Kenya

Kenya’s Cuisine: A Nation Told Through Flavor

In the bustling streets of Nairobi, the scent of roasted meat drifts from roadside grills, mingling with the sharp bite of chili and the earthy sweetness of simmering stews. Food in Kenya is...

Jomo Kenyatta, father of the nation? Kenya’s first president built up a myth which masked his faults

Stephen Mutie, Kenyatta University - Kenya’s legacy as a state is deeply intertwined with Jomo Kenyatta’s influence on the nation. Kenya’s founding president died on 22 August 1978 in his sleep at State...

Rating agencies and Africa: the absence of people on the ground contributes to bias against the continent – analyst

Misheck Mutize, University of Cape Town - Rating agency Fitch recently warned that the rapid spread of the mpox virus in sub-Saharan Africa could...

Kenya’s Dance Traditions: Movement as Memory and Identity

Culture
In the humid air of Mombasa’s coastal evenings, the strains of taarab music drift across courtyards, carrying poetry and rhythm into the night. The dance that accompanies it is as fluid as the ocean itself—hips swaying in intricate patterns, movements tied to the ebb and flow of Swahili culture. Along Kenya’s coast, dance serves as both performance and conversation, an art form that merges music, storytelling, and identity. Across the country, every region has cultivated its own styles, often rooted in ritual, celebration, or collective memory. In central Kenya, the Kikuyu people’s ngoma dances unfold in circular formations, echoing the symbolism of unity. Drums and stringed instruments accompany songs that...

Child malnutrition in Kenya: AI model can forecast rates six months before they become critical

Laura Ferguson, University of Southern California and Bistra Dilkina, University of Southern California Globally, nearly half of the deaths of children under five years are...

Kenyans stand to lose from Adani airport deal: finance guru explains why

Economy
Odongo Kodongo, University of the Witwatersrand - The proposal submitted early this year by Indian conglomerate Adani Group to Kenya Airports Authority to develop and renovate parts of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has recently...

Kenya’s Kitchen: Bold Flavors, Deep Traditions

On a crowded Nairobi street, the aroma of grilled meat rises into the evening air, mingling with the spice of fresh chilies and the earthiness of simmering stews. Kenyan cuisine is not a single tradition but a mosaic, shaped by geography, trade, and the country’s remarkable cultural diversity. It is food that is both familiar and surprising—simple in form yet layered in history. At the...

Kenya’s Traditional Music: Identity in Rhythm, Unity in Song

In the highlands of central Kenya, at weddings that stretch late into the night, the pulse of drums often signals more than celebration. Across villages and towns, traditional music continues to serve as...

Raila Odinga: the Kenyan statesman who championed competitive politics and accountability

John Mukum Mbaku, Weber State University - Raila Amolo Odinga, who died on 15 October 2025, aged 80, ran five times for the Kenyan presidency but didn’t win. Yet he became a statesman...

Refugees in east Africa suffer from high levels of depression, making it harder to rebuild lives – new study

Olivier Sterck, University of Oxford; Julia R Pozuelo, Harvard University; Maria Flinder Stierna, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and...

High-rise living in Nairobi’s Pipeline estate is stressful – how men and women cope

Mario Schmidt, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Miriam Maina, University of Manchester Within sight of Kenya’s main international airport in Nairobi’s east, Pipeline residential estate stands out like a sore thumb. Composed...

Kenya’s Kitchen: Bold Flavors, Deep Traditions

On a crowded Nairobi street, the aroma of grilled meat rises into the evening air, mingling with the spice of fresh chilies and the earthiness of simmering stews. Kenyan cuisine is not a...