How political theatre keeps Kenyans trapped in deception

For more than six decades, the conditions shaping ordinary Kenyans’ lives have followed an agonising trajectory. Poverty is no longer an accidental socioeconomic condition; it has become a permanent space. [Pixabay]

To live through five successive presidential administrations in Kenya—from Jomo Kenyatta’s foundational consolidation and Daniel arap Moi’s monolithic executive dominance, to Mwai Kibaki’s technocratic promises, Uhuru Kenyatta’s debt-fuelled infrastructure cycles and the current regime—is to earn a front-row seat to a masterclass in institutional gaslighting.

For more than six decades, the conditions shaping ordinary Kenyans’ lives have followed an agonising trajectory. Poverty is no longer an accidental socioeconomic condition; it has become a permanent space.