John Kamau

3 weeks ago | nation.africa | John Kamau

On a bright June morning in 1963, on the steps of what is today Harambee House, Jomo Kenyatta was ceremoniously sworn in as Kenya’s first Prime Minister by Governor Malcolm MacDonald. Draped in a vividly beaded cap - matching that of his key ally, Oginga Odinga - and holding a symbolic flywhisk, Mzee Kenyatta was the face of a new dawn, blending tradition, authority and the fierce hope of a nation finally breaking free.

3 weeks ago | nation.africa | John Kamau

When Jomo Kenyatta walked into Duncan Ndegwa’s Treasury office in 1962, Ndegwa could scarcely have imagined that this brief encounter would soon propel him to the very heart of Kenya’s nascent power structure. Then just 37 years old and serving as Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, Ndegwa was among a select cadre of Africans groomed to assume senior civil service roles in an emerging independent Kenya.

3 weeks ago | nation.africa | John Kamau

What you need to know:Back in the day, Tanzania sneered at Kenya’s cutthroat capitalism as a “man-eat-man society.”Kenya clapped back, branding Tanzania’s socialism a “man-eat-nothing society.” The ongoing war of words between Kenya and Tanzania - sparked by the deportation of prominent individuals, including Martha Karua and Justice Willy Mutunga, and the reported torture of activist Boniface Mwangi - feels less like diplomacy and more like a reality TV reunion special.

4 weeks ago | monitor.co.ug | John Kamau

In March 1979, police arrested novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o and his co-author Ngugi wa Mirie for “drinking after hours” and “behaving in a disorderly manner”. At the Court, Justice Emannuel Okubasu agreed with Ngugi that the police had a duty to tell the duo why they were arrested. Harassing Ngugi had become normal, he had been labelled an enemy of the State. His life was in danger by the time he fled the country.

4 weeks ago | nation.africa | John Kamau

When the Kenyatta government stopped the staging of Ngugi wa Thiongo's play, Ngaahika Ndeenda, on November 27, 1977, it elevated him from a radical university of Nairobi don to a global figure. A month later, his detention without trial would catapult him to stardom. Of all his works, this play is better known—though in academic circles, his argument about language as a colonising tool has made him a must-read in postcolonial pedagogy.