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Articles by Willy Mutunga
Book Review: From Mau Mau to Ruto-Must-Go: A Scrapbook of Essays on Kenya’s Struggle Against Imperialism
I recently read a review of the book, From MAU MAU to RUTO-MUST-GO: A Scrapbook of Essays on Kenya’s Struggle Against Imperialism,by Teddy Odira, a young lawyer in Nairobi who published in The Platform for Law, Justice, and Society. I shared the review with one of the co-editors of the book, Shiraz Durrani, and asked him what he thought. This is was his response via a WhatsApp text: It’s a brilliant review, I think.
The Raila Odyssey: Rethinking an Icon’s Political Legacy
“The Truth is in the whole”. Hegel Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o reminds us that when confronting the ideological and political legacy of any leadership, we must situate the individual within a historical trajectory. Only through such a lens can we both celebrate and critique their ideas and actions in service of the ongoing struggle. We glorify their achievements not for hero worship, but for the lessons they offer; likewise, we examine their weaknesses not for condemnation, but for instruction.
So, Who is a Terrorist in Kenya?
The status quo in a country can be the past, the present, and the future. So is the resistance to the status quo. Indeed, this is the essence of the revolutionary clarion call; the struggle continues. And the optimistic rejoinder that victory is certain. The use of colonial and neocolonial laws in Kenya to stop the people’s march to liberation is a glaring example of this struggle.
Glorifying and Celebrating the Martyrs of June 25, 2024 Gen Z Revolution in Kenya
On the morning of 25 June 2025, I posted a text on the social media site X that read: Nairobi City today looks like a Nazi Detention Camp. The police had blocked all roads to the State House, Parliament, and other state buildings. Protected using barbed wire, both the State House and Parliament looked like detention camps.
Dictatorships Are Gender-Neutral
On 19 May 2025, at about 2:30 a.m., I and two Kenyan comrades, Hussein Khalid and Hanifa Farsafi disembarked from a Kenya Airways flight that had landed at Julius Nyerere International Airport from Nairobi. The three of us were aware that three of our compatriots, including Hon. Martha Karua, had been detained at this airport earlier and deported back to Kenya. We were part of the various teams from Kenya and Uganda that were in Dar es Salaam to observe the ongoing treason trial against Hon.
Dictatorships are Gender Neutral
On May 19, 2025, at about 2.30 AM, I and two Kenyan comrades, Hussein Khalid and Honey Hanifa, disembarked from a Kenya Airways flight that had landed at Julius Nyerere International Airport from Nairobi. The three of us knew that three of our compatriots, including Honourable Martha Karua, had been detained at this airport earlier and deported back to Kenya.
Limits on religious freedom under the 2010 Constitution
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir (third left) with Mvita MP Mohamed Soud Machele and lands executive on lands Mohamed Hussein during Eid prayers at Ronald Ngala grounds in Mombasa on March 31 / JOHN CHESOLI For the last month, Muslims from all over the world have engaged with the spirituality of fasting.
In Defence of the Judiciary: Do Not Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater
The imperative of judicial accountability is inviolable, both as a matter of constitutional compliance and as a matter of good practice and as an antidote against judicial impunity and the anarchy of “mtado?” jurisprudence. But at the same time, method matters; a scorched-earth policy may be ruinous to the very constitutional principles we seek to protect and the new judicial order we hope to create.
MUTUNGA: Quest for better alternative in political leadership continues
Neither of the two factions of the current Kenyan comprador bourgeoisie is the answer to the country’s quest for an alternative political leadership. The opportunistic and unpatriotic argument among intellectuals who support both factions is that one is a ‘lesser evil’ for the broad Kenyan Left to work with. The Gen Z uprising of last year has exposed this concession as an opportunistic and unpatriotic political lie.
Safaricom Under Fire: Time to Hold Kenya’s Telecom Giant Accountable for Its Rogue Actions
The past month has witnessed an extraordinary assault on press freedom and the democratic right of journalists to hold the most powerful to account. Those attacks were not waged by rogue State House officials – although they have plenty to answer for – but by Kenya’s “most amazing money maker” and most profitable company. Safaricom describes itself as a “responsible corporate entity” and boasts that it upholds the “highest standards of integrity”.
Links and Continuities in the Struggle for Social Transformation
Log into your member account to listen to this article. Not a member? Join the herd. The Gen Z and Millennials movement/struggle/uprising/revolution (GZMU) has caught the attention of the government, the opposition, religious organisations, corporate interests (both national and international), our political elite, and above all, the people of Kenya who have resisted a KANU dictatorship that turns 61 years old on 12 December this year.
