Odongo POD

Pragmatic Realist | Student of History | Writer & Editor - The Nairobi Bookshelf | Director, NAKSHI Associates

[Odongo POD @OdongoPOD]

Here's an opportunity to share your personal story, or the story of someone who has influenced your life, or the story of a place etched in your mind and body. Tuandike.

[Sholla Ard 🇰🇪 @sholard_mancity]

BREAKING: We can now reveal & confirm that President William Ruto departed Kenya today aboard a privately chartered Boeing 737-800 operating under callsign T7BBJ2 (Hex: 500517).

The aircraft is currently over Zimbabwe en route to South Africa.

This is the same private jet that was used for the President's trip to Azerbaijan. We can also reveal that the aircraft is linked to Empire Aviation, a UAE-based aviation company.

Our investigations have uncovered additional information that may raise questions about connections involving another African country currently experiencing conflict. We are still verifying the details and will share more once confirmed.

What is already clear is that this is an expensive chartered flight.

The bigger question is: why charter a private jet when commercial options were available?

At a time when Kenyans are being asked to tighten their belts, pay more taxes, and endure difficult economic conditions, the President continues to travel aboard private charter aircraft.

More details shortly. Follow me here

[Nelson Havi SC @NelsonHavi]

Dr James Nyikal is the reason why you need professionals with ethos and values in Parliament. He has always been my model professional legislator. He has told the House that a health pandemic like Ebola is as a matter of science, dealt with on site and not abroad.

[Julians Amboko @AmbokoJH]

One thing about the just concluded Finance Bill 2026 stakeholder submissions, they were truly rich with simulations on the implications of the proposals.

A 🧵on some simulations that stood out for me.

[#LandIsNotProperty Mwalimu Wandia @wmnjoya]

There's a connection between the Ebola deal of @MOH_Kenya and the Utumishi tragedy. A lack of 360° vision, of the ability to think what our actions imply down the road, and most of all, to care how others will be affected. There's a way in which our children are behaving like GoK, taking actions that imply others and not caring who dies. And if you point this out, they get upset, call it a personal attack, haul you to court or send the police. We take responsibility for nothing and expect others to bear the consequences. We have no conscience. We cite the law and yet the law is a guide, not a rule. Law does not absolve us from responsibility and the need to think, care for others, and use our conscience. But that thinking, caring and using our conscience is work, and we hate work.

@KICDKenya behaved the same way with CBC. They just didn't care for the kids and the families. When I challenged them, all they said was "we're the experts." A decision that was going to affect millions of children, their families, and generations of Kenyans, they took so casually. I kid you not, but in 2018 when CBC started, KICD had no documentation explaining what they were doing, except that 40-page framework that says nothing. I kept saying that in the media, and the journalists were not scandalized. Ni serikali. They can do what we want and it's us to pick the pieces. Just like those students.

We seem not to have a sense of proportion, to realize that technology and infrastructure now amplify the effects of our actions. We are incapable of thinking in scale, that's why when a Kenyan is confronted with the impact of their action on others, they say at ME ME ME: I'm innocent, you don't like me or my identity, you don't think I'm an expert, I hate this school and I don't care what I do to others...

This is a deeply philosophical problem that we must get out of, or we will destroy ourselves. Individualism and hubris are very destructive and we cannot plead that we had good intentions. As I said in this discussion of school arson 4 years ago, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

https://t.co/1Qd5BfBuF9

[Willis Evans Otieno @otienowill]

The debate is being framed incorrectly.

The issue is not the existence of CCTV cameras in school dormitory hallways. Surveillance in common areas is a standard safety measure in many boarding institutions and is often intended to enhance student security, emergency response, and accountability. Hallways are not private spaces.

The fundamental question is this: Why are students sleeping in hallways in the first place?

If learners are occupying corridors designed for movement and emergency evacuation, then the discussion should focus on overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure, student welfare, and compliance with minimum boarding standards.

