Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

Nairobi

General Editor at Daily Nation

General Editor at Nation Africa

Gender & Education Editor, Nation Media Group, Contributing Editor, The Fuller Project

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Articles

Unconditional readmission: The hollow promise Kenya made to teen mothers

6 days ago | nation.africa | Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

What you need to know:Thirty years after Kenya's re-entry policy, 90 per cent of teen mothers never return to school. We pardon defilers while abandoning their victims to lives without education. Supporting teen mothers doesn't encourage pregnancy—it breaks cycles of poverty. Imagine this scenario - the bell rings. School latrines become sanctuaries for teenage mothers who slip away to express milk from painful breasts while classmates play.
'Soko ni kubwa' yet he chose his daughters - What kind of father? What kind of man?

1 week ago | nation.africa | Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

There are stories that haunt you long after the last word is written. Stories that infiltrate your dreams and follow you into the morning light. When our reporter first pitched the story of four sisters sexually abused by their father, I spent that night staring at my ceiling, consumed by a rage so visceral it left me physically ill. When I became Gender Editor, I knew I would encounter stories of violence and injustice.
The modern prodigal sons among us are destroying our elders' final years

2 weeks ago | nation.africa | Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

I am still unable to shake the image of a 90-year-old granny whose story we published this week. For nearly half a century—48 years—she has been fighting to reclaim her rightful land. Land that was taken from her through deception when soot from her cooking pot was used to force her thumbprint onto papers. More devastating than this violation is that among those who seized her 44-acre property were two of her own sons.
Not all qualified women are qualified for all positions - and that's a truth we must embrace

3 weeks ago | nation.africa | Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

In a week that has seen our nation's attention fixated on parliamentary vetting, one moment continues to echo in my mind — and in the minds of countless Kenyan women. When Hannah Wendot Cheptumo suggested during her vetting for the position of Gender Cabinet Secretary that femicide victims were primarily uneducated women or educated women "looking for money," adding that "a girl has many needs," a collective shudder ran through our gender desk. These weren't just ill-chosen words.
'A girl has many needs': Gender CS nominee sparks fury over femicide comments

4 weeks ago | nation.africa | Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

A coalition of 15 women's rights organisations has called for the immediate withdrawal of Hannah Wendot Cheptumo's nomination as Cabinet Secretary for Gender, following what they described as "troubling" and "worrying" comments about femicide victims during her parliamentary vetting.
This week’s scuffle wasn’t just a fight - it was a failure of duty; no exceptions, no excuses

1 month ago | nation.africa | Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

What you need to know:The physical brawl between two women legislators on parliamentary grounds represents an unacceptable betrayal of public trust and damages the hard-won progress of women in leadership. Female public figures who engage in undignified conduct, whether through physical altercations or inappropriate social media behaviour, undermine the aspirations of countless girls and women while giving ammunition to critics of gender equality in politics.
My life with Raila's loyal guardian: Widow speaks of George Oduor’s secrets

1 month ago | nation.africa | Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

In a bedroom secluded from the tens of mourners filling her living room, Caren Auma Odiyo's grief hangs heavy in the air. Yet as she begins to speak about her late husband, George Oduor—the man who shadowed opposition leader Raila Odinga for three decades—unexpected flashes of laughter punctuate her tears. Seated beside me on her bed, she unfolds a story not of politics or power, but of a deeply private man whose most profound loyalty was witnessed by few.
The unspoken rules of the game: Politics when you are a woman

1 month ago | nation.africa | Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

Last week as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) selection panel interviews played out on our screens, I couldn't help but notice the stark imbalance: eight men, three women shortlisted for the chairperson position. And like clockwork, the familiar refrain emerged: "How will we ever achieve the two-thirds gender rule if women don't apply?" This question is tiring. It's not that women lack ambition—it's that they understand the price of it all too well.
My stand against the brutal customs that only target widows

1 month ago | nation.africa | Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

As a widow of 19 years, I intimately understand the myriad challenges widows face. I empathise with the deep-rooted injustices they confront daily. When I lost my husband, I vividly remember how I was exhausted—physically, mentally, and emotionally days leading to his burial. Then came an elderly woman, on the eve of his burial, demanding I spend the entire night seated next to his coffin, outside, in the cold. Why? Culture. That meaningless word thrown around to justify needless suffering. I refused.
My feminist manifesto: why I tell more women's stories than men's

1 month ago | nation.africa | Dorcas Muga-Odumbe

Dear Reader, This week, I'd like to address a question I'm often asked as Gender Editor: "Why does your desk focus more on women's and girls' stories than men's?" It's a fair question that deserves a thoughtful response. When our gender desk was established in 2019, we set out to mainstream gender reporting with a deliberate emphasis on women and girls. This wasn't a decision made lightly, but one grounded in data and a clear understanding of existing imbalances in media representation.