Black Agenda Report
Our future survival as a nation depends on what foreign policy decisions are made by our government. Originally published in The Star. We seem to love discussing the state of the Kenyan nation, a euphemism for discussing our political factions. I believe it is high time we pay great attention to the state of the planet/globe. Our future survival as a nation depends on what foreign policy decisions are made by our government in our name as a country.
MUTUNGA: Impending departure of Kenyan police forces to Haiti
We seem to love discussing the state of the Kenyan nation, a euphemism for discussing our political factions. I believe it is high time we pay great attention to the state of the planet/globe. Our future survival as a nation depends on what foreign policy decisions are made by our government in our name as a country. It is not idle gossip that World War III may be on the horizon. I am not an expert on military matters, but I am a keen student of history.
MUTUNGA: Benard Muchere breathes life into Constitution Chapter 12
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WILLY MUTUNGA: Are we on a suicide mission to Haiti?
As I write this article I do not know whether our compatriots are already in Haiti. If they are then our government, the US, and the UN Security Council should be held accountable for what is a suicide mission to Haiti. Our government, the US, and the UN Security Council have simply lured our compatriots into a deadly trap. In total deviance of the orders of our courts, and the Constitution, the President and all state officers involved in this decision, are guilty of overthrowing the Constitution.
Article One Movement: Kenyans Uniting for Land, Freedom, and Justice
Log into your member account to listen to this article. Not a member? Join the herd. The Article One Movement is the coming together of progressive people’s movements and individuals asserting their constitutional right to bring about a rule of equality, justice and democracy in Kenya. These principles, although enshrined in our Constitution, have been consistently suppressed by the KANU-inspired governments of Kenya since independence in 1963. But no more.
Threats and Intimidation Against Senator Okiya Omtatah Must Cease
Log into your member account to listen to this article. Not a member? Join the herd. The threats and intimidation that Senator Omtatah has faced from President William Ruto are in the public domain.Senator Omtatah should not be the object of threats and intimidation from any quarter. Not even from the President. As a Senator in the Kenyan Senate representing the people of Busia County, his rights under the constitution must be respected, upheld, and defended.
WILLY MUTUNGA: Hustlers have realised they were lied to
Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga On the 60th anniversary of our independence (12 December 2023), I glorify and celebrate the links and continuities of our resistance for land, resources, and freedom. I also celebrate and glorify the struggles the world over for a just, free, peaceful, non-militaristic, non-eugenist, non-racial, non-sexist, non-ethnic, gender-just, ecologically safe, prosperous, equitable, and socialist planet.
WILLY MUTUNGA: Foreign policy in the hands of few, a call for people's participation
I have written three articles on the issue of Kenyan foreign policy. In the first article, I called our foreign policy one of “wait and see,” a euphemism for making unilateral decisions, mainly by the Executive. In that article, I reiterated why our foreign policy cannot disengage from our 2010 Constitution. My argument was that if sovereign power belongs to us the people of Kenya, and we delegate it to the Executive we still retain it, and we have the power to withdraw it.
MUTUNGA: I cry for Palestine, let's stand with them
Growing up in British colonial Kitui in the 1950s I and my fellow primary school students would occasionally go to the African market still known as Kalundu. Opposite the prison, Munyasya Nzamba stood on the road addressing people who were on their way to the market. I do not remember any people stopping to listen to what he said except us, the children. We would stop and listen to him. We wondered whether he had a home. He was always clean and well-dressed.
Deploying Kenyan Police In Haiti Is Unconstitutional
Above Photo: Kenyan police arrest a protester during anti-austerity demonstrations in July 2023. Samson Otieno, AP. Kenya’s decision to join a US led occupation of Haiti is an example of imperialism in Black face. According to a former Chief Justice the act is also a violation of Kenya’s constitution.
MUTUNGA: Deploying Kenyan police in Haiti is Unconstitutional
The matter of Kenya sending 1000 police women and men to Haiti is but one of the many decisions our government is taking without our participation and consent. The Constitution is very clear that our foreign policy has to comply with the decrees of the Constitution. Foreign policy decisions by the government are unconstitutional when they violate any of the provisions of the Constitution. Article 1 of our Constitution decrees that all sovereign power belongs to us, the Kenyan people.
MUTUNGA: Mr President, please don't intimidate Judiciary
President Ruto’s recent speech against corruption in the Judiciary was full of threats, intimidation, and warnings. While I respect his constitutional right to freedom of expression, opinion, belief, and conscience, I believe he should also respect the rights of the judges he was attacking. His intimidation, threats, and warnings are a subversion of the independence and integrity of the Judiciary, and a subversion of the Constitution.