A corridor is not a dormitory. It is not a sleeping area. The presence of students sleeping there points to a deeper institutional and policy failure that cannot be obscured by arguments about cameras.

Public attention should be directed toward capacity management, dormitory standards, and the conditions under which students are being accommodated. When a school reaches the point where hallways become sleeping quarters, the problem is not surveillance, it is overcrowding.

That is the issue that demands answers.

[#LandIsNotProperty Mwalimu Wandia @wmnjoya]

I don't have the guts to watch the Utumishi CCTV. Just the narration is making me sick in the stomach.

There are two explanations I'm not accepting for that kind of horror. 1) parents have dropped the ball, 2) it's demonic.

It's not that I don't think that those explanations are true. They are, to a certain extent. But leaving it there is very dangerous and leaves the door open to more arson. For example, I wonder: did the girls not play it ahead and think their schoolmates could die? If they did, why did they go ahead anyway? If not, what were they thinking? Were there those who were coerced?

This isn't about theory. It's about how to stop the same ideas growing in other kids. I hope at the very least we get to hear the thought process that led to here. Even if the devil is the main character, we need to know.

And I fear also about the impunity. I hear that the girl who set off the Nairobi girls one in 2017 had her name changed. I read that the Kyanguli culprits never faced prison time. I have heard stories from board members and teachers who, when faced with discipline cases, it's the parents who are so belligerent, refuse to listen to the school and head to court, or head to a PS or someone high up in the Ministry, who then calls the school and orders them to readmit the student.

We need a coherent conversation about justice when it comes to crimes committed by minors. And while I do understand that schools can be unfair as well, there's something to be said about our automatic posture to go on the defense about our children when it would be helpful to discuss our children with the village. I think there's a complete breakdown of communication and goodwill all round, and all of us adults need to take some responsibility for it.

There's a way we Kenyan adults have lost the ability to play the tape to the end before taking action when it comes to our kids. If our kids see us attacking school administrations on their behalf, or paying for exam leakage, how are they to take responsibility seriously?

We need to accept that we've all lost the plot to some extent. Because our kids are using fire in school like American kids use guns.

[Ndong@Conslaw @Ndonglaw043]

-Judges & Magistrates need to LEARN from the Judgement Writing Skills of Justice Bahati Mwamuye, the Good Judge engages with THE RECORD as argued by parties. Many JOs write like they do not get salaries, create own facts, barely engages with ALL ARGUMENTS, barely refers to case laws & legal issues as raised by parties. Just full of 'I AM PERSUADED...I HAVE CONSIDERED...I HAVE REFLECTED..'✅️
-At the same time you cannot be a Copy paste Judge, you recall the Wasilwa decision on the NPSC on Recruitment of officers, 72 pages of what parties said, 14 pages of the law & barely 4 of the 14 of them of analysis. ✅️
-A Judicial Officer who does not pay close attention to parties is a Litigant themselves, it is inevitable to deflect into GROSS ERRORS OF LAW & FACTS
-The Court of Appeal, Kantai, Lesiit & Aaroni JA shares in this concern that I have kept Writing about. ✅️💯

[Dr. Raymond Omollo — CBS @ray_omollo]

Homa Bay County has witnessed a remarkable transformation since H.E. President @WilliamsRuto assumed office, with renewed focus on infrastructure, the Blue Economy, trade and tourism unlocking new economic frontiers along the Lake Victoria corridor.

The upgrading of rural roads such as the Wahambla–Nyalkinyi–Imbo (D1351) Road demonstrates this broader shift towards inclusive growth and strengthened local connectivity.

The project, designed and overseen by the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (@KeRRA_Ke) under full National Government funding, is being upgraded to bitumen standards to address long-standing transport bottlenecks and stimulate economic activity in the region.

The upgrade also introduces modern drainage systems to mitigate historical flooding and seasonal washouts that often disrupted mobility. This will ensure all-weather accessibility, enhance connectivity between Wahambla, Nyalkinyi and Imbo and integrate these trading centres more efficiently into the Homa Bay Town network.

