27th July 2023 - The Elephant's Weekly Digest
Welcome to this week’s letter from the Editor’s Desk. In this week’s newsletter, we examine church politics, police brutality, and the state’s borrowing. These are some of the key themes that grace the pages of this recent week’s publication.
KENYA’S UNREFORMABLE POLICE: Kenyan Activists Faith Kasina and Gathanga Ndung’u deliver powerful and sharp criticism of the role of the Kenyan police as the oppressor of the masses. They explain in detail how police terror has manifested itself on issues such as the crackdowns on activists, the aftermath of elections, state-led campaigns against terrorism and informal settlements. They also take the time to commemorate fallen activists and inform us about ongoing grassroots movements against the violence of the police.?Read more
RETHINKING KENYA’S 2022 ELECTION: Kenya is at a higher level of social and political development, complete with a new constitution without which Deputy President William Ruto would long have been consigned to political oblivion. The election of President William Ruto and his Deputy, Rigathi Gachagua illustrates this unfortunate reality in the history of Kenya’s politics that those who fight for political liberation never directly benefit by ascending to power.?Read more
WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?: In August 2019, Africa Uncensored’s John-Allan Namu hosted a panel of thought leaders on the matter at hand as well as tie-ins that include devolution and the full implementation of the constitution that the country promulgated in 2010. In light of the recent developments in our state borrowing culture, we revisit the state’s debt situation and the evolution of our budget funding issues.?Read more
RELIGION TODAY: Fettered with neo-liberalism, ethnic chauvinism and corruption, Dauti Kahura explores the colonial roots of the church and why despite fifty-five years of independence, the church in Kenya is unable to play its prophetic role in society. When President Moi vacated office in 2002, and his former VP Mwai Kibaki stepped into his shoes, relations between the church and the state altered dramatically,’ wrote John Githongo in 2013. “The visceral antagonisms of the prior era melted away. Ruto brought all that back.?Read more
IS THE GOVERNMENT STILL BROKE?: Despite Ruto's earlier pledge to go slow down on loans, the President has since?September 2022 borrowed a total of Sh419.46 billion from the domestic market alone. The President has gone to the international market a number of times since taking over office and borrowed Sh716.92 billion. Is Kenya’s excessive borrowing constitutional? What are the implications in the grand scheme of things? Just how big is Kenya’s debt? We revisit David Ndii’s take.?Read more
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Is there a tip or story you would like us to cover? Please?reach out?and let us know!
Vol. 01, Issue No. 16, 27 July 2023
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