Listen During his heyday in politics, Gumo came to be associated with two Kiswahili phrases — jeshi la Mzee and kaa ngumu — which earned him mileage and admiration in a political environment where right connections triumphed over polished speeches and presentation. ‘Jeshi la Mzee’, or Mzee (Daniel arap Moi’s) army, was a ragtag militia […]
Listen That is how Francis Thuita Kimemia reached the pinnacle of Kenya’s civil service, joining the desirable list of the few career civil servants to have ascended to this coveted post. Before him and his predecessor were such notable luminaries as Duncan Ndegwa, G.K. Kariithi, Jeremiah Kiereini, Simeon Nyachae and Sally Kosgei among others. The […]
Listen Muthaura was Kibaki’s replacement for Sally Kosgei, the last Head of Civil Service in the Kenya African National Union (KANU) government. To date, Kosgei is the only woman to serve in that position in independent Kenya. The office is a powerful and pivotal one, and that Muthaura’s appointment came in an extraordinary context only […]
Listen After all, the Member of Parliament for Kieni had checked all the boxes. He was the Secretary General of the Democratic Party (DP), the President’s political vehicle. He was the only legislator to have been re-elected from the President’s home region of Nyeri District (since renamed Nyeri County). He had been part of the […]
Listen Nyong’o had fallen out with Raila Odinga and refused to join his National Development Party (NDP) that swept nearly all the Parliamentary seats in Luo Nyanza. The two were part of a group of Young Turks who worked with elders such as Jaramogi Oginga, Masinde Muliro and Ahmed Bamahriz to found the FORD party. […]
Listen This was not Obure’s first stint in government, having been a powerful Minister under former President Daniel arap Moi, who picked him at the tail end of his regime to replace Chris Okemo as Minister for Finance following an outcry from international donors. At the time, the BBC reported that the reshuffle was “an […]
Listen In 2002, a Finance prodigy made an important decision. He would make a move from the private sector where he was already excelling and throw his hat into the political arena. Perhaps he needed the challenge, perhaps he realized his talents could benefit his country; whatever the case, in the year he turned 40, […]
Listen On the eve of New Year, 2008, at a church in the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, marauding youths besieged the Kenya Assemblies of God Church at Kiambaa. They killed 35 men, women and children that had sought refuge in the House of God. Pastor Stephen Mburu, who witnessed and survived the attack, described […]
Listen Esther Murugi Mathenge is like an African red bullet chilly, small physically but packs the hardest of punches. And those who have gone head-to-head with her in the political arena have realised — but mostly too late — that often, a swing from her results in the end of the bout. In her […]
Listen David — and to some simply Daudi — Mwiraria, the numbers man, veteran technocrat and politician is arguably Kenya’s most formidable Treasury chief after Mwai Kibaki. He died of bone cancer in 2017. Describing him as a ‘friend, confidant, co-worker and trusted ally’, Kibaki, his former teacher at Makerere University and long-standing boss, celebrated […]