John Kamau, Daily Nation Journalist Profile

Articles

Exiled Ngugi: From Ngaahika Ndeenda troubles to an international career

1 week 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.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o passes on in the US after long illness

1 week ago | businessdailyafrica.com | 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.
Sealing the leak in the financing of agriculture and food systems

1 week ago | standardmedia.co.ke | John Kamau

Sapling of growing plants on stacked coins and fertile soil, the concept for investment for agriculture and cultivation. [Getty Images]In development discussions, the challenge of “sealing the leaking pipeline” in the financing of agriculture and food systems is gaining prominence.
Ruto’s walk in Moi’s footsteps: The torture and abductions playbook

1 week ago | nation.africa | John Kamau

The broad daylight abduction of Juja MP George Koimburi has not only jolted the nation but also resurrected memories of the repressive post-1982 coup era, when paranoia gripped the Nyayo regime. In the wake of the Gen-Z wave of anti-budget protests, it now appears that President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration is opting for abductions, kidnappings, and enforced disappearances as political tools to instill fear and suppress dissent.
The bullet, the banner and the fight for the soul of Nairobi 75 years on

1 week ago | nation.africa | John Kamau

Colonial-era Nairobi Councillor Muchohi Gikonyo was closing his shop when a crack shattered the quiet of the evening – the unmistakable sound of gunfire tearing through the dusk. That was on March 30, 1950. What unfolded was more than an attempted assassination. It was a shot fired in a battle for the soul of Nairobi. Resistance to city status took many forms.
How Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traore became new face of African defiance and dignity

1 week ago | nation.africa | John Kamau

Across townships, cities, markets and digital feeds in Africa, the name of Burkina Faso’s President Captain Ibrahim Traore echoes with a fervour rarely reserved for a Head of State. His portrait is spray-painted on city walls, printed on T-shirts and shared with near-messianic devotion on social media platforms.
Sababu ya vijana Afrika kumpenda Traore

2 weeks ago | taifaleo.nation.co.ke | John Kamau

KATIKA miji, mitaa, masoko na mitandao ya kidijitali kote Afrika, jina la Rais wa Burkina Faso, Kapteni Ibrahim Traoré, linatajwa kwa shauku isiyo ya kawaida kwa kiongozi wa nchi. Picha yake inachorwa kwenye kuta za miji, inachapishwa kwenye fulana na kusambazwa kwenye mitandao ya kijamii kama vile masihi.
Kenya’s gravy train: How Sh7 billion built nothing but personal political syndicates

2 weeks ago | nation.africa | John Kamau

Every year, Kenyan taxpayers are called to bankroll democracy—but what they get in return is a façade. Since 2013, in the name of political party funding, sold as a noble investment in national cohesion and democratic growth, more than Sh7 billion has been paid from the public purse. Yet what stands in its place is a network of hollow shells: parties that vanish between election cycles, maintain no grassroots presence, and operate with rented headquarters.
James Orengo, Odingaism and the return of ‘Seven Bearded Sisters’ spirit

3 weeks ago | nation.africa | John Kamau

James Orengo is uneasy with the ongoing political dalliance between Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA). If there are others sharing the same discomfort within ODM, they have adopted silence as a weapon. Orengo built his career on principled opposition, often positioning himself against the status quo.
Paper borders, ancestral ties: Will Kenya welcome its stolen children home?

1 month ago | nation.africa | John Kamau

A proposal currently before Parliament, tabled by Suba MP Caroli Omondi, may well open the door to members of the global Black diaspora, who claim an emotional or ancestral connection to Kenya — offering them, perhaps for the first time, a legal pathway to call this land home. It is a quietly radical proposition, rich with historical resonance and contemporary significance.