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East Africa

State sponsored goons whipping journalists and protestors along Waiyaki Way during Justice For Ojwang Protests on June 17, 2025. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard]

 

The near-total anarchy witnessed in Nairobi last Tuesday should worry us. And learn lessons. What began in Sudan as a militia proxy to crush rebellion has mutated into a monstrous force seeking domination of a country.

The Janjaweed of Sudan, once a paramilitary tool of the state, has now turned its guns on the very system that created it. From helping suppress demands for justice and equality in Darfur to laying siege on Khartoum in pursuit of total control, the Janjaweed’s journey is not just a Sudanese tragedy; it is a warning to all fragile democracies flirting with militarised politics, state-sponsored violence, and outsourcing of repression to hired thugs. 

At the heart of Sudan’s unfolding disaster is a pattern familiar to many African states: when leaders fear dissent, they do not engage in dialogue. They deploy violence. And when security forces appear insufficient, or too professional, they recruit informal actors: militias, gangs, or political goons masquerading as “patriotic defenders.”

These actors are promised protection, power, and payoffs. But in time, they begin to demand more. They begin to believe in their own indispensability. They stop obeying and start dictating. That is how states implode. The Janjaweed’s transformation into the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its current conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces is a textbook case of this political Frankenstein. Initially tasked with helping the Omar Al Bashir regime in Sudan suppress rebellion in Darfur through brutal, ethnic-based violence, the Janjaweed were later integrated into the national power structure. 

They were legitimised, given weapons, and entrusted with power. Eventually, they became co-architects of Omar al-Bashir’s ouster, part of a transitional government, and now tragically, the leading force tearing Sudan apart. The International Criminal Court issued a warrant of arrest against Al Bashir before he was ousted from office.

This pattern, tragically, is not confined to Sudan. It is alarmingly familiar to Kenyans, especially under the current political climate. We, too, are nurturing a dangerous culture of impunity, thuggery, and political gangsterism, under the guise of defending the government or protecting “national interests.” 

When a state turns to street gangs, militias, or “hustler goons” to counter peaceful protest or political opposition, it signals the death of law and the birth of political banditry. It is primitive, retrogressive, and unsustainable. Worse still, it is short-sighted. The same goons hired today to fight demonstrators can be hired tomorrow to fight their political masters. Just as the Janjaweed turned their weapons against the state they once served, Kenya’s own culture of political mercenaries could spiral out of control, transforming local grievances into national instability. 

 

In Kenya, political violence is often treated as theatre, a dramatic but harmless spectacle around election cycles. But behind this casual acceptance is a dangerous normalisation of criminality. From Mungiki to Jeshi la Mzee, and now the rising wave of political goon squads appearing at rallies, public forums, and protest sites, the message is clear: political power need not be earned through persuasion. It can be taken and protected by force. 

This is a betrayal of our Constitution, our democracy, and our moral values. The right to peaceful assembly is not a favour; it is a right guaranteed by Article 37 of the Constitution. Suppressing it with violence is not only illegal, it is cowardly. Leaders who fear public dissent should examine their leadership, not unleash mobs on their citizens.  

Sudan is showing us the inevitable outcome of ignoring these warnings. A country once full of promise is now bleeding because its leaders chose force over foresight, and tribal militia over national unity. That’s the road we, too, are flirting with. 

Kenya must draw a hard line. We must demobilise political gangs, decriminalise protest, and hold accountable those who hire thugs to silence citizens. The state must lead by example, not by baton. Our future depends not on how well we can suppress opposition, but how boldly we can face criticism, reform, and rebuild trust in public institutions.  The same fires burning Khartoum can, if unchecked, light Nairobi. By Gitobu Imanyara, The Standard

GEDAREF STATE, SUDAN “Every woman and girl here is at risk, no matter her age or background. No one is safe,” said Khadija*, a midwife at a maternity clinic in Sudan’s eastern Gedaref State.

“Sexual violence has become as widespread [a weapon] as guns and bullets. Women arrive at our facilities exhausted, traumatized, often after months of displacement,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, which supports the clinic. “They are carrying physical and emotional wounds that are difficult to comprehend.”

Now in its third year, the war in Sudan has unleashed a relentless assault on the bodies and rights of women and girls. Across areas affected by the conflict, sexual violence is used as a weapon of war, a targeted tactic to instill terror, enforce displacement and exert control. More than 12 million people – one quarter of the population – are at risk of gender-based violence, with frontline responders and survivors reporting alarming rates of rape, abuse, coercion and child marriage.

