Kenyan rights groups condemn arrest of protest site developer
Representative Image (AI-generated)
Kenyan rights groups have condemned the arrest of a software developer who built a platform opposing a contentious finance bill, warning that it reflected an intensifying crackdown on dissent.
The East African country has been cracking down on critics of the government since massive protests last June against tax rises and corruption.
Security forces are accused by rights groups of killing at least 60 people during the protests and abducting dozens more in the aftermath.
On May 19, developer Rose Njeri shared a link to her website on X, saying it was built to oppose a new finance bill, which she warned would raise living costs and breach privacy rights.
She was arrested on Friday afternoon, triggering a storm of online outrage.
She remained in police custody in Nairobi on Sunday.
"All efforts to secure her release on police bail have so far been frustrated by the officers in charge who are yet to cede to requests by counsel to release her," said Faith Odhiambo, head of the main lawyers' association (LSK), said on X on Saturday.
Rights group Vocal Africa said on X that Njeri's arrest was "a blatant attack on digital rights, freedom of expression and civic engagement".
President William Ruto said last month that all people abducted following the June-July anti-government protests had been "returned to their families".
He promised it would not happen again.
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The Hindu
11 hours ago
- The Hindu
The Hindu On Books newsletter: The legacy of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Gandhi's last months, the world of translation and more
Welcome to this edition of The Hindu on Books Newsletter. Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, considered one of east Africa's greatest literary figures, died last Wednesday (May 28, 2025), his daughter announced on Facebook. He was 87. Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ said her father had 'lived a full life and fought a good fight.' His decision to stop writing in English and start using only his native Kikuyu made him a powerful symbol of post-colonial African identity. In 1986, he published one of his best-known works, Decolonising the Mind, a collection of essays about the role of language in forging national culture, history and identity. Read this tribute by Gautam Bhatia, in which he writes that the Kenyan master has left behind a rich, varied, and sometimes complex legacy. In an interview to The Hindu in 2018 when he visited Hyderabad for the launch of the Telugu translation by G.N. Saibaba of his book, Dreams in a Time of War, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o explained to Serish Nanisetti that he began writing in English and then switched over to his native language, Gikuyu and Swahili, as a mark of protest against the language of the colonisers. Asked about his thoughts on translation and particularly G.N. Saibaba translating his work, he said, the one by Saibaba (titled Yuddakalamlo Swapnalu — Balya Gnapakaalu ) is especially interesting, because he translated the book while he was in prison. 'I closely identify with him because of this. I had written Devil on the Cross in Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in Kenya,' he said. Last Saturday (May 31), noted wildlife and tiger conservationist, Valmik Thapar, passed away in Delhi. He was 73 and ailing from cancer. Thapar was well-known for his evocative photographs and scholarly ouevré of nearly 50 books on the tiger, particularly those in Ranthambore, Rajasthan, for nearly four decades. He wrote or edited more than 30 books on wildlife, including Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent (1997), and Tiger Fire: 500 Years of the Tiger in India. In reviews, we read Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee's new book on Gandhi, General Shrinagesh's memoir and talk to translators of three recent anthologies on challenges and technique. Books of the week Gandhi: The End of Nonviolence (Penguin) by Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee is an account of Gandhi's final 15 months, his presence in riot-hit Noakhali, Bihar, Calcutta and Delhi pre and post Independence, offering courage and healing wounds, and its impact on India. 'Gandhi walked, listened, observed, and spoke in Noakhali and in Bihar because people had been killed and raped, Hindus in Noakhali and Muslims in Bihar,' writes Rajmohan Gandhi in his review. Quoting Bhattacharjee, he says, 'with Gandhi, walking becomes a force in India's political history,' and that it is not an exaggeration to say that 'Gandhi's peace mission in Noakhali, Bihar and Calcutta has no parallel in the history of the violent twentieth century.' In chronicling Gandhi's last phase, Bhattacharjee also refers to the diaries of Mridula or Manu Gandhi, grandniece of Gandhi – 'The nature of her work as a peace worker and her witness account of Gandhi's life and movement [is] her most significant contribution to history.' Commanded by Destiny (Penguin Veer) is an anecdotal memoir by General S.M. Shrinagesh, the Indian Army's fourth Indian chief between 1955 and 1957. The USP of the narrative, writes Arjun Subramaniam in his review, lies in its sweeping landscape and accurate recollection of military and political events during the fledgling years of India's evolution as a nation-state. 