Benson Riungu - The Standard

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Benson Riungu

Many men have a relationship with their cars

Something happens to otherwise perfectly rational men when they get behind the wheel and I often find myself sympathising with them when reality fails to match expectation.

By Benson Riungu 7 years ago

Many men have a relationship with their cars

Modern-day fathers have more roles

Modern-day fathers have more roles

By Benson Riungu 7 years ago

When beauties attract the beasts

When beauties attract the beasts

By Benson Riungu 7 years ago

Kenya's troubles started long ago

Kenya's troubles started long ago

By Benson Riungu 7 years ago

Money makes the world go round

A striking characteristic of the past decade is the large number of financial institutions jostling for Kenyans’ attention.

By Benson Riungu 7 years ago

Money makes the world go round

‘The other woman’ has always been there

When I was younger, many of my friends worked in Nairobi and other urban centres while their wives toiled faithfully at the rural homes.

By Benson Riungu 7 years ago

‘The other woman’ has always been there

Suspicions over sorcery remain

The circulation departments of the newspapers that had news of the death of a man known as Ayub Kathata from in Meru County may have noted an unusual spike in sales on that day.

By Benson Riungu 7 years ago

Suspicions over sorcery remain

First trip to the city of Nairobi was memorable

After publication of my article last week, my younger children were puzzled about the standard of education facilities when I was in primary school.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

First trip to the city of Nairobi was memorable

My friend quit drinking so he ‘eats’ his money

A few weeks ago, I attended funeral service of a relative at the Catholic church near my rural home.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

My friend quit drinking so he ‘eats’ his money

In our days times were ever lean

On pay day, salaried people seemed to forget the hardships of the previous month and went on spending sprees until their pockets were empty.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

In our days times were ever lean

Art of seduction has changed

Every age group has its own mating rituals that are peculiar to its time and circumstances.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

Art of seduction has changed

There is no perfect crime

I read in the newspaper the other day about police shooting dead a gangster whose speciality was killing law enforcement officers.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

There is no perfect crime

Social media platforms the new battle grounds

After all, in Kenya most of the inter-ethnic battles are waged on social media platforms and the ballot box.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

Social media platforms the new battle grounds

Memories of a young Uhuru

I have watched in amazement the transformation of Uhuru Kenyatta from a publicity-shy young “prince”, an aloof public servant into a flesh-pressing American-style president who goes out of his way to charm.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

Memories of a young Uhuru

A place where life is nasty, brutish and short

I come from a county many associate with physical violence, a burden that I often have to bear on behalf of my kinsmen.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

A place where life is nasty, brutish and short

We choose pals, but crazy relatives come naturally

One of the things I have never learnt even when I worked in busy and even crowded newsrooms, is how to moderate my voice while on the phone.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

We choose pals, but crazy relatives come naturally

Dangers of getting drunk are far too many

Can Themba, one of pioneering African journalists of Apartheid South Africa and a remarkable columnist, captured nicely the perils of being a drinking man in the Soweto of his day.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

Dangers of getting drunk are far too many

Today's leaders seldom serve with humility

While there is justifiable indignation over burgeoning corruption in the public sector, it is also true that Kenyans have failed to acknowledge the indirect role they play in spreading the cancer.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

Today's leaders seldom serve with humility

There are heroes I do not associate with

Whenever I am in my cups since we decided to be honouring our national heroes annually, I like to boast that mashujaa blood courses through my veins.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

There are heroes I do not associate with

White ants bring all activities to a stop

For reasons only known to God, at around this time each year, the wildebeest get it into their ugly heads that they must move in their hundreds of thousands from Serengeti in Tanzania to Masai Mara in Kenya.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

White ants bring all activities to a stop

If you can't stand the heat, quit the kitchen

As a cub reporter, I was assigned to an older journalist whose normal beat was reporting on crime.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

If you can't stand the heat, quit the kitchen

Some of my relatives hated soap and water

We have many people who were averse to contact with water and, one supposes, the smell of soap that they grew old and even died without taking a bath or cleaning the clothes they had first worn as young men.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

Some of my relatives hated soap and water

MP's colourful, yet unremarkable past

One of the most remarkable people to come out of the old Meru County is Bernard Mate, represented the vast area known as Central Province in colonial times.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

MP's colourful, yet unremarkable past

Rumours are often quite hard to disapprove

Someone once said that a lie can travel half around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

Rumours are often quite hard to disapprove

The Kenyan record-breaker who never was

When you talk of Kenya’s most audacious swindles, what immediately comes to mind is Goldenberg, Anglo Leasing and, more lately, the attempt to steal sh 800 million-plus from National Youth Service.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