Tribute to Micere Mugo - A Mother of Feminist Masculinity
Dr Willy Mutunga’s speech in honour of Prof Micere Mugo at Syracuse University on 3 April 2015 acknowledges her as his mentor and the mother of feminist masculinity. His speech highlights the fact that feminism is about being, but is not necessarily limited to one’s assigned sex. It is a summons to interrogate the deliberate and presumptuous framing of debates on feminism to exclude men even when they are integral to unravelling entrenched concepts of hegemonic masculinity.
Why 2023 May Be Pivotal in the History of People’s Politics in Kenya
Kenya was host to the inaugural Africa Climate Summit (ACS) from 4th to 6th September 2023 in the country’s capital, Nairobi, at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The event was organized by the African Union and hosted by the government of Kenya.
Black Agenda Report
It would be a bad look for the U.S. or a European nation to be the public face of the impending occupation of Haiti. That's why Kenya was asked to help the make case for a new invasion. If African nations and most of all the African Union (AU) were to speak out against the pending “intervention” in Haiti, it would be far more difficult for the US and its allies to manufacture consent for it. Haiti’s population is 95% Black, so AU opposition would lay its racism bare.
WILLY MUTUNGA: So, what is “in the public interest” in withdrawal of high-profile cases by ODPP?
Independence and Integrity of the Office of the Director Public Prosecutions (ODPP) “In exercising the powers conferred by this Article, the Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP] shall have regard to the public interest, the interests of the administration of justice and the need to prevent and avoid abuse of the legal process.” Article 157 (11) of the 2010 Constitution.
WILLY MUTUNGA: Women have constitutional right to be Kadhis
My friend and fellow Muslim, Honourable Duale, the Cabinet Secretary for Defence, recently resurrected the debate on the issue of women Kadhis in our judicial system. In his view, Chief Kadhi should not be a woman. And he holds the same view about women as Kadhis in Kadhi courts. When I was Chief Justice, this issue came up when a Muslim woman applied to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for a position of a Kadhi in one of the positions we had advertised.
MUTUNGA: People-people solidarities for liberation PanAfricanism must continue
Morocco’s Occupation of Western Sahara’s is Illegal I have known the struggles of the Saharawi people of Western Sahara since 1968 when I joined the University of Dar es Salaam as a law student. POLISARIO was among the liberation organizations that Tanzania gave military and political bases. Others were TUPAROS from Uruguay, Black Power and Black Panthers from the US, ANC, FRELIMO, SWAPO, the Angolan liberation organizations, and PLO, among others.
WILLY MUTUNGA: Honouring and glorifying Micere Mugo
In Matthew 13:53-6 we read about Jesus preaching in his hometown synagogue. People knew him, his parents and his siblings. His people were amazed, but they began questioning where Jesus got his wisdom and miraculous powers. In verse 57 we read: “And they took offence at him.
MUTUNGA: Should we expect yet another political handshake?
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has been very vocal that we should not expect a political handshake between Azimio leader Raila Odinga and the Kenya Kwanza administration. Notwithstanding these utterances, we must wait and see. Political handshakes in Kenya have always reflected diverse interests, but fundamentally anchored in the interests of the ruling elites and those of their foreign masters.
Willy Mutunga: Demonstrations should not be individualised, it is a right for all
This issue of demonstrations is not about ODM leader Raila Odinga and President William Ruto. It should not be individualized. It is about the rights of all of us and our protection, respect, and upholding under the Constitution.
WILLY MUTUNGA: The World Cup is a site for our global struggles
QATAR 2022 WILLY MUTUNGA: The World Cup is a site for our global struggles The FIFA World Cup in Qatar this year has been, like many other World Cups before it, very political.
WILLY MUTUNGA: Our youths are crying for humanity
The past, indeed, is not the past. It is also the present and can be the future! The statements this week by the CS Internal Security, Professor Kindiki, and the Inspector General of Police Services, Japheth Koome can be put on a well beaten trajectory since colonial and post colonial times.
MUTUNGA: True purpose of Chapter 6 of the Constitution
The Chapter 6 of our Constitution, on leadership and integrity, has become a great site of struggle in the implementation of our Constitution. Recently, the vetting of Cabinet Secretaries by Parliament, and withdrawal of cases against some of them by the Director of Public Prosecutions, including one against the Deputy President, have taken the centre stage in our media.
WILLY MUTUNGA: Mr President, ensure Miguna Miguna's compensation is paid
He sought help from the Temple of Justice and the High Court responded by vindicating his rights in not less than 17 court orders in his favour. These orders were routinely disobeyed. His house in Runda was bombed. He was drugged. He was sent on forced exile from his Motherland. All this was naked subversion of the Rule of Law and the overthrow of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya.
