Premium

Budget 2025: Kenya targets growth, reality suggests economic headwinds

While Treasury's new "openness" is commendable, there is a worrying level of confusion when the CS Treasury publicly promises a 2025 Finance Bill filled with new taxes

By Dennis Kabaara 2 months ago

Why Kenya's Judiciary struggles to deliver justice despite promised funding

Many promises, or commitments, were made in that speech, but recent media attention has focused on those made to the Judiciary, and specifically, its budget.

By Dennis Kabaara 2 months ago

Decades apart, Ruto's development tours echo Kanu-style platform for roadside declarations

One presumes that these development tours are supposed to be useful advancements on our infamous past of Kanu's roadside declarations.

By Dennis Kabaara 2 months ago

Kenyans, brace for a bumpy economic journey in the run-up to 2027 elections

Contrary to the Treasury assertions, we will experience higher than projected fiscal deficits in this pre-election period - on account of lower than expected taxes on depressed economic activities.

By Dennis Kabaara 2 months ago

Unusual reflection of Ruto's mid-term promises against actions on delivery

The trouble here is the recorded achievements are mostly input and activity-based, so it is no surprise that Kenyans at large are still not feeling the outputs.

By Dennis Kabaara 2 months ago

Ruto, Raila handshake is all about self-preservation, not progress

The political collaboration between UDA and ODM, represents the latest example of a long-held belief among our political elite that Kenyans have short memories.

By Dennis Kabaara 3 months ago

Premium

Building castles in the air: Kenyans want jobs, not just talk and numbers

As Kenyans bemusedly endure this administration's penchant for costly foreign travel and local development tours in a tough economic environment, now the 2027 election agenda is already framing.

By Dennis Kabaara 4 months ago

Why 2025 budget must fix tax chaos, county funding gaps and rising debt

As we all know, the 2025/26 budget process - strictly 2025/26 to 2027/28 Medium-Term Budget process - is well underway, at both national and county government levels.

By Dennis Kabaara 4 months ago

Graft, case backlog and access to justice should top Judiciary's reform agenda

Judiciary, no stranger to calls for radical reform finds itself under a harsh spotlight following a highly accusatory and largely social media-driven push for yet another judicial purge.

By Dennis Kabaara 4 months ago

Lost in translation: Kenya's endless dance with parastatals and the IMF expectations

Eyes always light up and the national pulse beats harder when the government deigns to broach the sensitive subject of parastatal reform.

By Dennis Kabaara 4 months ago

Ruto's budget this year will be most important in the middle of first term

As our 2027 politics gets louder and more aggressive, it is easy to forget we are entering the home stretch of a 2025/26 budget process launched in August last year.

By Dennis Kabaara 4 months ago

Premium

2025: Will political sycophancy derail Kenya's pursuit of economic reform?

As we step into the hopeful embrace of 2025, let's randomly walk through a couple of unusual reflections for the year.

By Dennis Kabaara 5 months ago

Thank Kenyans for cancellation of Adani deals, not foreign pressure

Our eagerness to celebrate foreign pressure as the reason these deals were cancelled understates the important role played by local whistleblowers.

By Dennis Kabaara 6 months ago

William Ruto's State of the Nation address should be honest and reflective

The writer says the State of The Nation Address is more about self-reflection and introspection than it is about self-praise and congratulation.

By Dennis Kabaara 7 months ago

Why Gachagua's impeachment debate is a diversion

For the avoidance of doubt, the ongoing process to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is a terrible diversion.

By Dennis Kabaara 8 months ago

Premium

How Kenya Kwanza errors are making Kenya better country

Kenya Kwanza is an unpopular government, and it doesn't need rich people to fund poor people to say this.

By Dennis Kabaara 8 months ago

Ruto's missteps are making Kenya a better place

Public participation on the impeachment motion against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has suddenly, and unsurprisingly, mutated into a referendum on on Ruto's presidency.

By Dennis Kabaara 8 months ago

How Kenya Kwanza turned a perfect storm into a crisis in two years

DP impeachment is a cacophonous sideshow. The reality is likely about real transparency and accountability in our fiscus before we are called for taxation.

By Dennis Kabaara 8 months ago

The marking scheme has changed: Today's reality is not that of 2022

In this "business unusual" space, the focus is the destination of our journey, not their vehicle to take us there. Because, here and everywhere, the government is not the economy.

