John S. Khabamba

Days after EPRA announced new fuel prices, sparking outrage, President Ruto has come out to defend the historic hike while dismissing comparisons with equivalent prices in neighboring countries. Photo:President Ruto Speaking at African Gospel Church in Karen, Nairobi  Photo credit :Standard Group The Head of State has pointed out that Kenya, being the most developed in the region, ought to have high prices. “Kenya is a middle-income country; our neighbours are less developed. There is a big difference. If you want to compare Kenya fairly with others, compare Kenya with other middle-income countries. That is where you will get the figures right. Middle-income countries like Kenya possibly have higher fuel prices than Kenya, or the same,” he said. He further added, “Our country has double the stretch of tarmac of our closest neighboring economy, so it’s unfair to compare us with our immediate neighbors.” “Our prices are commensurate with our economic standards,” he concluded. Th...

Anxiety has gripped over 44,000 intern teachers after the Court of Appeal ruled that the internship program is illegal. While the commission still has a legal rebuttal window, the probability of those interns being sacked is almost zero, even in the absence of that litigation window. And here is why: Photo: A collage of Acting TSC Ceo and TSC offices.  Credit :TSC Internship is a gateway to employment...  The internship program, in its original form, is supposed to impart practical skills to future employees across different sectors of the government. The Public Service Commission has been running this internship program since time immemorial. However, the internship program at the Teacher Service Commission is one of a kind. It is not a normal internship program where people gain skills and are then released from the system after their period has elapsed. In TSC, the internship program is a gateway to permanent employment by the commission. So anyone employed under the intern...

Despite his meteoric rise in Kenya’s hardline opposition politics, Edwin Sifuna now stands at a defining political moment. His recent removal as Secretary-General of Orange Democratic Movement was not just an internal party adjustment. It signaled how quickly institutions can move against a leader who appears to be growing beyond comfortable limits. Photo: Embattled ODM Secretary General Addressing a political Gathering in Kitengela during Linda Mwananchi Rally  Credit: Courtesy  Though he has legally challenged the decision and managed, for now, to slow down the process, the real issue is bigger than a party title. It is about long-term survival. Sifuna has mastered the art of political messaging. The “Mimi ndio Sifuna” wave captured imagination, especially among urban youth. It portrayed confidence, defiance, and self-belief. Social media amplified him. The hashtags trended. The brand grew. But hashtags do not vote. Hashtags do not negotiate coalitions. And hashtags do not s...

 As the Grade 10 transition to senior schools nears completion, it has become evident that no fully boarding senior school has admitted day scholars. This is contrary to expectations arising from the government’s much-touted policy shift in grade 10 transition under the Competency-Based Education.  In a bid to enhance accessibility to quality education, the Ministry of Education had indicated that purely boarding senior schools would be abolished. All senior schools, regardless of their clustering, were expected to allocate at least 10 per cent of their admissions to day scholars through the establishment of day wings. However, the policy appears to have remained more theoretical than practical. To date, the government has not released any data showing boarding senior schools that have implemented day wings or admitted day scholars. A quick spot check further reveals that the placement process did not accommodate day scholars at all. Official admission letters from major senio...

The Ministry of Education has moved to avert the Grade 10 placement crisis. In its latest press release, the Cabinet Secretary, Julius Ogamba, announced that parents will be able to seek transfers to new senior schools of their choice once the second revision window opens from 6th to 9th January. Ministry of Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba during the release of KJSEA Results on 11th December, 2025 Credit: Courtesy  " The revision will provide parents, guardians and learners an opportunity to provide legitimate and verifiable grounds of reconsideration of the initial or revised placement... " stated the press statement in part.  This move is intended to resolve the many rejected and pending requests that parents submitted after the release of placement results. Parents will be allowed to revise placements by seeking assistance from the target senior schools, a move aimed at easing pressure after widespread complaints about the rigidity of the automated system, which ...

Thousands of Grade 10 transfer requests were rejected even before the transfer window was closed, much to the disappointment – and in some cases anger – of parents and learners. While the government maintains that there was never a guarantee that transfers would be approved, the scale of the rejections raises serious questions about how realistic the original placements were. PS Julius Bittok (on the left) consulting Education Secretary Julius Ogamba during the release of KJSEA Results on 11th December.   Photo:Courtesy The official position is that placements were done strictly based on learners’ choices. We have even been told that a learner being placed in a day school more than 100 kilometres away from home was still the learner’s own choice.  But if this is true, one question remains unanswered: Why would learners deliberately choose day schools located hundreds of kilometres from their homes, fully aware that placement in those schools was a real possibility? The answer ...

