Buana Ruto has made millions of Kenyans suffer under his regime. I can recall this woman with a barely grown child being rushed to some facility after her husband was shot dead by Ruto's militia during protests. 2027, so many Kenyans are eager to rewrite this oppressive rule.
“I want to ask the President: What have you done to deserve forgiveness? Kenyans are still struggling to find jobs, people are killing each other, and come 2027, you will still go home.”
#GenZManifesto
THE STANDARD GROUP PLC
PRESS STATEMENT
Nairobi, Kenya
September 1, 2026
STANDARD GROUP CONDEMNS ABDUCTION OF ITS SENIOR EDITOR, DEMANDS HIS IMMEDIATE AND SAFE RELEASE
The Standard Group PLC confirms that shortly before 9:20pm this evening, our Associate Editor, Alex Kiprotich, was abducted along the Gilgil–Nakuru road while travelling to Nakuru. We do not know where he is as we issue this statement.
This is the second time in as many months that Mr Kiprotich has been targeted. On 27 June 2026, armed men in a Toyota Probox a vehicle model repeatedly linked to enforced disappearances of government critics in Kenya, tried to seize him from his car as he drove to work in Nakuru. He got away by locking his doors and driving off. That attempt came days after President William Ruto publicly criticised this Group over its coverage, and our own investigations traced the vehicle to the National Police Service's Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau. No one has ever been held to account for it.
Tonight, that threat has been carried out.
We do not believe this is a coincidence. Mr Kiprotich has been at the forefront of our editorial output, including reporting that has scrutinised the conduct of the State, and tonight's abduction bears all the hallmarks of a targeted attack on a journalist for doing his job.
We believe it may be linked to elements within the State seeking to intimidate this Group into silence. If that is confirmed, this is not simply a crime against one man. It is an assault on the Constitution of Kenya, on the freedoms of expression and of the media guaranteed under Articles 33 and 34, and on the right of every Kenyan to independent information.
We say this plainly and without equivocation: the Standard Group holds the State responsible for Alex Kiprotich's safety and his life, and for anything that happens to him while he remains missing. Protecting the life and liberty of every citizen is the State's first duty, not an afterthought, and Mr Kiprotich's safety now rests entirely in its hands.
We are demanding:
1. The immediate, safe and unconditional release of Alex Kiprotich.
2. A prompt, transparent and independent investigation into his abduction, and into why no one has ever answered for the attempt of June 27, 2026.
3. Real, visible guarantees that journalists in Kenya will be protected, in keeping with commitments the President has already made publicly and has so far failed to honour.
We are calling on the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the Law Society of Kenya, the Media Council of Kenya, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and everyone who values a free press in this country, to demand answers alongside us until Mr Kiprotich is found safe.
We will keep the public informed as we learn more, and we will not let this matter quietly fade from view.
CHAACHA MWITA,
GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
THE STANDARD GROUP PLC
There on Citizen TV, Yvonne Okwara is wondering how President Ruto has changed himself from the events of June 2024 to now.
Buana, Yvonne has played clips from 2024 where the president ordered police to shoot protesters in the legs, with MP Nelson Koech supporting him.
It is quite interesting to hear the same person today saying the very youths he was blasting were exercising their democratic rights.
You can’t make this stuff up, jameni.
This happened under your administration. No action was taken, no one was held accountable. Now, all of a sudden, you feel remorse for those who died protesting. Now you understand no Kenyan deserves to die for speaking out? Where was that conscience when it mattered? Your sudden remorse is nothing but hypocrisy.
A strike by nurses has paralysed health services in government hospitals across Kenya. Nurses are demanding better pay and improved working conditions.
Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb reports from Nairobi.
Video clip is going viral today 🤔🤔💔
When Gladys Wanga was thanking goons for
protecting town when she was not around.
"Ero uru kamano kuom rito town Sama ne aonge" 💔💔dirty politics 💔💔🤔
Lenders beware: Kenya’s High Court has greenlit our petition challenging US$54bn in odious debts under Kenyatta & Ruto.
No parliamentary approval. No public benefit. Offshore siphoning.
Kenyans WILL NOT repay what they never authorised. Accountability MUST be restored. #OdiousDebt #DeniBandia
https://t.co/Gc9U2Ypy1b
We are like a village that has hired a builder to construct a proper house, given him all the money, and watched him spend years laying bricks. Then one morning, the builder arrives to officially unveil one completed window. Instead of asking him where the rest of the house is, whether the materials were stolen, why the project took so long, or why a window cost the price of an entire house, we organise a procession, hire dancers and carry him on our shoulders.
That is how bad governance survives.
A leader takes public money collected from millions of taxpayers, uses it to deliver a project that is either delayed, overpriced, poorly executed or embarrassingly small, then arrives with sirens, cameras, speeches and a ribbon. Suddenly, the very people who paid for that project become an audience clapping for the person who was employed to deliver it.
We have reduced our expectations so much that basic responsibility now looks like generosity. A leader builds a few kilometres of road and we call him maendeleo. A dispensary is painted and furnished after years of neglect and we declare a new era. A borehole is drilled and the whole village is summoned to dance as though water has just been discovered.
Meanwhile, nobody asks the uncomfortable questions: How much did it cost? Why did it take five years? Was it completed to standard? How many similar projects were budgeted for but never delivered? And why must we celebrate a leader for doing the job we hired them to do?
Perhaps that is why mediocrity is so comfortable in our politics. We have created a society where leaders are not rewarded for excellence. They are rewarded for showing up with a ribbon to commission the bare minimum.
Then, after the music stops and the politicians leave, we go back to complaining about bad roads, poor hospitals, unemployment and corruption.
At some point, we must ask ourselves a difficult question:
Are we merely victims of bad governance, or have we become part of the machinery that keeps it alive by applauding, dancing for and voting for mediocrity every time it puts on a ceremony?
This photo takes me back to the excitement of arriving in Nairobi as a young woman, full of hope and possibility. Nairobi was a city of opportunity then, a place where you came believing that with hard work and courage, you could build something for yourself.
Much has changed since then, but young people still come to our cities carrying big dreams and the determination to make something of their lives.
Kenyan Youth, 🇰🇪
You are one of Kenya’s greatest assets.
Look at what you have already achieved, often with limited opportunities and against enormous odds.
You have carried our flag in sport, taken our music and culture to the world, built businesses, created technology, entertained us and found ingenious ways to make a living in a harsh economy
You are the majority and among the most educated generations Kenya has known.
You have the knowledge, creativity and numbers to shape the direction of this country, do not let anyone convince you otherwise. They know the power you hold.
The Kenya you want is not a dream too big. It is a country we can build with your generation at the centre of it.
Stand strong!
#InternationalYouthDay