Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes Key Milestones at a Glance Year Coffee Tea 1893 First coffee planted at Bura, Taita Hills — 1903 — First tea seedlings introduced in Limuru 1904 Coffee established at Kikuyu near Nairobi — 1924 — Commercial tea cultivation begins 1932/33 Coffee Board established; first Coffee Act — 1934/35 First coffee auction … Read more
Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes Key Takeaways Era Land System Who Controlled It? Pre-Colonial Customary / Communal The Clan / Community Colonial (1895–1963) Crown Lands / Native Reserves The British Crown Independence (1963–2002) Freehold / Leasehold Political Elite 2010 Constitution Public / Community / Private NLC & Communities Land is more than soil in Kenya. It … Read more
A shocking scandal has been trending across African social media: a **Russian man identified as “Yaytseslav” secretly filmed intimate encounters with women in Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and beyond. Over the past few days, short video clips have circulated showing this man approaching young women in public – on city streets and in malls – … Read more
Kenya’s banking liquidity structure is notably cash-light: only about 7–10% of Kenya’s broad money supply is physical cash, with the rest being bank deposits or electronic money. This low cash ratio, achieved largely thanks to widespread mobile money (M-Pesa), is comparable to or even lower than many larger economies. For instance, in the United States … Read more
Emilio Mwai Kibaki served as Kenya’s Minister for Finance and Economic Planning from 1969 to 1982 – the longest tenure in that position. This era spanned the late Jomo Kenyatta presidency and the early years of Daniel arap Moi. Kibaki, a British-trained economist, quickly earned a reputation as a prudent technocrat. During his stewardship, Kenya … Read more
One sunny afternoon in Nairobi, a skeptical bank customer named Wanjiku stared at her SMS banking alert. Her paycheck of KSh 50,000 had just been deposited into her account at Co-operative Bank. A comforting message assured her: “Dear Customer, your funds are safe with us.” But Wanjiku couldn’t shake a nagging question: How can her … Read more
Cyrus Shakhalaga Khwa Jirongo burst onto Kenya’s national stage in 1992 as a brash young political operator leading the Youth for KANU ’92 (YK’92) lobby group. The country was undergoing a historic transition – President Daniel arap Moi had reluctantly allowed multiparty politics, and an energized opposition was rallying to unseat him. In response, Moi’s … Read more
In 1963, Julius Nyerere made an extraordinary offer: he would delay Tanganyika’s independence if Kenya and Uganda agreed to a political federation. It was a bold, almost reckless act of Pan-African faith. But it failed. The dream of a united East Africa—so close to reality that leaders were negotiating cabinets and constitutions—was dead before it … Read more
Nicholas Kiprono Kipyator arap Biwott was born in 1940 in Chebior Village, Keiyo District (in present-day Elgeyo-Marakwet), into a humble Kalenjin family. His parents, Cheserem and Maria Soti, were progressive for their time – his father was an enterprising farmer-turned-businessman, and his mother stressed education for all her children. Biwott attended local schools – first … Read more
George Musengi Saitoti remains one of the most consequential figures in Kenya’s post-independence political history, yet also one of its most elusive. For more than thirty years, he moved quietly within circles where men rarely survived long. He managed to navigate a political landscape designed to crush dissent, bury rivals, and reward blind loyalty. And … Read more