The Parklands Diary

  Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Kenya, a democratic spotlight in Sub-Saharan Africa, is now facing concerning trends toward authoritarianism. A country previously recognized for its dynamic civil society is now grappling with an increasingly repressive regime that stifles dissent and erodes fundamental freedoms. In recent years, the government's aggressive responses to protests have sparked significant concerns regarding the potential emergence of a police state. This situation raises important questions about civil liberties, public safety, and the balance of power. The recent surge in police violence during the ‘Reject Finance Bill’ protests in Kenya has ignited a firestorm of outrage and demands for accountability, raising alarming questions about the nation's trajectory. As many citizens confront an escalating threat to their freedoms, one pressing concern emerges: Is Kenya on the verge of becoming a police state, and what would this mean for the future of democracy in the nation?

A vendor with Kenyan shilling banknotes in Nairobi.Photographer: Patrick Meinhardt/Bloomberg More than two years after the inauguration of president William Ruto as Kenya's fifth commander in chief and coming to power of the Kenya Kwanza Government, Kenya has experienced moments of significant social, economic and political transformation. It is important to underscore the strides made by the government in the preceding two years towards increasing efficiency in service delivery to its citizenry. However, the government has come under sharp criticism for its immense failure to oversee the economic emancipation of the country under the Bottom Up Economic model and live up to numerous other campaign promises. In this article I delve into a fact finding mission of whether or not the Kenya Kwanza government has put Kenya first in its policies two years later. One of the major leitmotifs of the Kenya Kwanza coalition campaign trail message was the Bottom Up Economic model. The proponent

  Image from Pexels by Nataliya Vaitkevich Taxation is anchored on the four canons of equity, certainty, convenience, and economy. Equity calls for the burden of taxation to be distributed fairly, while certainty ensures taxes are determined by law, avoiding arbitrariness. Convenience demands that taxes be levied in a manner that is least burdensome to the taxpayer, and the econom y emphasizes keeping the cost of tax collection low. Adam Smith argued that these four canons should form the foundation of a country's taxation regime, applied holistically, like instruments in an orchestra. No one instrument takes precedence, but together, they create a harmonious symphony—in the case of taxation, that harmony is economic prosperity. Unfortunately, in recent years, the Kenyan government has refused to draw from Adam Smith’s fountain of wisdom, embarking on what can only be described as a taxation extravaganza. Taxes have been imposed on everything and anything, leaving a trail of eco

  Elections in Kenya, Image by CCPR Centre  There has been a wave of massive civic education and a better understanding of pivotal moments in our history as a republic due to the ongoing “GENZ REVOLUTION”. This “organic revolution” by the youth has brought forth drastic improvements in governance as they are constantly breathing fire down the necks of corrupt politicians. Something that until recently, has rarely been witnessed in Kenya’s young history as an independent nation. However, in the wake of these improvements, the history of electoral violence in our country is extremely understated. Most individuals in our nation except for Boomers and early GEN X, are not aware of this existing issue that has afflicted our great republic since the early 90s and which for the most part, has been sanctioned by the state. My article seeks to stress just how much electoral violence diminishes our attempts at unity as a nation, and how ignoring it further will exacerbate our current situati