One way to understand the concept of digital authoritarianism is as a form of governance or set of actions aimed at undermining accountability. It is the use of digital technologies for this goal. Technology is used to repress voices, keep people under surveillance, and manipulate populations for regime goals and survival.
One of the markers of Kenyan statesman Raila Odinga was not just his courage in challenging the establishment but his ability to fortify it when circumstances demanded. An example was his willingness in 2007 to set aside his ambition at having been robbed of the presidency in a rigged election by agreeing to a coalition government with his opponent, President Mwai Kibaki. Odinga espoused compromise and never squandered the political moment. Thus he ceded political ground for the greater national good and stability.
Raila Amolo Odinga, who died on 15 October 2025, aged 80, ran five times for the Kenyan presidency but didn’t win. Yet he became a statesman of enormous influence, whose political and humanitarian achievements surpassed those of many African heads of state. He will be remembered as one of the most important figures in the struggle for multiparty democracy.
Mental health experts have long warned that Kenya’s youth are suffering a silent epidemic. A 2022 UNICEF study revealed that 44.3% of adolescents experience mental health challenges, while 12.2% have diagnosable disorders. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 75% of Kenyans with mental illness never receive treatment due to stigma, lack of resources, and cost.
Having self-identified as a revolutionary, Odinga later proved to be committed to institutional reform and democratisation. His greatest legacy is the 2010 constitution, which attempted to devolve power away from the “imperial presidency”, which he campaigned for over many years.
That vantage point taught me a difficult truth: many nonprofits fail to secure funding not because their missions lack value, but because they are not fund-ready. They often struggle with systems, structures, and clarity, the very things that give funders confidence.
When most artists are grappling with history and archives, Zvavahera is focused on the dreams and visions she has, not as a retreat from the past or the urgency of the now, but as a parallel form of knowledge.
His art photography presents what immigrants bring with them, their resilience, inventiveness, and enduring connection to their homelands.
Standing before the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal in 1556, Mónica Fernandes, a woman from the coast of modern-day Ghana, was accused of casting malevolent spells and making pacts with demons. Her crime? Seeking a traditional Akan remedy for a simple cat bite.
My new book "The Devil Made Me Do It" shows how beliefs in the danger of the occult perform a social function across race and class. In the book I discuss numerous cases of so-called occult crime over the years and across communities.