Independent film-maker Nick Wambugu took his final bow this week after battling a rare blood disorder. As the Kenyan film industry prepares its tributes, Nick’s passing deserves wider acknowledgement by the Kenyan public and international community. Unlike many, Nick filmed not only to explain our world but to offer the silenced a voice and to protect the truth. An opinion co-written with Actor Melissa Kiplagat.

CJE Willy Mutunga’s rhetorical question “Are African governments in the business of selling Turkish citizens to the dictatorship in Türkiye?” deserves closer attention. With the recent arrests of Mustafa Güngör in Kenya and Emre Çınar in Mozambique, a new wave of transnational repression on African soil needs disrupting.

Once again, human rights violations scarred many and tested our national conscience over 2025. However, several victories remind us, hope survives not as a passive emotion but as the consequence of our personal vigilance and public action.

A High Court ruling this week declaring safe abortion a constitutional right has massive implications for hundreds of thousands of women and girls with unintended pregnancies. The ruling stems back to a ban arbitrarily placed on reproductive health care services provided by Marie Stopes International Kenya.

16 days of activism against gender-based violence ended on Wednesday, which was also International Human Rights Day. That horrific “initiation” gang rape in Meru reaffirmed how far we are from a society that keeps all women and girls dignified and safe. Less visible however, is how sexual violence and trauma that follows, affects Kenyan men and boys.

The High Court has struck down the President’s Panel of Experts on compensating victims of protest-related state violence. Survivors and families should not lose hope. Justice Edward Muriithi has outlined a fair path forward for all parties.

It is the system that has been built to serve a few that fuelled young Kenyan citizens’ anger over the past year. Will Kenya Kwanza act on Oxfam’s findings and policy lifeline or repeat last year’s crisis? The clock ticks.

Recent reports reveal that digital technologies are being weaponized by states to suppress active citizens. If this threatens constitutional freedoms and risks undermining an open, thriving digital economy, how do we compel both states and telecom companies to uphold our right to privacy and free expression?

The 27 November by-elections have all the signs of a mini General Elections. Given that our two neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda governments have provided clear evidence how not to prepare for elections, can the Kenyan authorities demonstrate any difference?

Described as having lost “its innocence” by the Citizen News Gang, Tanzania is in a political meltdown. After days of internet shutdowns, blackouts and curfews, the truth is slowly beginning to shine through state’s efforts to censor or control information. With this, comes credible concerns about the conditions of Tanzanian protesters and Kenyans caught up in the violence.

With the Aga Khan University's study on femicide related media coverage can we ask why the Gender-Based Violence Technical Working Group Report remains shelved in the Office of the Deputy President?

Kenyan citizens Nicholas Oyoo and Bob Njagi were abducted in broad daylight by uniformed officers in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. Since then, they have simply vanished. Uganda’s police and military deny involvement, and the Kenyan government has gone silent. Are we witnessing a return to Idi Amin’s terror or does the 1986 NRM promise of justice and human rights have any legs left three months before the January 2026 general elections?