Letter to Ndii: Let's step from SGR to US trade deal with eyes wide open
Dear Dr Ndii I congratulate you on your appointment by President William Ruto as the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council. I write to you about a file that will be on the top of your pile in the in-tray when you start working. It is the United States-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership launched on July 14, 2022.
WILLY MUTUNGA: Struggle for implementation of 2/3 gender rule must continue
The promises that have been given to women on the implementation of the 2/3rd gender rule by political parties, and successive governments smack of patriarchy, sexism, untruths, and blatant lies. The same treatment has been given to people with disabilities, and the youth in general. We dare not give up this struggle for gender equity and equality.
Our foreign policy must reflect public participation
By Willy Mutunga Kenyan foreign has since independence been as clear as mud. Christopher Mulei a journalist and a lawyer once dubbed it ‚Äúwait and see.‚ÄĚ He borrowed this categorization from one of the British Prime Ministers, Lord Asquith, who dodged questions asked in the House of Commons by a refrain, ‚ÄúI ask the honourable member to wait and see.‚ÄĚ After independence, our unwritten and unspoken foreign policy towards apartheid South Africa was to have relations with that inhuman regime.
WILLY MUTUNGA: Call for a launch of sovereign people’s convention
Voices in the Wilderness The Supreme Court delivered its Decision and We have a new President On 5 September 2022, the Supreme Court of Kenya delivered its decision on the consolidated petitions that challenged the election of William Ruto as the fifth President of Kenya. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the petitions. As the Deputy Chief Justice observed on behalf of her colleagues, the decision would not have the concurrence of all Kenyans.
MUTUNGA: Perfidy: A symphony for (in)justice ANON
Pinky pinky ponky sounds like something nice. She is trying to remember the rest of the lines, as the child playing on the floor hums it. The drama gives relief in a different sense here, where innuendo is king. Legalese and meaning elucidate, bamboozle, and obliterate opponents. Belying everything is a storm of very bad feelings and gut-wrenching anticipation. Though on opposite sides, they are acutely aware the next days will be tough for their floundering relationship, just like this nation.
WILLY MUTUNGA: About that matter of thuggery at Bomas of Kenya
Voices in the Wilderness We all saw it on TV. It was captured on camera and beamed all over the world by the media. Social media disseminated footage of it. The thuggery was the work of some elected politicians, their goons, and hired guns. It is rumoured that both coalitions of the political parties, AZIMIO and KENYA KWANZA, had their respective militia there but it's the militia and thugs of the former coalition that caught the attention of most viewers.
WILLY MUTUNGA: Learning from genius of ethnic barons
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MUTUNGA: What really ails the IEBC
THE REFEREE MUTUNGA: What really ails the IEBC The agency struggles in search of its independence from political parties and the respective leaderships
MUTUNGA: Kenya needs radical party to exploit alternative politics
MUTUNGA: Kenya needs radical party to exploit alternative politics This is a political opportunity that must be taken.
MUTUNGA: Elections have given us neither democracy nor freedom
MUTUNGA: Elections have given us neither democracy nor freedom
Let's celebrate people victory for progressive forces in Colombia
The planet will be liberated when each country in the Global North and South win people’s victories against the status quo in the world. Solidarities among the progressive and revolutionary forces in the Global South and North will rid the planet of an unjust, racist, sexist, ecologically unsafe, unequal and inequitable, exploitative, and colonialist global status quo that puts profits before the people of this planet.
WILLY MUTUNGA: The first 100 days of the new government
I will not attempt to go through the manifestos of the various factions and individuals who are running in the elections to rule this country after the August 9, polls. Since our elections are monetized and ethnicised, I doubt if voters ever care about the promises being made. These shopping lists are never realized in their baskets. Indeed, the voters know this and take their bribes upfront in trinkets and little change. Our ethnic barons have since independence perfected the politics of division.
WILLY MUTUNGA: Sermon to young and the young in spirit: Be voices of Kenya
“Instead of being mired in seeking solutions within confines of the current neoliberal system, African youth must have bold dreams and think in terms of fundamental transformation. That was the vision of the radicals of the earlier era, and it is a vision that the youth of today must adopt…The technological capacity to resolve all the critical problems facing humanity have been present at least for half century.
Growing Up With Jaramogi: Some Radical Memories
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga did not get to occupy State House. It is a useful fate of heroes in many countries. History records that the few that have managed to occupy the highest office in any land on the African continent have been either assassinated or overthrown from power and exiled; Thomas Sankara, Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba come to mind.
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