Ian's Blog

For decades, Kenya’s politics has been defined by ambiguity, personality cults, and a deliberate withholding of critical information from the electorate. Presidential campaigns often revolve around charisma, ethnicity, and dramatic populist promises rather than a clear, verifiable blueprint of governance. Yet elections determine not just who occupies State House but who will run key ministries, shape public policy, manage billions in public funds, and influence Kenya’s developmental trajectory for decades. It is therefore both logical and necessary to demand that presidential candidates disclose their cabinet secretaries, their assigned portfolios, and the Head of Public Service before elections. Such a requirement is not merely procedural; it represents an essential reform aimed at restoring integrity, transparency, and competence within Kenya’s governance ecosystem. The current system encourages political theatrics over substantive leadership. Candidates spend years campaigning wit...

  Many times online, I’ve come across a narrative that honestly doesn’t sit well with me. It’s the growing trend of dismissing university degrees, calling them “useless,” or implying that anyone who went through the academic journey somehow made the wrong choice. I want to say this clearly and gently: do not let anyone reduce the value of your education. You spent four years or even more working hard, showing up for classes, writing exams, conducting research, surviving stress, and pushing yourself through seasons that many people will never understand. That journey is not useless. It is meaningful, it is valid, and it deserves respect. There is a certain confidence that people on the internet have gained these days, especially when speaking down on formal education. They argue that degrees are unnecessary, that “school is a scam,” or that success comes only from entrepreneurship or luck. While it’s true that the world is changing and that there are many paths to success, it does n...

  We like to pretend that morality is a clean, universal standard that right is always right, wrong is always wrong, and everyone who fails should be condemned equally. But real life exposes a far more uncomfortable truth: all of us are selective sinners. We commit the sins we are comfortable with, excuse them, justify them, even spiritualize them and then judge others for the sins we find personally uncomfortable or socially unacceptable. It is one of the oldest human hypocrisies, and one of the most persistent. The sins we comfortably carry Every person has weaknesses they tolerate in themselves. Some people lie easily but react with disgust toward someone who steals. Others gossip freely but condemn people who cheat. Some struggle with lust but criticize people who drink. There are those who have tempers yet judge those who are greedy. Everyone has a moral blind spot,  a category of wrongdoing they downplay because it is familiar, because it is convenient, or because it...

  When your country is constantly mentioned in the same breath as corruption, money laundering, fraud, and terror financing, something strange happens: the world looks at you the same way a parent looks at a child who brings home a “We tried” award. Suddenly, the stigma stops being about the system and starts becoming about you . The sins of the nation follow its people like a bad smell. You don’t just carry a passport; you carry a reputation that enters the room five seconds before you do. At every airport, every bank, every form—your nationality starts speaking on your behalf, and trust me, it’s not giving a TED Talk. An X useer recently shared a painful reality. The kind that makes you die inside: “I can’t do a simple bank transfer from a Swedish bank to a Kenyan bank because the EU has flagged Kenya for corruption, high risk of money laundering & supporting terrorism. You don’t know what a limitation this is.” Imagine that your personal money, your clean money, your hard-...

Many Christians today are being led into spiritual and financial oblivion by pastors who preach miracles they themselves do not live by. It has become common to see believers flocking to churches in desperation, hoping for supernatural interventions that will fix financial struggles, heal brokenness, or reverse poor decisions overnight. But beneath the loud prayers and dramatic testimonies lies a heartbreaking reality: many of the miracles being advertised are traps designed to exploit the vulnerable. The saddest part is that the exploitation is wrapped so neatly in scripture that people no longer see it as manipulation—they see it as faith. Think about how most of these situations begin. People take loans with genuine hope — not greed, not foolishness, but real hope. Some borrow to start a business they believe in, others to expand a small project or pay school fees for their children. Many are simply trying to navigate a difficult moment in life or escape the sinking sand of poverty...

In Kenya, people can lie — not always out of malice, but often out of survival. Broken systems force citizens to bend rules just to live a normal life. Poverty robs you of dignity until small lies feel like necessary tools for navigating daily obstacles. You grow up thinking it’s normal to “know someone,” to “add something small,” to “talk nicely” so things move. It becomes part of the culture, not because Kenyans are bad people, but because the environment forces you into habits you wouldn’t need in a functional system. Nothing prepares you for the shock of visiting a country where the systems actually serve the people. Where the government feels like a service provider, not a predator. Where public transport comes on time. Where public spaces are clean. Where food is safe. Where tap water is drinkable. Where everything just… flows. You suddenly see what life looks like for people who don’t carry the weight of broken systems on their shoulders. People who don’t wake up stresse...

Now I understand why older people are calmer… after you’ve died enough times inside, you learn to breathe, let go, and simply be. At first glance, it may sound poetic, even philosophical. But there is raw truth in it. Age is not what calms people, experience is. Life is not gentle. Loss, heartbreak, failure, and betrayal teach lessons you cannot learn from books. These experiences shape patience, perspective, and, ultimately, the ability to simply be. The Quiet Deaths Inside Every person dies inside, many times, before they reach a point of inner calm. These are not literal deaths, of course. They are emotional collapses, spiritual defeats, moments when life strips away illusions. A relationship ends. A dream crumbles. A betrayal pierces trust. A loved one departs. Each time, a piece of hope or naivety dies. When you are young, each loss feels catastrophic. A breakup can feel like the end of the world. A failure feels like permanent rejection. A disappointment is unbearable. We cry...