament. ...
GAITHO: It is ‘come let us eat together’
With the countdown beating so rapidly towards the 2012 elections, it is not surprising that our peculiar breed of leaders should shove aside...
GAITHO: Move back, shut up, and sit down
I have a date with a magistrate on Tuesday morning. I am supposed to answer to the charge of “failing to comply with traffic signs — no right...
GAITHO: Gaddafi arrest warrant may be a mistake
International news agencies were reporting celebrations across the Libyan city of Misrata as news came in that the ICC had issued arrest warrants ...
GAITHO: Was Mutunga signalling end of old order?
“…the English judges of the higher ranks are saddled with enormous horsehair wigs that can cost over one thousand pounds and weigh almost that...
GAITHO: Somalia govt seems to have woken up
I have previously had very little faith in the so-called Transitional Government that pretends to run Somalia. ...
GAITHO: Tough budget, but stay ahead of thieving hordes
Dear Mr Kenyatta, I hope you are well-prepared to present the budget for fiscal year 2011/2012. ...
GAITHO:Ban on export of nuts meant to exploit farmers
Just the other day, five MPs from Murang’a and Embu counties appealed to the government to re-impose the ban ...
GAITHO: Don’t let courts mess up justice
He can run, but he can’t hide. That is the famous quote attributed to legendary heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis ...
GAITHO: How did me miss Wanjiru's danger signs?
RIP Sammy Kamau wa Wanjiru. But questions, questions, questions: Should we not have read the danger signs? Did Kamau not have a recent history of...
GAITHO: Reformist CJ should expect vicious fight
Don’t Be Fooled, Reject those Nyayos. That was the title of a tract that landed University of Nairobi law lecturer Willy Mutunga ...
GAITHO: Removing Osama was the easy part
The very welcome departure of Terror Inc chief Osama bin Laden has sent hope soaring that al Qaeda and its various offshoots, including our very...
GAITHO: Where is Alston? Osama deserved better
This was a blatant case of extra-judicial execution. American soldiers flew deep into Pakistan and murdered Osama bin Laden and a few close...
GAITHO: Ruto’s proposed return could tear coalition apart
If President Kibaki allows Mr William Ruto to resume his job as minister for Education without securing the say-so of Prime Minister Raila Odinga,...
GAITHO: I refuse to kow-tow to 'mighty' US
Had a run-in earlier Thursday with the American Ambassador’s security goons....
GAITHO: Marathoners better envoys than politicians
I spent a good chunk of my Sunday morning glued to the small screen. No, it wasn’t the Uhuru Kenyatta-William Ruto tag team at a highly-charged...
GAITHO: Don’t use IDPs as bait in your wars
You have to give the devil his due. Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr William Ruto have done a sterling job milking political capital out of accusations...
GAITHO: Who will put the genie of ethnic hatred back
The Hague-bound duo Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto might just feel they are justified to reply in kind to the invective they have endured ...
GAITHO: Is Uhuru-Ruto alliance a repeat of tactics to contain Raila?
As the Uhuru Kenyatta-William Ruto roadshow goes gallivanting all over the place ahead of a starring role at The Hague courtroom drama, I am...
GAITHO: Ocampo Six can’t afford to become global pariahs
Parliament reopens on Tuesday with a crowded reform agenda likely to be derailed by bitter divisions over the fate of the so-called Ocampo Six....
GAITHO: Letters to the UN and Hague a disgrace
The letter from Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s ODM to the UN Security Council on the so-called Ocampo Six is not surprising. ...
GAITHO: Move may shift political alliances
The moment the International Criminal Court made its decision to Summon the six suspected authors of Kenya’s post election violence...
GAITHO: Kenyans woke up to good news this morning
Only the blind who do not see and the deaf who do not hear can fail to appreciate the tremendous efforts the government has made in ensuring that...
GAITHO: What future do these young Kenyans have?
It was joy for some and heartache for others yesterday with that annual ritual of national school-leaving examination results. ...
GAITHO: Raila, Uhuru true sons of their fathers
One of my enduring memories of President Jomo Kenyatta was the earthy and undoubtedly risqué language he often employed at public gatherings. ...
GAITHO: Muthaura should thank God for his enemies
I almost felt sorry for Mr Francis Muthaura. Last week, the head of the Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet cut a hapless and rather...
GAITHO: Egos take precedence over national good
House Speaker Kenneth Marende threw the two coalition principals a lifeline of sorts last week, but President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila...
GAITHO: Nominees should decline nomination
By standing down as Mr William Ruto’s lawyer in the Sh96 million fraud case, Mr Kioko Kilukumi has done the right thing....
GAITHO: Fight criminals, but give due process a chance
Helping put together that Daily Nation package last week on the Lang’ata Road police execution of suspected criminals, I anticipated howls of...
GAITHO: MPs must now decide what type of legacy they want to leave behind
Parliament resumes on Tueday after a shortened ‘winter’ break. ...
GAITHO: As police are busy shutting down the fun industry, who is fighting crime?
A Nairobi magistrate on Monday fined some 25 people a total of Sh890,000 or six months in jail each for drinking or selling alcohol outside the...
GAITHO: Fraud in exams just a symptom
As the new term opens, primary schools across the country will be celebrating their successes or mourning their failures in the Kenya Certificate...
GAITHO: Annan diplomacy saves the day
Kofi Annan is the quintessential diplomat. ...
GAITHO: Al-Shabaab ties: A probe is in order
Assistant Foreign Affairs minister Richard Onyonka seems to have suffered a bout of Foot-in-Mouth disease....
GAITHO: Farewell to an indefatigable fighter
Prof Wangari Maathai did not sit around moaning and whining and begging the male power structure for donation of 30 per cent; she fought it out and...
GAITHO: Rights go with personal responsibility
I fled Nairobi for brief refuge down south just before I was hung, drawn, and quartered....
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