'One of the most detailed parts of the book is reserved for his role as the Corps Commander in charge of the two divisions that saw all the action in the first India-Pakistan War of 1947-48. The narrative around the sieges of Leh and Poonch is riveting and his recollections of specific actions and operational plans are excellent.' Spotlight Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi's International Booker Prize win for Heart Lamp, a first for Kannada, has again put the spotlight on regional languages. Meenakshi Shivram has a conversation with translators of three recent regional anthologies to understand the process and the function of translations. The Early Classic Stories Series (published by HarperCollins) is edited by Mini Krishnan. The first three collections in the series comprise stories translated from Odia (by Leelawati Mohapatra, Paul St-Pierre and K.K. Mohapatra), Malayalam (Venugopal Menon) and Kannada (Susheela Punitha) — covering a century, mostly from the 1890s onwards. 'These books share, with deep sensitivity, a flavour of our own lives as we lived then. The translators of all three collections showcase their own empathy as they perceptively mirror our past to us.' Malayalam translator Venugopal Menon says he could relate to the old value systems through his forebears. 'There was a subtle dignity and pride they thrived on despite the inevitable urge to sustain social status. Nevertheless, honour was at a premium. And they seemed to think crime is evil,' he says. Kannada translator Susheela Punitha, 87, has seen this world first-hand. 'It is the world of my grand children that seems stranger,' she quips. Odia translator K.K. Mohapatra talks of an emotional connect. 'What struck us repeatedly was the quiet dignity of many of these protagonists, the ethical depth of their struggles, and the understated but profound critique that some stories offered of their own milieu,' he says. 'There is also a tenderness in the telling, that allows us to connect, even across time.' While the Odia translators say their guiding principle is to remain as faithful as possible to the original, Punitha points out that both 'embellishing and interpreting' are sometimes required to make it intelligible to the reader. Menon, for instance, keeps 'the non-Malayali reader topmost in mind.' Browser Acclaimed mathematician, Marcus du Sautoy takes readers from stone circles to Bach to Shakespeare to explain why art and a creative mindset is crucial for discovering new mathematics. He argues how a fundamental connection to the natural world links arts and science in Blue Prints: How Mathematics Shapes Creativity (HarperCollins). (HarperCollins). The Ghadar Movement was conceived in 1913 in the U.S. by Indian immigrants, led by Lala Har Dayal and others. The group planned to smuggle arms to India and incite a mutiny in the British-Indian army. In The Ghadar Movement: A Forgotten Struggle (Penguin/Viking), Rana Preet Gill writes an account of the movement and explains why it failed. (Penguin/Viking), Rana Preet Gill writes an account of the movement and explains why it failed. Penguin has announced that Arundhati Roy's forthcoming memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me , is open for pre-order. It will be available in bookstores in September. Roy looks back at her relationship with her mother Mary Roy, who passed away in September 2022. The grief memoir – Roy had fled from home when she was 18 -- is filled with 'moments of anger, joy, heartbreak, longing, tenderness, and deep introspection.' , is open for pre-order. It will be available in bookstores in September. Roy looks back at her relationship with her mother Mary Roy, who passed away in September 2022. The grief memoir – Roy had fled from home when she was 18 -- is filled with 'moments of anger, joy, heartbreak, longing, tenderness, and deep introspection.' Best-selling writer Taylor Jenkins Reid (Daisy Jones & The Six) is out with her new novel Atmosphere (Penguin) which is set during NASA's 1980s Space Shuttle Program and is about an unexpected romantic story that blossoms in space.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Kenyan rights groups condemn arrest of protest site developer
Representative Image (AI-generated) Kenyan rights groups have condemned the arrest of a software developer who built a platform opposing a contentious finance bill, warning that it reflected an intensifying crackdown on dissent. The East African country has been cracking down on critics of the government since massive protests last June against tax rises and corruption. Security forces are accused by rights groups of killing at least 60 people during the protests and abducting dozens more in the aftermath. On May 19, developer Rose Njeri shared a link to her website on X, saying it was built to oppose a new finance bill, which she warned would raise living costs and breach privacy rights. She was arrested on Friday afternoon, triggering a storm of online outrage. She remained in police custody in Nairobi on Sunday. "All efforts to secure her release on police bail have so far been frustrated by the officers in charge who are yet to cede to requests by counsel to release her," said Faith Odhiambo, head of the main lawyers' association (LSK), said on X on Saturday. Rights group Vocal Africa said on X that Njeri's arrest was "a blatant attack on digital rights, freedom of expression and civic engagement". President William Ruto said last month that all people abducted following the June-July anti-government protests had been "returned to their families". He promised it would not happen again.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Decolonising minds, reimagining literature
