‘A brutal legacy’: Queen’s death met with anger as well as grief in Kenya

Politicians pay warm tributes but memories of colonial atrocities prompt fierce criticism too

In 1952, the then Princess Elizabeth was on a royal tour with Prince Philip at Treetops lodge in Kenya. Unknown to them at the time, she would receive news of her father’s death during that visit, and the forest lodge would long be remembered as the place where Britain’s longest-serving monarch “went to sleep a princess and awoke a queen”.

Just two years after her visit, the Mau Mau, Kenyan freedom fighters opposed to British colonial rule, burned the lodge down. It was rebuilt in 1957, and older residents who live along the long and winding path to the lodge remembered her second visit to the area in 1983 fondly, saying it had placed their neighbourhood on the map. But Treetops was not open for the end of the Queen’s life. It closed its doors last year after a dive in tourism during the pandemic forced it out of business.

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Kenya’s supreme court upholds William Ruto’s win in presidential election

Court dismisses opposition’s challenge against August’s vote that alleged fraud and voter suppression

Kenya’s supreme court has confirmed William Ruto as winner of the country’s disputed national vote, ending weeks of political uncertainty after the opposition – and election officials – questioned the count.

Ruto was announced winner on 15 August amid a divide within the electoral commission over the declared outcome, which showed that the vice-president had gained 50.5% of the vote, beating the longtime opposition leader, Raila Odinga, and narrowly avoiding a runoff.

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‘We need your help’: Bishops plead with UK to aid drought-ravaged Horn of Africa

Open letter from 44 Anglican leaders contrasts ‘generous’ British response to Ukraine with ‘dire need’ still unmet in their countries

Dozens of bishops from drought-ravaged east Africa have appealed to the UK government to urgently get more funding to those in need, warning that Britain’s rapid response to the Ukraine crisis must not come at the expense of lives elsewhere.

As the worst drought for four decades tightens its grip on Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, with millions facing acute hunger, the group of 44 Anglican bishops criticised the international community for not paying attention to early warnings or backing up rhetoric with sufficient funds.

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Kenyan cyclist Sule Kangangi killed in crash at Vermont Overland gravel race

  • 33-year-old dies after crash at high speed on Saturday
  • Kangangi was committed to growing cycling in Kenya

Kenyan cyclist Sule Kangangi died in a crash on Saturday while competing in a gravel race in Vermont. The 33-year-old was riding at high speed in the Vermont Overland race when he crashed.

“Sule is our captain, friend, brother. He is also a father, husband and son. Gaping holes are left when giant’s fall. Sule was a giant,” his Team Amani posted on social media. “Instead of leading us at the front of the pack, he will now lead us as our guiding pole star as we press forward in the realization of his dream.”

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Kenyan tea pickers on Scottish-run farm to pursue health issues in UK court

Prolonged bending to gather tea for James Finlay Kenya is argued to accelerate ageing of pickers’ backs by up to 20 years

More than a 1,000 Kenyan tea pickers who say that harsh and exploitative working conditions on a Scottish-run tea farm have caused them crippling health complaints can now pursue their class action in an Edinburgh court.

Lawyers acting for the tea pickers have won an order from the court of session, Scotland’s highest civil court, telling James Finlay Kenya Ltd (JFK) to abandon attempts to block the suit through the Kenyan courts.

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Kenya elections bring new wave of female leaders to the fore

Record win for women is a cause for celebration as acrimony over the presidency continues

More women won parliamentary seats in Kenya’s elections this month than ever before.

The National Gender and Equality Commission said Kenyans elected 30 female MPs, up from 23 in 2017, seven female governors, up from three in 2017, and three female senators, the same number as in 2017.

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Kenya opposition leader files court challenge to election result

Raila Odinga submits case to supreme court in move that could heighten the country’s political dispute

Kenya’s longtime opposition leader, Raila Odinga, has filed a case with the country’s supreme court to challenge the results of the 9 August presidential election in which his opponent, William Ruto, was declared the winner with 50.49% of the vote.

Ruto, who has served as deputy president since 2013, was named president-elect amid protests from four of the seven electoral commissioners, who renounced the results, calling them “opaque”. They claimed that the chair of the electoral commission, Wafula Chebukati, had hijacked the process leading up to the announcement and declared the results unilaterally.

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Drought in Horn of Africa places 22m people at risk of starvation, says UN

Four years of failed rains in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia have left the region facing catastrophe this year

The number of people at risk of starvation in the drought-ravaged Horn of Africa has increased to 22 million, the UN’s world food programme (WFP) says.

Years of insufficient rainfall across Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia have caused the worst drought in 40 years and conditions akin to famine in the hardest-hit areas, aid groups say.

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Kenya opposition leader rejects election result as ‘null and void’

Raila Odinga’s comments on poll he was declared to have lost come after some officials disown final tally

The Kenyan opposition leader, Raila Odinga, has rejected as “null and void” the result of a presidential election that he was declared to have lost, and pledged to challenge the outcome with “all constitutional and legal options”.

Odinga said he would channel his complaints through “appropriate authorities”, in his first comments since William Ruto, the deputy president, was declared the winner with 50.49% of the vote by the electoral commission chair, Wafula Chebukati, on Monday.