In turn, farmers, traders and fisherfolk will benefit from faster market access, reduced transport costs and improved efficiency in moving goods linked to agriculture and the Blue Economy.

To support smooth implementation, the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration is coordinating local administrative structures, facilitating community engagement during construction works and working with security agencies to ensure uninterrupted project delivery along the corridor.

[Brian Osoro @OsoroOngera]

In 1998, Orengo against all odds tabled a motion of no confidence in Moi. Nobody believed that an MP could do such a thing. Moi won but the vote demonstrated how fragmented the country was. It inspired a shift to total unity against Moi(NARC) and 2002 had KANU loose.

[DENNIS ONSARIGO @Donsarigo]

Students must understand that there are consequences when they set other human beings on fire.

When I visited Naivasha maximum prison I met the only suspect sentenced to death for the May 24, 1999 arson attack in Nyeri High School that claimed the lives of four prefects.

The student was 33 years old or thereabout when I met him. He was convicted by a juvenile court and later committed to life imprisonment after he turned 18.

The 2001 Kyanguli fire tragedy claimed the lives of 67 students. Two 16-year-olds were arrested and charged with murder. The judge handling the matter resigned in 2006 amid corruption-related allegations. A new judge declared the court matter a mistrial.
I took my time with the file, and it was clear that someone had done everything to make sure the two boys escaped justice. I tracked one down to an office in the CBD. He is somewhere out here.

The July 13, 1991, St Kizito High School massacre remains the most disturbing and heart-wrenching story I have covered.

The boys stormed the girls' dormitory. Reason? They had refused to join them in a strike.

In the ensuing violence, 71 school girls were raped and 19 of them lost their lives, mostly due to suffocation after being tightly packed into a corner during the attack.

Some were arrested and as usual, parents worked the justice system and many escaped the hangman’s noose.

But in a dark twist of events, most of the accused “turned mad”, and others ended up as drunks.
I remember visiting a lady now in her fifties who was still overwhelmed by the events of that night- oh she cried.

I met most of the boys then now men. Drunkards. Wasted.

Let’s see how the tragic Utumishi Fire tragedy plays out but if the prosecution proves those arrested are involved, it will be the end of school and freedom.

I have been to Nyeri, St Kizito, Kyanguli, Endarasha, and Bombolulu Girls' High School.
It's a life-changing experience!

No amount of justice or compensation can bring back the lives lost.

[The People’s President @bonifacemwangi]

Last October, my niece was raped on her way home at around 9;00pm. After those two beasts were done violating her, they forced her to send money to an M-Pesa till.

My sister called me crying in the middle of the night and I called Usikimye Founder, Njeri Wa Migwi, because I didn't know what to do. My niece received the medical help she needed, and the matter was reported to the Theta Police Station in Juja Constituency. She was given an OB, number 07/09/10/2025.

My niece went to follow up with the police but they didn’t even bother to write a statement. They didn’t even visit the scene. I paid a visit to the station with a lawyer @fatumabdulkadir, my wife @njerikan, and a friend, @JulianiKenya and spoke to the OCS. Our presence forced the Officer Commanding the Police Station to assign an officer to her case.

My niece wrote her statement and we drove the police to the site. The lady assigned to the case was Inspector MWW. I kept in touch with her every other day for months while following up on the case. The wheels of justice in Kenya grind slowly or sometimes never even start. As a good police officer, she filed a miscellaneous application in court to find out who owned the M-Pesa number to which my niece sent the money.

The application went through, but before the inspector could identify the perpetrators in January, she was arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Serious Crime Unit. The same DCI unit that has been harassing me and arresting me on trumped-up charges. I have been under state surveillance for a long time, ironically for being a good citizen advocating for a better Kenya.

