Nanjala Nyabola

Kenya

Writer, Researcher and Policy Analyst at Freelance

'My goal is to be a primary, not a secondary source' Ntozake Shange. Represented by @craigliterary. For speaking inquiries contact [email protected]

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Articles

Democracy in East Africa is retreating. Here is how it can be saved

1 week ago | aljazeera.com | Nanjala Nyabola

Last week, Ugandan lawyer Agather Atuhaire was finally set free five days after she was detained by the Tanzanian police for unclear reasons. She was unceremoniously dumped at the Mutukula border crossing between the two countries. Details of Atuhaire’s condition remain unclear, but a statement from the organisation she works with as well as Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi, who was detained with her, alleged that she was tortured.
Democracy in East Africa is retreating. Here is how it can be saved - Nanjala Nyabola

1 week ago | qoshe.com | Nanjala Nyabola
Think Change episode 57: is social media’s hate problem beyond repair?

Oct 29, 2024 | odi.org | Sara Pantuliano |Nanjala Nyabola |Sandra Pepera

In the wake of our decision at ODI to suspend all activity on X (formerly Twitter), this episode examines the polarisation and hate we are witnessing in today’s social media landscape and what is driving it. Since Elon Musk took ownership of X two years ago there has been a rise of hate speech, mis- and disinformation on the platform. The UK riots, which we dissected in a recent episode, are a case in point.
Entering the matrix of misinformation

Oct 22, 2024 | newint.org | Nanjala Nyabola

In September 2024, US vice presidential candidate JD Vance amplified a rumour circulating on Facebook that Haitian migrants in the small Ohio town of Springfield, where Vance is a senator, had been eating people’s pets. Erika Lee, who made the original post, later confirmed that she had no first-hand knowledge about any such incidents and was merely repeating something that a neighbour had told her – that a cat had gone missing and its owner had suspected that a Haitian had eaten it.
The ‘ungoverning’ of Kenya

Aug 1, 2024 | aljazeera.com | Nanjala Nyabola |Analogue Politics"

One of the most interesting grammatical elements of Kiswahili, the most widely spoken African language in the world, is that you can always create the negative form of an infinitive verb. In English, to be grammatically correct, the opposite of a verb has to have some kind of meaning in the real world. For example, the opposite of “to live” is “to die”.
The world is scrambling to understand Kenya’s historic protests – this is what too many are missing | Nanjala Nyabola

Jul 1, 2024 | theguardian.com | Nanjala Nyabola

There is as yet no resolution after an unprecedented week in Kenyan politics. What began as protests against a rushed-through finance bill has revealed a crisis of legitimacy within the executive, the legislature and the police that were sent to do the government’s bidding.
Colonialism, Occupation & Apartheid: African Countries See “Shared Experiences” with Palestinians

Feb 21, 2024 | znetwork.org | Nanjala Nyabola |Amy Goodman |Juan Gonzalez |Juan González

Leaders at this year’s African Union summit have condemned Israel’s assault on Gaza and called for its immediate end. Kenyan writer and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola explains the long history of African solidarity with Palestine, continuing with today’s efforts to end the destruction of Gaza. African countries “see really an identical experience between Palestinian occupation and what they have endured under colonization,” says Nyabola. “It’s a question of history. It’s a question of solidarity.
Digital identities and border cultures

Dec 12, 2023 | atlanticcouncil.org | Nanjala Nyabola |Mizue Aizeki

The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) invites you to join us Tuesday, December 19th from 9:30-11:30 a.m. ESTforthe launch of Digital Identities and Border Cultures: The Limits of Technosolutionism in the Management of Human Mobility. This latest report from DFRLab Senior Nonresident Fellow Nanjala Nyabola explores how technology is used to manage refugee and migrant populations around the world, creating risks and consequences for human rights.
Visa-Free Travel Isn’t a Silver Bullet for Africans Crossing African Borders

Nov 17, 2023 | worldpoliticsreview.com | Nanjala Nyabola

In early November, the governments of Kenya and Rwanda announced that they were extending visa-free travel to all African visitors to both countries. The two nations joined the Seychelles, Benin and Gambia in promising to remove visas as an obstacle to African travelers. Although the announcements are yet to be accompanied by bureaucratic changes, they were met with considerable enthusiasm on the continent as a step in the right direction toward realizing the spirit of pan-Africanism.
In defence of international law

Nov 15, 2023 | weeklycuttingedge.com | Nanjala Nyabola

October 2023 has been a month of many victims. Bombs are raining on civilians in Sudan and Gaza while much less reported-on crises in Syria and Afghanistan continue to simmer with periods of uneasy silence punctuated by sharp bursts of violence. Armed conflict has led to record levels of death and displacement, and a reckoning of sorts is now facing the so-called international order.