The Kenyan record-breaker who never was

The sad reality of being a print journalist

A sad reality of being a media personality is that you tend to live a lie much of the time.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

The sad reality of being a print journalist

Nairobi's good old days were just as bad

Were he alive today and witnessed the recent floods, Lavarini would be shocked at the spectacle of a half-submerged city threatening to retreat into its origins as a large swamp.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

Nairobi's good old days were just as bad

Kenyans are sheep in colourful clothing

It is surprising how many things Kenyans today take for granted as if they were a natural part of their lives.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

Kenyans are sheep in colourful clothing

How I lost my first car to a mechanic

I never thought I would live to see the day when traffic congestion would be a problem not just for the large Kenyan cities like Nairobi and Mombasa, but even for relatively small towns like Embu and Meru.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

How I lost my first car to a mechanic

Members of the bench are in a court of their own

I have met and interviewed many senior judicial officers since, and some I found very easygoing and likeable.

By Benson Riungu 8 years ago

Members of the bench are in a court of their own

Debunking myths about Kenyan athletes

While grappling with the old puzzle of just what it is that makes athletes from the North Rift world beaters on the race track, an old colleague framed the question in novel manner.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

Debunking myths about Kenyan athletes

Can someone confirm Kenyans are naturally corrupt?

Reports of corruption in the public and private sectors have been pervasive in recent months that deep down, many Kenyans are beginning to entertain the suspicion that the vice is in the national DNA.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

Can someone confirm Kenyans are naturally corrupt?

Peace in Africa has made journalism less exciting

Patrick Kariuki had been pointed out to me some years ago and I learnt he was an important journalist working with Reuters

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

Peace in Africa has made journalism less exciting

Over the years, Nairobi’s glory has been overstated

Nairobi must be the only city in the world whose residents have few kind words about its current state and are forever dreaming of the day it will be restored to its “old glory.”

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

Over the years, Nairobi’s glory has been overstated

One man's meat is another man's poison

In So It Goes, a book containing a collection of Edward Rodwell’s articles published in The Standard for a period spanning 60 years, he makes some interesting observations about the uses put to various parts of a dead cow and the source of some delicacies we enjoy in high-end restaurants

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

One man's meat is another man's poison

Avoid dealing with Shylocks, they cannot be your friends

In my salaried days, this week would mark the bleakest times of the year. Regret at having spent recklessly during the Christmas and New Year season would be giving way to desperation.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

Avoid dealing with Shylocks, they cannot be your friends

Criminal acts have been on the rise in Kenya

The level and severity of crime in Nairobi and other parts of the country have been building up over the years since the time when my pockets were first picked, surprisingly in Meru.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

Criminal acts have been on the rise in Kenya

Once upon a time, Nairobi was safer than many towns

Many Kenyans today cannot believe that not long ago you could walk the streets of cities like Nairobi and Mombasa unmolested at any time of day or night.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

Once upon a time, Nairobi was safer than many towns

Is it news when a dog bites a newsman?

Many happy years of my youth were spent in Embu County, and that included the years I spent in high school. Thus, I did not expect anything untoward when I made a visit to Embu town some years later as a cub reporter.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

Is it news when a dog bites a newsman?

When sources felt it was not my turn to eat

Many people have the erroneous assumption that you need to travel outside your country to become a victim of culture shock. It has happened to me many times right here in Kenya, especially in instances when I have interacted with people of different races.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

When sources felt it was not my turn to eat

Devolution tastes better for a chosen few

In the last few months, you may have noticed a dearth of news in this column on the goings-on at the little cluster of buildings near my village that goes for a shopping centre.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

Devolution tastes better for a chosen few

When writing letters to ‘loved ones’ was in vogue

In my day we called it ‘tuning’, nowadays I understand it is called ‘kukatia’. In plain English, it is the art of charming a daughter of Eve to accede to your wishes.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

When writing letters to ‘loved ones’ was in vogue

When clothes did not make a man

When Clive Irvine, the Scottish doctor who founded Chogoria Mission Hospital early in the last century, came to that part of Mt Kenya region, he was dismayed by the morality of the people whose souls he had come to save.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

When clothes did not make a man

A hungry scribe can be very angry

The features editor at The Standard must have been desperately short-handed when, in 1981 or thereabouts, he assigned a potentially important story to a greenhorn still wet behind the ears.

By Benson Riungu 9 years ago

A hungry scribe can be very angry

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