“The scale and brutality of violations are beyond anything we’ve previously seen,” explained Dina*, a gender-based violence specialist in Sudan. “We have documented numerous cases of women and girls who have survived rape and sexual violence, including adolescent girls and women and girls with disabilities. Many are left coping with unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and deep psychological trauma.”

Even at these levels, sexual violence often goes underreported, mainly out of fear, shame, inadequate services, and little chance of prosecution for the perpetrators.

“It will take decades to recover from this,” continued Dina. “Yet the survivors we work with are still fighting to survive, to raise their voices, and to access justice.”

Generational trauma

Adding to the trauma are sweeping funding cuts that have shuttered life-saving services across Sudan. UNFPA is currently supporting 63 safe spaces that provide shelter, psychosocial support and referrals for medical care for survivors of gender-based violence, but many of these have been forced to close in the last few months. Across the county, only around one in four facilities that offer clinical management of rape are fully functional.

Emerging reports indicate that serious maternal health risks among rape survivors may be on the rise. Repeatedly displaced, women and girls undertake dangerous journeys through war-torn areas, with scarce access to sexual and reproductive health services or support – some for months on end. By the time they reach a health facility, many survivors are in advanced stages of pregnancy, or battling severe, untreated infections and profound psychological trauma.

“The violence we’re witnessing now will echo through generations,” said Dina. “Children born from these assaults, mothers forced into unwanted pregnancies, survivors stigmatized and ostracized by their communities — all of this trauma will profoundly impact the fabric of Sudanese society long after the guns fall silent.”

Accessing healthcare and mental health support is only one part of the struggle for survivors. UNFPA partners report that stigma and fear of reprisals – including survivors being killed by family members – are preventing women and girls from seeking help.

Dwindling funds, and hope

UNFPA and partners continue to deliver reproductive health and protection services, but recent funding cuts have forced UNFPA to withdraw from more than half of the 93 health facilities it was supporting. As its humanitarian appeal in 2025 is only one quarter funded, many safe spaces and programmes supporting women and girls in the most treacherous situations will have to close.

“At this point, it truly feels like this war is being fought on the bodies of women and girls,” said Huda*, a survivor of sexual violence who sought care at a UNFPA-supported facility. “What’s happening to us is beyond what most people can imagine. So many of us have lost hope in the future.”

UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem said, “It is time to work together, with the urgency required, to make the elimination of sexual violence in conflict not an afterthought but the very first step towards a world of peace – a world that is safe, just and equal for women and girls – and for everyone.”

UNFPA is calling for greater resources and attention for some of the least-supported crises across the world, including in Sudan. It is crucial not to let the lights go out for millions of women and girls, by fully funding survivor-centred services to break the cycle, heal the scars for sexual and reproductive health and safe spaces for healing from and reporting on these crimes. *Names changed for privacy and protection.  OCHA

Nairobi performing arts studio perform ''Trials of Dedan Kimathi'' authored by the late professor Ngugi Wa thingo during the Professor Ngugi wa thiongo celebrations of his life and literal works at the taifa hall , University of Nairobi on 20th June 2025. [David Gichuru, Standard]

 

The University of Nairobi hosted a national tribute for the late Prof Ngugi wa Thiong'o at the Taifa Hall on Friday. The Ngũgĩ family and the university fraternity were joined by People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua, the literary community, Kamukunji Constituency Hon. Yusuf Hassan, University of Nairobi's (UoN) Travelling Theatre, Kamirithu residents, and students in celebrating the life and works of the global literary icon.   

The university’s chair for the Department of Literature, Professor Miriam Maranga-Musonye, recalled an online meeting with Ngũgĩ five days before his passing to plan a symposium to honour him, where he joined briefly and smiled. Professor Musonye commended the literary, intellectual and revolutionary contributions of Ngũgĩ’s works.

“His pen wrestled with injustices, history and identity. He also helped us embrace the African language, advocating for languages as more than words but as a tool of dignity,” she said.

She continued, “Writing from English to Gĩkũyũ was not just a linguistic shift but a political act and an act of self-definition. That’s a legacy we’ll inherit from this man of letters.”     

Ngũgĩ helped in the formation of the Kamiriithu Community Education and Cultural Centre in 1976. With the late Ngũgĩ wa Mirii and the members of the Kamiriithu community who also came to honour him, he co-wrote the play Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want).  