My repeated calls to a police inspector were flagged by the National Intelligence Service, which handed over the call logs to the DCI to obtain a search warrant against her. She was arrested, her phone and laptop confiscated and taken to DCI. She gave my phone number to her family, and they called me. They told me she was questioned and accused of helping me plan protests. Inspector MWW was accused by the DCI of planning to mobilize members of the public to demonstrate and cause mayhem in the Ruiru area. Specifically, she was suspected of offences including preparation to commit a felony, malicious damage to property and assault causing actual bodily harm. The case also involved unauthorised interference with computer systems, with allegations that she used WhatsApp chats, text messages, and other digital communications to orchestrate or coordinate actions that posed a risk to public peace, stability, and safety. Her HP Compaq laptop and dual-SIM smartphone were seized for forensic analysis to gather evidence related to these alleged activities.

I called Advocate Ian Mutiso, who went to see her at DCI and was ready to help. She declined legal assistance connected to me, fearing that accepting it could be interpreted as evidence of an association. She cut off all communications with me to protect her job and decidednot to follow up on my niece’s rape case. The last time I checked on her through her family, her gadgets were yet to be returned to her. After her arrest, even the officers at the police station refused to investigate the case.

Then another assault and attempted rape happened. Same place. Same people, according to the description given by the second victim. This time, the rapist sent the money to himself, not another number, and took the victim’s phone. The victim could see her phone’s location somewhere in Juja. The victim’s OB number is 02/03/03/2026.

If the police had arrested the perpetrators instead of the investigator, the second rape wouldn’t have happened, and many other crimes. Every year since this government came to power, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) has continued to grow. Their budget is Ksh 51.4 billion, while the Judiciary’s is about half that, at Ksh 27.8 billion. The judiciary has over 250 court stations and tribunals across the country. They have more employees, a pending caseload of approximately 600,000 cases, and justice to deliver to millions of Kenyans, but it’s the spying agency that has a bigger budget.

The NIS does important work to protect Kenyans, but it also has units that are assigned to abduct active citizens. They have killer squads who will show up in protests masked, and shoot unarmed citizens. The same budget for NIS is where the president can call and send Noordin or his minions to deliver a briefcase containing millions of shillings to a politician or someone the president wants to bribe, so they can be silenced or persuaded to support him. They collect dirt, blackmail, and bribe people to support an unpopular president whose only legacy is abducting and killing young people. increased debt, and defunding education.

Let this regime be a lesson to all of us. Never vote for people who are accused of beating women, raping women, murdering and committing crimes against humanity. When you vote for such people, they will not care about the safety of women and children, they will prioritise house repairs over health, handouts instead of funding education, and if you dare protest, they will send police to shoot you. The pain and depression in the lives of Kenyans are a result of voting for someone who showed us his true colours, and we still elected him.

Tomorrow, my family and I will join the women’s march in Nairobi to protest against femicide, gender-based violence and the children who have been kidnapped or killed. I will be in the streets for my niece, and every woman and child whose life has been violated and ruined by this regime.

Ps: I have attached the search warrant and photos of the OB numbers in the thread.

[Dr. Raymond Omollo — CBS @ray_omollo]

The hosting of the 2026 Madaraka Day celebrations in Wajir County marks a significant shift in the national development agenda, spotlighting Northern Kenya's growing role in the country's future.

The Government, under H.E. President @WilliamsRuto, is spearheading a deliberate investments in security, infrastructure, public services and economic opportunities aimed at addressing historical marginalisation, strengthening national cohesion and creating a more secure and prosperous region.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

Deep inner suffering inevitably arises when the human person is reduced to performance, consumption, or a statistical datum. Many young people today live under the yoke of expectations to perform, immersed in an exasperated competitiveness that generates anxiety, fear of not measuring up, and disorientation.

[George Njoroge @georgenjoroge_]

CCTV footage from INSIDE the Utumishi Girls dormitory is now online.

You can see the beds. These girls were being watched where they slept.

Where they changed.

Management had cameras in a teenage girls bedroom and nobody thought that was worth mentioning?

Investigate the fire. But also arrest whoever put those cameras there.

