Buffaloes trot on city roads, as razor wires garland State House

President William Ruto chairs the cabinet on 11/2/2025 at State House, Nairobi. [PHOTO ELLY OKWARE/PCS]

I knew things were elephant when tin animals strayed from their habitat in Nairobi's Uhuru Park and wandered on to Kenyatta Avenue, retaining remarkable poise and calm even as the world around them dissolved in a miasma of tear gas and pandemonium.

In Parliament, things were equally elephant; there was a stampede as other big-bodied fellows scrambled out through a tight underground tunnel. I learnt afterwards those were the waheshimiwa sneaking out like thieves at night because the true owners of the house, the citizens, had made their way to town.