“Through the Kamiriithu, he taught us that the classroom was not the only sight for learning. He built a theatre with people. The same spirit of Kamiriithu lives in the Travelling Theatre we see today,” she said.

She said this was a celebration in a place where he advocated for African languages and literature as a lecturer and head of the Department of Literature. Professor Musonye presently sits at the same office as Ngũgĩ did from 1973 to 1977.

 

“It is fitting to meet at a place tied to his intellectual and artistic journey. He was a scholar, teacher, writer, and revolutionary who showed that a written word could stir the soul and unsettle empires,” she said.

She likened his literary impact to the fictional Honia River in Ngũgĩ’s novel, The River Between, that will continue to flow and live in the recovered African languages and inspire future generations.

Kiarie Kamau, CEO of East African Educational Publishers, recollected the day he first met the author – James Ngũgĩ then – when he submitted a manuscript for Weep Not Child in 1960. 

When he dropped his English name ten years later, Kamau marched his steps. Moreover, he acclaimed him for continuing to publish with them despite the fact that he became globally renowned.

He described Ngũgĩ’s books as symbols of courage and carriers of history, revolution and identity, and his shift to writing in Gĩkũyũ influenced the world of publishing in indigenous languages.

“It was in the 1970s that Ngũgĩ became a powerful voice that speaks truth to power. Ngaahika Ndeenda was a revolutionary act, and it championed the language and consciousness of ordinary Kenyans,” he said.

Professor Ayub Gitau, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, remembered the literary figure’s legacy as both institutional and historical and cultural, which scholars continue to engage with.

“Writing in Gĩkũyũ was a deliberate shift of affirming the existence of African pride and the role of literature in liberation,” he commented.

The Ngũgĩ family singularly performed a song, poem, and an excerpt virtually. A recorded video of Ngũgĩ’s son, Tee Ngũgĩ, reciting A Crying of Winter, a poem he wrote in his moments of grief, played.

Kimunya wa Ngũgĩ read an excerpt of his father’s novel, Devil on the Cross. Modern Artists of the University of Nairobi (MAUoN) performed an excerpt of Ngũgĩ’s play, ‘The Black Hermit’.

Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan reflected on Ngũgĩ’s legacy: “I’ve seen Ngũgĩ speak in Nairobi, London, Johannesburg, and New York. He always humble, always powerful. He educated and empowered people to speak for themselves in their languages. Today, we celebrate not just a writer but history itself.” By Anjellah Owino, The Standard

 
  • The €150 million project was jointly financed by the European Union, France, European Investment Bank and the Government of Tanzania. 

  • It focused on expanding and upgrading water supply and sanitation systems in Mwanza and environs, significantly improving access to safe water and hygiene.

The Government of Tanzania today joined the European Union (EU), France and the European Investment Bank (EIB Global) in launching the Butimba Water Treatment Plant, a facility of the completed works for the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Project (LVWATSAN). The €150 million project involved the extension and upgrading of the water supply and sanitation systems and safe hygiene practices in the city of Mwanza and the satellite towns of Misungwi, Magu, Lamadi, Bukoba and Musoma. An inauguration ceremony also took place in Lamadi on 19th June in the presence of the President of United Republic of Tanzania, Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan.

France, through the French Development Agency (AFD), supported the project with a €75 million loan, while the European Investment Bank (EIB Global) provided a loan of EUR 45 million as well as EUR 4 million for technical assistance. In addition, the European Union provided a €9.9 million grant through the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund to support long-term investment planning for the city of Mwanza and to strengthen the operational and financial capacity of local water and sanitation utilities. The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania also contributed €16 million toward the implementation of the project.

The launch of the Butimba Water Treatment Plant marks a major milestone in the LVWATSAN project, significantly improving water and sanitation access in Mwanza and its surrounding areas. The facility provides 44,000 cubic meters of treated water per day, benefiting approximately 450,000 people. The project has also enhanced sanitation services for over 150,000 people through a range of solutions, including innovative simplified sewerage systems tailored to Mwanza’s challenging terrain.

