Let's tap into passionate efforts of those who carry the beauty

Makumi Njue has a number of reggae songs to his name, has a group that re-enacts traditional Embu music, carrying on the work done by the late historian, Prof Mwaniki Kabeca.

By Henry Munene 1 month ago

Spare a thought for that writer with a dream and not much else

Most Kenyans I've met seem to harbour fond memories of their high school days - especially the set books they studied for their final-year exams.

By Henry Munene 1 month ago

It's time we accept, appreciate the world's new oral artforms

It is said that, in Africa, stories grow on trees. There could be a million interpretations for this aphorism, but for me it captures the centrality of stories in the African cosmos.

By Henry Munene 2 months ago

Literature is a dancing mask, not one story bound in a cultural straitjacket

For me, and I take this line unapologetically, it is ignorant to rank African and indeed world writers by their perceived greatness.

By Henry Munene 2 months ago

If you must drink alcohol this Christmas, do so responsibly

Christmas should be a time to reflect and share, not to move around like so many headless chickens and causing pain to the wallet and to others.

By Henry Munene 9 months ago

Spare no resources to ensure varsities teach, innovate and conduct research

Universities should epitomise managerial, administrative and governance excellence.They should be the campus of prudent management practices and innovation.

By Henry Munene 10 months ago

Turn creativity surge among youths into a force for good

If we do not provide a conducive environment, some evil schemes could take advantage of the high levels of unemployment to marshal that talent towards nefarious ends.

By Henry Munene 10 months ago

An African literary guru Chakava has rested ... go well, namesake!

Henry Chakava took over Heinemann East Africa and converted it into a force for the advancement of African cultural heritage

By Henry Munene 1 year ago

How to unlock the potential of Kenya's publishing industry

So long as a publisher has good, approved products that the teachers like, give them a fighting chance in the market!

By Henry Munene 1 year ago

Mindset change is essential in the war against corruption

We must acknowledge the commendable efforts of the EACC that have seen individuals return millions of shillings to public coffers and illegally acquired public land being reclaimed.

By Henry Munene 1 year ago

Tough times don't last, Kenyans will weather these raging storms

They say it's darkest just before dawn. Besides, we still have a lot to thank God for.

By Henry Munene 1 year ago

Spare the piggy bank, but enjoy Christmas cheer

There is no need to break the piggy bank to celebrate a foreign idea dating back to the Victorian times, but which has been hijacked by capitalist forces and people living beyond their means.

By Henry Munene 1 year ago

Banker’s comical take on Kenya’s betting craze and hypocritical ‘slay queens’

Every waking day in Kenya, hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of youths place a bet on the likely outcome of a football match played far away

By Henry Munene 6 years ago

Messi and Trump interpreter set for Nairobi conference

Chicago-based Tony Rosado is linked to such celebrities as US President Donald Trump and Barcelona football ace Lionel Messi

By Henry Munene 6 years ago

Maillu’s novel on ‘Black Jesus’ set to whip up fresh controversy

It breaks years of silence from the 70s, when the writer stunned the world with wildly popular novelettes that came with explicit scenes

By Henry Munene 6 years ago

South African apartheid writer found dead in house

Renowned South African novelist and apartheid critic Peter Abrahams is dead. Abrahams, whose novel, Mine Boy, was a set book in Kenya in the late 90s, was found lying in a pool of blood in his house in Jamaica Thursday.

By Henry Munene 8 years ago

Unholy trinity of tribe, politics and greed the bane of Kenya

The season of political madness is here, again. In case you have just landed from Mars, or from those rarefied climes where Nigeria is thought to be a continent and that we Africans live atop trees – let me bring you up to speed.

By Henry Munene 8 years ago

Soon, we may adopt corruption as an acceptable Kenyan way of life

Several years ago, I worked under a boss who, whenever he was miffed that someone had missed their target, would call them over to his imposing office.

By Henry Munene 8 years ago

We must teach children positive values during the long holidays

Children are home for a whole two months, thanks to new school rules set by the reassuringly efficient Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.

By Henry Munene 8 years ago

Ours is country of contradictions where the rich and poor coexist

Kenya is a confounding country. So confounding that you cannot call us poor or rich without being horribly wrong.

By Henry Munene 8 years ago

Debate: Is the Nobel Prize in Literature culturally rigged against Africans?

