Episodes

Somalia was recently formally admitted into the East African Community, a regional bloc with aspirations for deeper economic and political union. Somalia joins a more expanded bloc with members Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda...

Most Kenyan youths live under the gloom of economic uncertainty which leads to hopelessness. This has been against a backdrop of multiple interventions from the government and other stakeholders. Regardless, the subject of yo...

In a past episode of the Kenyanist, we talked about reforming the NHIF, which the government has recently undertaken to improve healthcare delivery. We also heard about how African countries spend about 6% of their GDP on hea...

For many Kenyans, being part of an ethnic group is an important mark of their identity. It symbolizes belonging, and access to resources. The question of which ethnic groups belong in Kenya is another part of this salient deb...

Kenya is renowned for producing world star athletes such as Eliud Kipchoge, a marathon legend, Faith Kipyegon, a top middle-distance runner, and the promising sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala. These among other athletes have consi...

In this episode, Dr. Ken Opalo, a Georgetown University Professor provides a comprehensive analysis of Kenya's cost-of-living crisis. We unpack the underlying factors, assess government responses, and examine potential outcom...

Kenya's political history is marked by protests. We can trace the history of protests to colonial times. In this episode, we are joined by Dr Westen Shihalo, a senior researcher from the University of Johannesburg, to examine...

Domestic work in Kenya, as well as in other parts of the world, is frequently characterized by low wages and a lack of recognition. Nevertheless, domestic workers have consistently proven to be indispensable to our daily live...

The world is re-emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are only now beginning to understand the full impact of the crisis. In Kenya, we need to take this opportunity to reflect on how we can better prepare for future …

Kenya’s food culture is dynamic and evolving, based on both local and foreign influences. On the local front, we know that different cultural groups in Kenya have their own foods and unique ways of preparing them. This divers...

In this episode, we seek to understand the political economy of street vending in Kenya, by speaking to Nathan Kariuki, a PhD student at the Centre for African Studies, in Bordeaux, France whose PhD project examines street ve...

In The Kenyanist today, we are joined by John Kinuthia, a Senior Program Officer at the International Budget Partnership who has recently, together with his colleagues, published a study on the transparency and accountability...

In this episode of The Kenyanist, we aim to broaden and deepen our understanding of the lost Kenyan artefacts, by talking to the incredible Jim Chuchu, a Kenyan artist who has been in the lead of efforts to identify and …

In the first episode of The Kenyanist’s second season, Kamau Wairuri speaks to Dr Beatrice Akala, an educationist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, on the country’s transition...

For this International Podcast Day special episode, our new producer Tevin Sudi has a conversation with our executive director and host, Kamau Wairuri, for our listeners to get to know him a little bit better. We talk about h...

This episode explores the legal, social, and political dimensions of forced evictions in Kenya with Pauline Vata. She is a seasoned human rights lawyer with expertise in land, housing, and natural resource governance issues, ...

In this episode, we explore the legal, social and political dimensions of forced evictions in Kenya with Pauline Vata. She is a seasoned human rights lawyer with expertise in issues of land, housing and natural resource gover...

In this episode of The Kenyanist, Sylvanus Wekesa hosts Nicodemus Minde who is a lecturer of International Relations at the United States International University (USIU) in Nairobi, Kenya. The discussion is focused on the ris...

In this episode, Kamau Wairuri hosts Eugene Ngumi, a public affairs consultant based in Nairobi, to discuss the politics of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Kenya. They trace the origins of the SGR, going back to the buil...

Kamau Wairuri hosts Billian Okoth Ojiwa (@BillianOjiwa) to discuss his work as a community organiser in Kenya. Billian is the founder of the Billian Music Family, a community building organisations based in Mathare in Nairobi...

Show notes In this episode, Kamau Wairuri hosts Ken Opalo to discuss the financing of development at the grassroots in Kenya. Ken is an Assistant Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University at Washing...

Kamau Wairuri hosts Sylvanus Wekesa to discuss Kenya's Foreign Policy during the presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta (2013 - to date). We have a wide ranging conversation ranging on the impact of President Kenyatta as Kenya's foremo...

In this episode, Kamau Wairuri talks to Tom Mboya, a governance consultant, on the cost of politics in Kenya. Our discussion is based on the findings of a study that Tom conducted with Prof Karuti Kanyinga on the topic. The …

In the first episode of The Kenyanist, Kamau Wairuri (host) talks to Melissa Wanjiru-Mwita, a lecturer in Spatial Planning at the Technical University of Kenya in Nairobi. Melissa argues that street names reflect what those i...