Tag: Nairobi

Kenyan security forces are battling to retake control of an upscale hotel and office complex in Nairobi after gunmen stormed the compound, in what officials say is a "suspected terror attack." Heavy gunfire and an explosion sent people running for…

NAIROBI, Kenya — The two men were political allies. The court ordered a do-over of the polling, which Mr. Kenyatta won. But Mr. Odinga has not accepted the result, and even “inaugurated” himself as “the people’s president” at the end of January. The colonial rulers wanted Mr. Odinga to lead the new Kenya, but Mr. Odinga had other ideas: He demanded Mr. Kenyatta’s freedom — and his appointment as Kenya’s first head of state. “The two men always admired each other.” Willy Mutunga, who was chief justice of the Supreme Court from 2011 to 2016, believes Mr. Odinga was motivated by more than mere admiration. Mr. Kenyatta wanted to sell the British settler lands to Kenyans of means, and to concentrate political power in the presidency. It was banned three years later, and Mr. Odinga was jailed for more than a year. Mr. Moi, who had run the country for 24 years, had groomed Uhuru Kenyatta as his successor, and Raila Odinga picked up his father’s fight after he died in 1994. In that election, Mr. Odinga’s party won, and Mwai Kibaki became president. “He is also the son of the first president, the political protégé of the second president, and the godson of the third president.” Many here say Mr. Kenyatta’s interests look similar to his father’s.