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.

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?

As we mark the third anniversary of the 2022 General Elections today, Kenya’s governance occurs as fragile and rudderless. Navigating the current turbulence will require new state systems to listen and interact with public concerns. A new opportunity has emerged in the Public Participation Bill (2025) currently before the National Assembly.

World Press Freedom Day and the Media Council Annual Summit this week highlighted the resilience of Kenya's fourth estate. The publication of a new media code of conduct is timely, given the regular criticism and the current challenges the industry faces.

What can we learn from the 2024 youth led mass protests that significantly challenged state legitimacy in Bangladesh, Nigeria and Kenya?

Does the mass deregistration of PBOs signal the start of another season of conflict between civil society and the state?

With Kenya moving from “obstructed” to “repressed” category in CIVICUS 2024 report, what can be done to recover Kenya’s global standing?

Kenya as an extreme sport. To win, we must organise our communities to claim our public institutions or lizards will become crocodiles.

Kenya’s data protection law turns five soon. Is Okiya Omtatah’s 2019 petition challenging it, in the public interest?