[George T. Diano @georgediano]

Jimmy Kibaki, the chairman of Odibets, is staring at Kamiti Prison with his sanpaku eyes after a High Court ruling delivered on May 13 in Nairobi placed Odibets under fresh and intense scrutiny. The ruling concerns a constitutional petition brought on behalf of 11.5 million Safaricom subscribers whose personal data was allegedly stolen, packaged into commercial intelligence, and sold to betting companies between 2018 and 2019.

The petitioners are seeking KSh 1.5 million per subscriber in damages from Safaricom. Forensic evidence presented before the court allegedly names Odibets as one of the firms that purchased the illegally obtained data.

If that allegation is upheld, the financial and criminal consequences for Kibaki and his co-directors could be severe. Kenya's Data Protection Act, 2019, provides for fines of up to one percent of a company's annual turnover for violations, a figure that, for a platform of Odibets' scale, could run into billions of shillings.

Andrew Aligula, the alleged shadow co-owner of Odibets, was arrested weeks before the May ruling and detained at Gigiri Police Station in Nairobi. Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations reportedly swooped on him in circumstances that sent shockwaves through Kenya's betting industry.

He spent several nights in custody as investigators built their case. The man widely regarded as the real power behind Odibets found himself stripped of the protection he had allegedly cultivated through years of political proximity.

His calls to President William Ruto allegedly went unanswered. An intervention reportedly attempted by Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi on his behalf was said to have been declined by the President. On the day of his arrest, the Odibets application reportedly went offline for more than five hours.

Jimmy Kibaki has not publicly responded to the allegations. As chairman of Kareco Holdings Limited, the registered entity behind Odibets, he is the most publicly visible face of a company accused of building its customer base using allegedly stolen intelligence on the financial vulnerabilities of millions of Kenyans.

Whether he and his co-directors are ultimately held accountable will test whether Kenya's legal and regulatory framework applies equally to the well-connected and the ordinary citizen.

[#LandIsNotProperty Mwalimu Wandia @wmnjoya]

I said that many times, and Kenyans accused me of clinging to 8.4.4. Of course 8.4.4s would not know this because they were kids, but the A level system was highly discriminatory and favored the missionary dominated areas of Nyanza and Central. Moi knew that because he wasn't from those areas.

The media propaganda was very good at blocking Kenyans from understanding this. Now the problem that was addressed by 8.4.4 is back with JSS.

https://t.co/he5lyuCGDZ

[The Instigator @Am_Blujay]

President of Botswana 🇧🇼 Duma Boko stunned the audience after stopping midway through his speech to deliver a brutal but powerful lecture on relationships, loyalty, and trust.

[Gov. Anyang' Nyong'o @AnyangNyongo]

I had the pleasure of welcoming and hosting the leadership of our Party ODM led by Dr Oburu Oginga as we put our heads together to chart a way forward for ODM based on the original seed.

Having been there when we started the Party, I believe we honour Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga best, not by invoking his name in every argument, but by remaining faithful to the values he spent a lifetime defending. As well, a strong people are not those who speak with one voice on every issue. A strong people are those who remain united even when they disagree. We shall support what advances the interests of wananchi and oppose what undermines them.

As a matter of fact, ODM was never created to be permanently in government or permanently in opposition. The party was created to defend the rights, dignity and aspirations of the people. Basically, no individual can inherit Raila. Leadership is not transferred; it is earned through service, conviction and sacrifice.

Finally one fact is clear, that the future of ODM will not be decided only in Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, or Migori. It will be shaped in every corner of Kenya where citizens still believe in justice, equality, and democratic change.

That is the movement. That is the mission, and that is the legacy worth defending.

[Nuria Bookstore Kenya @NuriaStore]

Yesterday's book reading & signing was a success!

Until Further Notice by @SamuelKisika campus politics at the University of Nairobi, where tribal loyalties, ambition and power collide in a mirror of Kenya's national stage.

https://t.co/JZBJjetZU1

KShs1,500.00