Featured stories about Kenya
Stories about Kenya
9 March 2020
A ‘sweet’ deal: Sugar war ends between Tanzania and Uganda after years-long embargo
After a years-long ban on sugar imports from Uganda, Tanzania announced that it would open up trade on a government-to-government basis, strengthening ties within the East African Community.
26 December 2019
From Kenya to Ethiopia, these men received divine dream ‘maps’ to carve caves
Throughout history, many have questioned the veracity of divine intervention through dreams, but prophets from Islam, Judaism and Christianity have all testified to messages from God through dreams for millennia.
18 December 2019
2019: A year of flipping scripts and changing narratives in Africa
2019, a year of changing narratives in Africa: Revolutions. Internet shutdowns. Tree-planting. Migration. Feminist songs. Media crackdowns. Cyclones and climate change. Opposition rising. Cultural icons dying. Illness, cures, and healing.
8 August 2019
Kenyan MP and her baby ordered out of parliament: ‘What was I supposed to do? Miss my duties?’
"I had an emergency, so what was I supposed to do? Miss parliament and my duties — just because I have a baby?"
23 July 2019
Is Mandarin Chinese the language of East Africa’s future?
As China strengthens its already robust trade and infrastructural ties with Africa, Chinese-government funded Confucius Institutes to teach Chinese Mandarin are on the rise.
5 July 2019
New York Times ad for Nairobi bureau chief riddled with clichés about Africa
The NYT’s language to describe their ideal Nairobi bureau chief reignited the debate on Western media's perpetual use of tired clichés and tropes about Africa.
28 May 2019
‘I don't want to be hacked to death!': Kenyans speak out against a spike in murders of women
On May 27, 20 female members of parliament in Kenya launched a campaign against femicide called "Her Life Matters," to raise national consciousness on killings that occur within relationships.
23 May 2019
Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina, who taught the world ‘how to write about Africa,’ dies at 48
"There is only one Binyavanga Wainaina. He is an ancestor now. Let us celebrate his life." The world mourns the loss and honors the prolific life of Kenya's leading writer.
16 March 2019
Hundreds gather in Nigeria to mourn professor Pius Adesanmi: ‘A juggernaut of African thought’
"A thousand years from now, I am hoping that fragments of my writing survive: not all accepted to live as slaves of the most irresponsible rulers of their era."
12 March 2019
Nigerians grieve the death of Pius Adesanmi, postcolonial scholar and public intellectual
"A towering intellectual with a mind that cut through issues like a scalpel who still remained curious about the issues of a younger would-be thinker ..."
13 February 2019
Four southern African nations petition to lift the international ivory trade ban
The proposal to lift the ivory trade ban has released a clash between elephant conservationists and those who favor the practice, citing economic reasons.
31 December 2018
Censored in 2018: Protest videos, court verdicts, real news — and Peppa Pig
From blocked websites to revoked media licenses to account shutdowns, censorship comes in many forms. Here are a few we saw in 2018.
30 August 2018
Can a controversial in-vitro fertilization process save the northern white rhino?
"A practical concern for any future Northern white rhinos successfully bred through IVF is...where they would live. Much of the sub-species’ former range has lost rhinos in its entirety..."
20 March 2018
“Africa and the Poetry of News”: Global Voices Hosts a Twitter Chat for World Poetry Day
To honor World Poetry Day on March 21, 2018, Global Voices sub-Saharan Africa team will host a Twitter chat on "Africa and the Poetry of News." Join us! #GVSSA #Poetrynews
23 February 2018
One Country, Two Leaders and Four Censored TV Channels: Kenya's Political Crisis Takes a Toll on Human Rights
The illusion of an independent Kenyan media that is free from state interference has evaporated.
20 February 2018
At Zanzibar’s Sauti za Busara Festival, Music Professionals Ask: Can One Song Really Change the World?
"This is an issue with the rights of all musicians to speak out. This tells me how powerful music is. If it wasn’t this strong, it wouldn’t be so feared."
6 February 2018
Kenyan TV Networks Censored for Airing Symbolic ‘Swearing In’ of Opposition Leader Raila Odinga
When Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga was symbolically—if not legally—sworn in as the "people's president" on January 30, three major broadcasting networks were unplugged by the Government of Kenya.
12 January 2018
Africans ‘School’ US President on Good Governance After ‘Shithole’ Comment Sparks Global Outrage
"Yes, Africa [has] problems. We don't dispute it. But name calling & outright disrespect by the very nation that has stripped off its resources for years is totally crossing it."
8 January 2018
The Untimely Death of an Exiled Ethiopian Journalist
"His reward for having conscience in a country that criminalises it was torture & death in exile."
