Charles Onyango-Obbo

3 days ago | nation.africa | Charles Onyango-Obbo

Kenya sometimes seems to live and die by politics. When an election ends today, the campaign for the next one—five years away—will have started yesterday. Small wonder, then, that Kenyan headlines too often dwell on politics—and economic woes. Yet beneath the noise, a quieter story is unfolding—one of continued home-grown creativity. Typical of this was a June 3 Daily Nation story, “A candle, a silo, and a revolution: The simple tech saving Africa’s food supply”.

4 days ago | monitor.co.ug | Charles Onyango-Obbo

What you need to know:"The answer isn’t to silence the pain that underlies such reactions. It is to redirect it. ” May Cedric Babu Ndilima’s soul rest in peace. Cedric was a casual acquaintance. On the few occasions—online and offline—that we interacted, it was rarely about politics. When we discussed politics, his views were mostly middle-of-the-road. Cedric might have played for the “other team”, but he was a good Ugandan.

5 days ago | panafricanreview.com | Charles Onyango-Obbo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a nation of 2.3 million square kilometres and over 450 ethnic groups, is no stranger to political upheaval, but the return of former President Joseph Kabila to Goma on 26 May 2025 has upended conventional narratives about its ongoing crisis. Many mainstream accounts, from Kinshasa to Western capitals, portray Kabila as a disgraced ex-leader, a pawn of the M23 rebels, or a traitor colluding with Rwanda to fracture the DRC further.

1 week ago | nation.africa | Charles Onyango-Obbo

Last week Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan lawyer and activist Agather Atuhaire endured brutal mistreatment during their detention by Tanzanian authorities. They had travelled to Dar es Salaam to witness the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, a persistent critic of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government. Upon release, Mwangi reported that both he and Atuhaire had been tortured under the orders of a Tanzanian state security official.

1 week ago | monitor.co.ug | Charles Onyango-Obbo

Uganda’s road network, from the potholed chaos of Kampala to the neglected tracks in rural districts, has gone to the dogs. It wasn’t always like this. Back when I edited The Monitor, I’d join the delivery vans as they set out at night from Kampala. I wanted to see how Uganda slept, how it rose at dawn, and how the first bite of the day’s news met the “upcountry” nation. I remember a trip in 1998. I stopped by the roadside, stared at a newly paved stretch disappearing into the horizon.