By Dennis Kabaara 8 months ago

Why Mbadi's budget review is all about lowering expectations

The first call is embedded in our budget calendar for 2025/26, the penultimate fiscal year to our 2027 election because the 2027/28 budget two years later will be transitional

By Dennis Kabaara 8 months ago

How can government improve our pockets without overtaxing?

How do we improve the lot of Kenyans without imposing new taxes and overborrowing while offering government services?

By Dennis Kabaara 9 months ago

Premium

What downgrade by credit rating firms means for Kenya's economy

S&P lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating for Kenya from "B" to "B-". Like the legend of Nero's Rome, our leadership fiddles as Kenya burns.

By Dennis Kabaara 9 months ago

Premium

Who takes blame if broad based government fails, Ruto or Raila?

The broad-based government reboots President Ruto's economic turnaround agenda that has so far been mostly mixed, moving in fits and starts.

By Dennis Kabaara 10 months ago

Ruto's government has spending problem, income is way too much

It is fair to speculate that President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza administration might turn out to be our most disappointing since independence.

By Dennis Kabaara 10 months ago

'Hybrid' government birthed by protests, but point clearly missed

After a month of Gen Z-led pro-good governance, not anti-government, protests, we are back to default settings.

By Dennis Kabaara 10 months ago

Premium

Firing an entire cabinet in a presidential system is akin to firing yourself

In our presidential system of government of technical, not elected, ministers, firing your entire Cabinet sounds like you just fired yourself. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

By Dennis Kabaara 11 months ago

Premium

The hard task ahead for Kenya Kwanza after tax bill collapse

A second week of anti-tax protests meant the 2024 Finance Bill was not signed into law, but this was really an accountability moment for Kenya's leaders.

By Dennis Kabaara 11 months ago

The task before MPs: Time to drop vacuity and attempt augustness

The House on the Hill is increasingly being an acronym for Hubris, Incompetence, Lies and Looting.

By Dennis Kabaara 11 months ago

Budget maths not adding up and why it's in order to blame our MPs

It is becoming increasingly difficult to link this administration's fine words with its fancy (and correct) ideas - six objectives, five pillars, five clusters, nine value chains etc

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

Premium

From secrets to statements, and why Kibaki's budgets hit home

The public narrative is Kibaki unlocked our potential with simplicity; Ruto is killing it with complexity.

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

Premium

Budget 2024: The big picture and the IMF hand

While Finance Bill 2024 is widely unpopular across businesses and among the people, it is a necessary condition for continued IMF support to Kenya.

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

One man, one-shilling talk could be diversion trick from real issues

It is not beyond the wit of man to suspect that the timing of this debate is not a coincidence with reactions to it being just as noisy as the proposition.

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

Premium

Is government on 'fuliza' mode?

KRA average monthly tax take this year has been Sh171 billion against a target of Sh208 billion.

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

Kenya Kwanza's approach to the wage bill crisis could be better

In true fat cat fashion we heard nothing this week about two important issues: pay inequity and multiple allowances.

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

Premium

Bane of Kenya Kwanza's Big Five agenda as regime enters second 18-month phase

Today's tragedy is we miss tomorrow's promise in Ruto's transformation agenda which, on paper, is rather clever in framing and structuring.

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

Kenya Kwanza agenda lacks public buy-in

The trouble with this administration is they spent their first year telling us Jubilee was the existential threat, when it was our actual debt.

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

Premium

Kenya in 2023: A case of being in motion without any movement

If 2023 was the year of "finyaa!" and pain for Kenyans, doesn't 2024 already feel like it might be "finyaa squared"?

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

Premium

Forget dialogue, cost of living not about to come down any time soon

From KNBS, inflation came in at 6.6 per cent in December, a fall from 6.8 per cent the previous month and far lower than the 9.2 per cent when the Kenya Kwanza administration assumed office.

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

Premium

Began as national dialogue, ended up an incomplete elite settlement

It is difficult to understand what Parliament is expected to do with the recommendations on electoral reform, multiparty democracy, new political positions or fresh politically-inspired funds.

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago

Leaders' words unhelpful if they do not address citizens' worries

Endless naysaying is one thing, but offering a different picture requires real work, and our politics is all about playful sound and fury.

By Dennis Kabaara 1 year ago