My take, however, is that there could be some element of truth such West-based literary prizes may be, albeit unintentionally, biased against African literary icons.

By Henry Munene 8 years ago

Fix graft pigs, the tenderprenuer dark underworld will tumble

When President Uhuru Kenyatta berated top officials for failure to fight corruption, I asked myself, what exactly is wrong with Kenya, and Kenyans?

By Henry Munene 8 years ago

Criminal enterprises thriving behind dirty prison walls

What followed was a one-hour horror story. A story of how inmates with no relatives to visit them are forced into same-sex “marriage” by other prisoners who work in the kitchen. The alternative is to starve, as you get only a film-thin slice of half-cooked ugali and one piece of cabbage floating in what looks like dirty salty water.

By Henry Munene 8 years ago

Next year’s election will probably be a replay of the same old script

The carnival mood is here, again. As the clock ticks to the next General Election, the stage has been set for a very old ritual. Politicians, even those who have not been to the village since they were elected, are keeping tabs on funerals and scheduling appearances at churches, women group meetings and every other gathering. All of a sudden, the village love bug has bitten politicians.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Governors have a duty to boost safety of boda boda operators

Fifteen years ago, upcountry Kenya was a serene mass of land where you could disappear to, away from the madding city crowds.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Teachers may have ‘papers’, but please peg pay on performance

This week, teachers’ unions slapped the Teachers’ Service Commission with a proposal demanding a 300 per cent pay rise.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Voters need civic education before August 2017 elections

Elections back then were a one-party affair; actually a formality to vote back the president (unopposed) and to largely endorse the ruling party’s choice of MP and councillor. To us small boys, the chanting, whistle-blowing and invectives hurled on humongous loudspeakers was an entertaining distraction.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Rio team’s treatment a mirror image of Kenya’s approach to work

When details of mistreatment of our Rio-bound Kenyan Olympic athletes exploded a few days ago, we were again firing from four cylinders on social media.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

We should not let this cartel culture kill our nation’s soul

We have just under one year to the next General Election. Slightly over a month ago, then Chief Justice Willy Mutunga famously bowed out of office to pave way for the forthcoming momentous polls. It was a historic breakaway from time-honoured Kenyan tradition; you know, we’d rather die than leave office of our own volition. Before he paved way for a new Judiciary head, Dr Mutunga warned us that Kenya is in the vice-like grip of the underworld.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Kenyans should have systems to protect the vulnerable besides the photo-ops

A while ago, I chanced upon a heated discussion on politicians and philanthropy.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Jokes aside, Kenya is becoming a huge theatre of the absurd

One of the most confounding things about Kenya today is our sense of logic.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

We were too slow in evacuating Kenyans trapped in Juba

One of the most irritating things about foreign governments, at least to us Kenyans on Twitter (KoT) and in government, is the alacrity of the West to issue travel advisories against our country.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

New, old systems and why there’s a bit of heaven in both

Growing up, I noticed a peculiar thing among old men in the village. Most had well-educated children who worked, lived and had families in cities and major towns.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

If Kenyans must die, let it not be like hogs

The killing of a city lawyer, his client and a taxi driver this week called to mind the late Jamaican poet and policeman, Claude McKay.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Political and money games about unga are dangerous

The way to a nation’s heart, I think, is through its stomach. It therefore follows that the way to Kenyans’ hearts, is through maize, the country’s staple food that knows no tribe.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Why it is hard to unravel the mystery of Kenyan politics

One of the most comical things about Kenya’s politics is that some people pretend to understand it.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Humility guarantees dignity for those given power to serve

This week, eight politicians were herded into police cells over hate speech. This raised eyebrows, mainly because the ignominy of spending a night in police cells is the preserve of garden-variety countryside thugs.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Yawning deficit in budget will lead to heavy borrowing

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich on Wednesday presented in Parliament what experts have termed a very ambitious budget for 2016/2017.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

Political leaders must weigh their words and stop inciting crowds

A foreigner visiting Kenya for the first time would find our politics quite peculiar. A visitor would no doubt be taken aback by our kind of politics.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago

It pays to learn from our past mistakes and turn new leaf

Kenyans are a hypocritical lot. Whenever results of an opinion poll that tells us nothing new are released, the feigned shock across the land is so palpable you can touch it.

By Henry Munene 9 years ago