In an address to the people, entirely in Kiswahili, H.E. Anne Sophie, French Ambassador to Tanzania, said: “This water and sanitation project is exemplary. France and the European Union have worked with the Tanzanian government at bringing clean water to the people for over 20 years. It will make thousands of peoples’ lives better. “Maji ni Uhai”. This project required political will, engineering and a lot of funding. We are happy and proud that French companies - SOGEA SATOM and VINCI - and French and European money - 400 bn TZS - contributed to it. Investing in people and children, in their health and safety, is investing for the future, for all of us.”

Celine Robert, AFD Country Director for Tanzania, said: "We are extremely proud of this Butimba water treatment project, which will significantly improve water services in the area. LVWATSAN is a comprehensive program covering not only water production but also network expansion, sanitation services and capacity building for MWAUWASA. We are pleased to announce that we are ready to scale up our investment in phase 2 of the program, demonstrating our continued commitment to water and sanitation in the Lake Victoria region."

The Head of the EIB Regional Hub for East Africa, Edward Claessen said, “Clean water is essential for life and this project will improve health outcomes and transform the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of Tanzanians living around Lake Victoria. The European Investment Bank is the largest financier of water projects globally and is committed to supporting such crucial investments. We are pleased to have partnered with the French Development Agency (AFD), the European Union Delegation in Tanzania and the government of Tanzania, in making this project a reality.”

“This project is about improving lives—bringing clean water and better sanitation to families in Mwanza and beyond. It shows what we can achieve when we work together towards shared goals. This is the spirit of Team Europe and the Global Gateway—investing in people, infrastructure, and long-term development. As we mark 50 years of EU–Tanzania partnership, we’re proud to support impactful projects that respond to real needs and build a healthier, more sustainable future for all,” said EU Ambassador to Tanzania and the East African Community, H.E. Christine Grau. EEAS

Gen Z during the Gen Z Love Jesus Ministry night ‘Kesha’ in Nakuru on January 31,2025 which started at 9pm and 6am. [Kipsang Joseph,Standard]
 

Welcome to Kenya, where humour is a powerful coping mechanism, even in difficult times. Despite facing serious challenges, Kenyans use wit in the form of memes, slogans, catchy music, sarcastic tweets and clever slang to reflect on and respond to their reality.

This spirit of humour and creativity was particularly evident during the anti-Finance Bill protests in 2024. What began as online frustration, quickly escalated into peaceful street demonstrations across towns and cities. Protesters turned out in style, carrying smartphones and creative placards that blended sarcasm and sharp political critique.

The courageous Gen Zs held up placards and chanted slogans that reflected their message. Some even printed these powerful messages on T-shirts, attracting hundreds of young participants. 

Signs bore statements such as ‘Mheshimiwa unafuliza na my future’, ‘Zakayo Shuka’, ‘Release Young Thug...Take Ruto instead’ and ‘Commander in thief’. Other T-shirts featured slogans like ‘Rong Rende rejects’, ‘Sponsored by Jacob Juma and enemies of thieves and killers’, and ‘The Woke Maji Maji Rebellion’. 

Slang emerged as a key form of protest, capturing frustrations over the rising cost of living. Phrases like ‘Mayai ni expensive kuliko kuku’ (‘eggs are more expensive than chicken’) and ‘Maji ni expensive kuliko karai’ (‘water is more expensive than the basin’) became common. Using irony and satire, slang offered a relatable, non-confrontational

way to express anger.

A popular slogan, “People Power! If we lose our fear, they lose their power,” was chanted in every Nairobi street and on social media platforms. In a viral TikTok video, a young woman apprehended by police bravely chanted this slogan and thousands joined in, prompting the police to leave her alone. This demonstrated how even humorous slogans sent a deeply meaningful message.

Another well-known slogan was ‘Anguka Nayo’, which originated as a dance challenge. Kenyan arbantone artist Wadagliz released the song ‘Anguka Nayo’ during the anti-Finance Bill protests and it quickly went viral. 

The song Anguka Nayo garnered an impressive 11 million views on YouTube in ten months. What began as a fun party song took on a deeper meaning after President William Ruto dismissed his entire Cabinet (though he later reappointed some members). The song, which roughly translates to “fall down with it” in Swahili, transcended party lines and was chanted in both streets and on social media, aiming to call for the removal of corrupt leaders.

During this period, Kenyans also began referring to President William Ruto as ‘Zakayo’ - A Kiswahili name for ‘Zacchaeus’, referring to a biblical figure known for punitive tax. This nickname emerged in response to Ruto’s frequent introduction of new taxes, which many citizens considered harsh and burdensome. By Molly Chebet, The Standard

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