Yes. Your relative finally got the long awaited foreign travel visa. Whether for school, visitors or green card, you find your self excited. The dream is big because its an opportunity to finally come to the land of opportunity.
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Kenya’s General Elections are less than three months away on August 8, 2017 and while the presidency is the main prize, competition for the other down-ballot elected offices are also in full swing and I’d argue even more heated than the presidential race. If what was witnessed the week of August… continue reading...
I will say this as blunt as possible, mwenda kumena mumene! What is it this with all these divorces going around?
The last time I checked, the Good Book says, whatever God has put together, no man should put asunder. But we have come to a point where if one partner gets to earn a little… continue reading...
Today marks the ninth annual World Autism Awareness Day. Every year, individuals and organizations around the world come together to celebrate the day with unique fundraising and awareness-raising events. Today, many organizations will Light It Up Blue #LIUB, and many people will wear blue to… continue reading...
I do not know how I will put this across. But I will try. So help me God.
Kenyan men, hear me out, and hear me good. When you board that plane at JKIA and land in any city in the USA, life as you know it changes in all the domains.
I will not keep this to myself anymore. So let me get it out of my chest. A psychologist once told me that after you hear something, you can’t “unhear” it. So brace yourself. Be warned that this might be explosive. You may want to stop reading at this point. You have exactly two seconds before… continue reading...
Basking from my little ragged lawn, standing on dusty terrains
Mercilessly barbered with slashers and machetes
I watch the horizon with a sense of nolstagia
Over a cascade of overgrown acacia, an aroma of leleshwa
Tingling my once polluted nostrils, having been sandwiched… continue reading... A random walk through the poor estates of Nairobi reveals nothing more than rot, decay and mountains of garbage that appears to have gone unattended for years. An insinuation or thought of what it is like to live in these estates day-in and day-out is incomprehensible. The filth and decay you… continue reading...
In the many years I have lived abroad, specifically the USA, I have witnessed the birth of several organizations and their respective deaths in infancy. Yes, very few survive their 3rd year of life.
Looks like in Dr. Fred Matiang’i, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has found the silver bullet to use in its fight against the ministry’s atrocious record of wholesale sale of exam papers, cheating during said exams, widespread corruption and incompetence not to mention burnt… continue reading...
In December 2002, then Presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta found himself in the most unenviable position of having to read a concession speech after a painful electoral loss to NARC’s Mwai Kibaki.
The path to Kenya’s nationhood has been riddled with the marginalisation of communities that now include the Kenyan diaspora. Marginalisation does not only imply communities under economic distress, but also those whose political rights have been suppressed.
… continue reading... Even by President Uhuru Kenyatta's usual less-than-presidential displays of flippancy and bonhomie, this latest attempt at being "real" was pretty insensitive and in poor taste:
We begin by asking: “Can an election that structurally and deliberately disenfranchises 15% of eligible voters be ‘free and fair’ under any circumstance?” Over the past 1 month, we have been asking this question on diverse social media spaces, and in all except one instance, the answer was a… continue reading...
“Over my dead body!” I exclaimed when my host informed me that my best path to a hustle-free life in these United States would be to study nursing.
That was six years ago. In my former life in Jamhuri, I was a successful banker. Cranking numbers and balancing things at my local branch was… continue reading...
On November 8, I, along with the rest of the world watched transfixed as the American public voted in Donald Trump, an unlikely candidate who ran a highly spirited yet controversial campaign.
It was the culmination of a hard fought campaign that stands out for many reasons. One of his key… continue reading...
Shortly after Tuesday's election, I had a long heart-to-heart with someone I consider not only a good friend, but a good being.
Matt (not his real name) is a white male in his mid-40s. He is also a father and gearhead extraordinaire. The "hombre" is absolutely gifted with his hands and… continue reading...
Majority of foreigners visit the great United States with no intention of immigrating. Most enter United States as visitors, students and non-immigrant employees. However, as they start enjoying all the positives of the USA, they find themselves slowly settling down and quite a number take the… continue reading...
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta finally threw in the towel and conceded that there was nothing he could do to fight corruption in his Jubilee government and Kenya writ large.
If you are like yours truly and grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, you will agree with me that a boy’s life was one long rollercoaster full of fun. Other than the beatings by our primary school teachers, the rest of our life was full of bliss.
Donald James Trump (DJT) is accomplishing a feat most Kenyans would have thought impossible.
In an accomplishment worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize since he’s already bagged the Emmy that eluded him when he was head “firer” in the “Apprentice”, the Brooklyn-born self-proclaimed billionaire… continue reading...
The tragedy of tribalism in Kenya has evolved not only in Kenya but even abroad. Kenyans are forming friendship and even fall in love along their tribal lines. The tribalism attitude that Kenyans who stay abroad have developed recently, not only put a sharp pain to many who view them as “change… continue reading...
This is not an academic paper. It is not a medical journal. Neither is it a professional opinion. Then what is it? I would prefer to call it a pedestrian observation by a regular Joe. It is the thinking of a common man riding on a Route 46 matatu.
… continue reading... Many of us have Kenyan friends or relatives living in America whom we correspond with regularly online. Lately the hottest topic they have engaged in, understandably, is the US presidential campaigns. So far nothing has given our diaspora as much glee as the disastrous performance of Republican… continue reading...
You are a Kenya citizen who has lived abroad for many years and are now deciding on relocating back to Kenya. You have very good furniture, personal effects and many sentimental items that are part of your life. Naturally, you don’t want to part with them. And you shouldn’t. You are aware that… continue reading...
In Kenya and perhaps in most of Africa, it is not very challenging, raising a child or children as it is in a foreign land. Back in our home countries, a child belongs to the society, and everybody takes responsibility of not only their own children, but those of relatives, and even those around… continue reading...