Every year, a ritual precedes the announcement of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Several names of possible winners dominate discussions on the web. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o invariably featured in these conversations, but never won. Let us not equate awards with literary greatness, though. At the same time, it must also be acknowledged that the lack of the award did not prevent us from reading Thiong'o. We gravitated to the author and his ideas for his radical politics and theorisation on the use of language especially in post-colonial nations such as his own Kenya and India in our case. Ideas can travel without the patronage and fanfare of big awards. Thiong'o and the enduring popularity of his seminal text, Decolonising the Mind, is a case in point. Thiong'o spoke about decolonisation before it became a symposia favourite across university departments. He was a torchbearer in every sense. Much like Frantz Fanon, his intellectual mentor in some ways. Thiong'o was a lifelong advocate for an exploration of our own languages, stories, writers and a steadfast critic of Eurocentrism and linguistic imperialism. For those who may not know, he even shed his birth name James and chose Ngũgĩ in his native Gikuyu — Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o meaning Ngũgĩ, son of Thiong'o. He has written extensively and expansively about the country of his birth and the birth of a writer in his memoir series — Dreams in a Time of War, In the House of the Interpreter and Birth of a Dream Weaver. It is in the last and final instalment of his memoirs where Thiong'o begins to reminisce about the birth of an author and the stories that he formed while studying at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. It is also here that he first met Chinua Achebe. In obituaries that have appeared since the announcement of his death, he is often referred to as an African writer. There's no debating his place of origin but Thiong'o is also a world writer who inspired and shaped thinking, writing, reading, and critical analysis in many corners of the world. Thiong'o did many radical things as a writer but the most important is his decision to quit writing in English around 1977 and switch to writing in his mother tongue, Gikuyu. This happened following his year-long stint in a Kenyan prison after the staging of his controversial play which highlighted inequities in Kenyan society. In Detained: A Writer's Prison Diary (1981) he recounts the time spent as a political prisoner. Though recounting a personal experience, Thiong'o connects it to the larger political situation in Kenya by accusing the then government of being controlled by 'foreign capital' and 'foreign economic interests'. He said the Kenyan elites behaved as neo-colonialists. He was finally exiled from Kenya and lived in the UK and the US for the rest of his life. Not enough is often said or written about his fiction. Several of his novels are astonishing such as Weep Not, Child, A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood amongst others. To many of us in South Asia, his non-fiction is more popular owing to the strong anti-colonial ideas they helped to develop. Having said that, one must also acknowledge that Thiong'o was a very different fiction writer from Chinua Achebe or Wole Soyinka, the other two luminaries of 20th century African literature. Both Achebe and Soyinka focused extensively on the tension between tradition and the modern in African societies. Thiong'o, on the other hand, used every opportunity to unravel the pitfalls of colonialism and capitalism rather explicitly in his fiction. The three writers even openly argued in public during a conference in Uganda in 1962. Thiong'o argued that literature written in indigenous African languages should be called African Literature. Achebe and Soyinka opposed this idea and found Thiong'o's position flawed. It is not surprising that Thiong'o helped us to understand the virtues of translation through his speeches, essays, commentaries on the role of translation in a globalised world. Translation helps cultures to be in conversation with each other. He equated translation with democracy where everyone has a voice and representation or ought to have one. Translation provides that opportunity to all languages and writers of the world. He also self-translated his last novel, Wizard of the Crow, to English (from Gikuyu). Thiong'o's writings will continue to shape debates and discussions about the use of language and our reading of literature. His work provokes many questions. What constitutes the practice of decolonisation in current times? Is decolonisation being held hostage by academic lobbies in the West? Shouldn't decolonisation lead to new forms of storytelling in a multilingual nation like ours? Thiong'o created his own path. As readers, critics, students, and followers of his work, we should create ours. That's the best tribute for a writer you admire. Kunal Ray teaches literature at FLAME University, Pune. The views expressed are personal.