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William Ruto declared winner of Kenya presidential election amid dispute

Electoral commission chair declares deputy president winner of tight race as other senior officials disown results

William Ruto has been declared the winner of Kenya’s presidential election, amid last-minute chaos as four senior election officials denounced the week-long count and disowned the result.

Official results showed that Ruto, the current deputy president, won 50.5% of the vote, beating the longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga and narrowly avoiding a run-off.

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Police chief quit after abuse by British colonial troops in Kenya covered up

Documentary reveals how Britain was not only involved in rape and torture but tried to suppress evidence

A former police commissioner resigned after attempts to expose rape and torture by British colonial forces in Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising were covered up, a documentary shows.

During the 1950s, Britain fought a war in Kenya against the Mau Mau, a movement that fought for independence from colonial rule. The movement was brutally suppressed through the use of widespread detention camps and systemic violence.

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Kenya presidential election: Raila Odinga slightly ahead in early results

Odinga has 52.54% of the vote against 46.76% for William Ruto, as country waits for final count

Kenya’s one-time opposition leader Raila Odinga is slightly ahead in the race for the presidency against the incumbent deputy president, William Ruto, partial official results showed.

Odinga has 52.54% of the vote against 46.76% for Ruto, according to figures issued by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission in the early afternoon based on results from about 30% of polling stations.

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Count for Kenya’s presidential election enters fourth day

Head of election commission blames slow progress on political parties treating process like a ‘forensic audit’

Kenya’s election count has dragged into its fourth day, after an election this week that pitted former prime minister Raila Odinga against the deputy president, William Ruto.

On Friday, the head of Kenya’s election commission blamed the slow progress on disruptions by political parties, who he said were treating the process like a “forensic audit”.

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Kenya elections: Raila Odinga and William Ruto in tight race for president

Analysts say result too close to call, with poor turnout amid cost of living crisis and soaring unemployment

Kenya’s veteran opposition politician Raila Odinga and the deputy president, William Ruto, are locked in a tight race for the country’s highest office, according to early results from Tuesday’s election.

National media updates put Ruto in the lead, at roughly 52%, with Odinga a close second at 47%. The deputy president is performing better than polls had predicted, with a number having placed Odinga in both clear and marginal leads.

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Kenyans go to polls against backdrop of soaring cost of living

Tough economic realities have pushed campaigns beyond ethnic and personality-driven politics

Millions of Kenyans have been voting in an election that pits the longtime opposition politician Raila Odinga against the deputy president, William Ruto.

In Kayole, a poor neighbourhood in the capital, Nairobi, residents woke up to the sound of vuvuzelas and whistles from 4am – a rallying call to get out and vote.

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Kenya election: shifting alliances and economic woe to fore

Raila Odinga is leading William Ruto in the polls but the latter hopes his ‘hustler’ image will win him votes among the poor

Kenyans are heading to the ballot box on Tuesday after a campaign season marked by a shift in ethnic alliances and two big-ticket issues: the cost of living crisis and high unemployment.

The race pits presidential frontrunners Raila Odinga, the former prime minister, and deputy president William Ruto against each other in a hotly contested race. Polls place Odinga in the lead.

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Revealed: UK ran cold war dirty tricks campaign to smear Kenya’s first vice-president

Special unit spread fake news about leftist politician, Oginga Odinga, seen as threat to British interests in 1960s

British cold war propagandists smeared Kenyan vice-president Oginga Odinga in the 1960s in “black” propaganda operations, newly declassified files reveal.

The Foreign Office’s propaganda arm, the Information Research Department (IRD), targeted the Kenyan nationalist in a three-year campaign run by its dirty tricks section, the Special Editorial Unit (SEU).

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‘It’s an illusion of choice’: why young Kenyans are boycotting the election

As presidential elections approach, engagement appears low among under-35s – but some see staying away from the polls as a form of protest

A growing number of 18- to 35-year-olds say they are not planning to vote in Kenya’s presidential elections next week.

About 40% of the 22 million people registered to vote in Tuesday’s elections are aged 18 to 35. Under-35s make up 75% of the country’s population.

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Kenyan police officers found guilty of murder of three including human rights lawyer

Four found guilty by a Nairobi court six years after murders of Willie Kimani, Josephat Mwenda and Joseph Muiruri prompted protests in Kenya

Three police officers in Kenya have been found guilty of murdering three men, including human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, six years after their bodies were found in a river.

Justice Jessie Lessit found police officers Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Cheburet and Sylvia Wanjiku as well as police informer Peter Ngugi guilty of murdering Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri on 23 June 2016.

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Country Queen: first Netflix series to be produced in Kenya hits the screen

Streaming company’s family drama marks shift from locally made ‘edutainment’ to shows that reflect complex realities of Kenyan life

Kenya’s first homegrown Netflix series, the family drama Country Queen, has its premiere on Friday, marking the beginning of a significant investment in African film by the streaming company.

Shot in English, Swahili and a mix of other local languages, the series features a female lead character and chronicles the lives of ordinary Kenyans fighting against corporate power and land grabs. It explores urban and rural Kenya through characters intertwined by love, betrayal and conflict.

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