Odinga as winner ‘Baba the 5th’/ 5th time lucky/ 5th times a charm Third time lucky is not always enough. Sometimes you must try again and again. Such has been the case political bridesmaid Raila Odinga – next president of the Republic of Kenya? – surely His first attempt on the top job dates back […]
voter confidence gone Election day arrived – Kilifi town was filled with anxiety and optimism. Change is here – whatever it brings. We attended polling stations across Kilifi North, humbled, initially, by the crowds heading to the ballot box. Each voter hoping for a positive future for their community and country. Queues, at the start of […]
Uhuru’s legacy The streets have been quiet in Kilifi. Shopkeepers closed their stalls and the beaches have been deserted. Campaigning is over. Politicians can no longer endorse a candidate. Polling companies jobs are done for another five years. Uhuru Kenyatta leaves his post with a nation in the middle of a cost of living crisis, […]
Change, whichever way Kenya votes The current regime in Kenya is the first elected under the new constitution. It’s the first to govern under the new devolved power-system. But as the curtain falls on the Uhuru years change is once again in the air, writes Eric Kimori. President Kenyatta has completed his two five-year terms, […]
devolve, involve, solve At a rally, for Kilifi governor candidate Gideon Mung’aro, I was struck by the excitement and enthusiasm of the locals – despite the headline speaker showing-up over an hour late. We were travelling with a lady called Saida, who represented the IEBC as a voter-educator. So, I asked her if there had […]
Political Hash, or Hash-Politics Waiting for an Azimio Party campaign rally to start on a football field, in the forest near Tezo, we were struck by the number of men openly smoking cannabis – or ‘bhang’ as the Kenyans call it. Throughout the afternoon we watched a dealer distributing small brown paper bags he would […]
FLOUR FLURRY August 3 2022 – The Flurry for Flour Browsing the aisles in Naivas, the only supermarket in Kilifi town, at the start of our trip to Kenya, I noticed that everybody was buying huge amounts of flour. Now, I know flour is the main ingredient of the Kenyan staple Ugali, but was it […]
To represent or self-enrich August 2nd 2022 – Politics or a Racket? Kenya is a country waiting – as the 2022 election looms ever closer. A key part of our mission for heading to the East African country was to act as short term observers for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). It’s a […]
Process or Power – democracy under the light 1st August Blog Entry – Grace Hunt Working in the emerging world is bound to come with its challenges – for us, Challenge No:1, in the process of monitoring the elections in Kenya, was to gain access to our observer accreditation passes. We’d been approved weeks ago, […]
Kenya Elections 2022 At Griot we have been working solidly in Kenya in recent years. It began with the support of Maasai girls who were electing to chose education over genital cutting and early marriage. In 2020 we started work on a programme of social impact investment, funded through the economics of carbon credits. This […]