 Babu Owino cannot simply inherit ODM and automatically become the Luo kingpin the way someone inherits property  or worse, a wife. Leadership in Luo politics has never worked that way. Photo: Embakasi East MP, Babu Owino consulting the late Raila Odinga In an event   Raila Odinga did not inherit ODM. He fought for it. He endured detention, exile, betrayal and near-political death. His struggle resonated with the frustrations of the Luo community and with millions across the Republic. Over time, he became more than a politician — almost a cult-like figure whose authority flowed from sacrifice, not succession. It is therefore misleading for polls such as the recent Infotrack survey to casually position Babu Owino as the “next in line” to the ODM throne. ODM is not a monarchy. It is a movement built on struggle, not inheritance. The bigger danger is what such narratives do to the fragile post-Baba unity within the party. ODM is still in mourning politically. Its base is sti...

 Despite the Ministry of Education’s insistence that KJSEA does not rank learners and that placement under CBE is non-discriminatory, the release of recent Grade 10 placements has sparked debates over whether academic ranking persists under a new label.  Following public outcry, the Ministry allowed requests for school transfers, but the review process largely reinforced merit-based placement patterns. Of 117,000 transfer requests received in the opening two days, only about 20,000 have been processed so far.Most approved transfers are within the same cluster or to lower clusters (e.g., C2 to C2).Learners placed in C4 seeking transfer to C3, C2, or C1 are largely being rejected, exposing hidden stratification.The outcome raises questions about whether CBE has removed ranking in practice or merely rebranded it. The Ministry of Education has repeatedly assured parents and the public that the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) does not rank learners and therefore...

The failure of the Education Ministry to release Grade 10 placement results has escalated anxiety among KJSEA candidates. Over a week after the release of the KJSEA results, the Ministry had indicated that placements would follow almost immediately. Speaking during the inaugural release of KJSEA  last Thursday, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba assured the public that over one million students would know their respective senior schools before Christmas. “Placement of candidates who sat for this year’s Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) is set to begin next week,” he announced while taking questions from the press. This was intended to ensure adequate planning ahead of the first-ever senior school transition. “All candidates will know the senior schools they have been placed in by December 20,” he added, noting that over 60% of learners qualify to take the STEM pathway, as envisaged by the framers of the CBC. While addressing delegates at the Kenya Union of Tea...

 Two days after flagging KJSEA results analysis as fake, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has continued to dismiss persistent social media posts by schools publishing such analyses. Source : KNEC (Facebook)  Also Read:  KNEC Warns Schools Against Analyzing KJSEA Results The council maintains that KJSEA results do not require further analysis and has urged schools to refrain from reviving the old system of mean scores and rankings, which it says breeds unhealthy competition. In a series of Facebook posts, KNEC condemned several schools for continuing to publish fake analysis, noting that the practice contravenes assessment reporting guidelines under Competency-Based Education (CBE). “Reporting in KJSEA uses descriptive terms rather than raw marks to avoid reviving excessive competition associated with the former 8-4-4 system,” the council explained in a follow-up Facebook post issued a few hours after flagging the results analysis of a certain junior school. ...

 As the public continues to grapple with understanding the inaugural Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) results released on 11th December, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has issued a stern warning to schools conducting independent analyses of the outcomes. Photo: KNEC Logo The warning comes amid widespread circulation of result breakdowns purporting to rank schools and generate mean scores an approach KNEC says is misleading and inconsistent with the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) framework under which KJSEA was administered. In a statement shared on its official Facebook page, in which it flagged Results analysis from a Junior School in Kisii County , the examination body urged schools to stop misleading the public with fake and inaccurate KJSEA results analysis, stressing that the new assessment system is fundamentally different from the former 8-4-4 examination structure. KNEC clarified that, unlike the previous system, KJSEA does not generate an...

The Ministry of Education is expected to release the inaugural Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) results this Thursday. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba earlier confirmed that more than one million learners would know their performance by 11th December, once marking by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) is finalized. Although the mode of release is yet to be disclosed, the announcement will set in motion a series of activities that will run through January next year. Here's the road map of events that will take place.  Photo Courtesy : Education Cabinet Secretary, Julius Ogamba during a press conference.  Instant Results Access...  Once the big  announcement is made, the results will be instantly accessible to the anxious candidates who have been waiting for weeks. Online and SMS platforms are likely to be employed to avail the results.  Placement  Before Christmas..  The next stage will be the placement process...

Jobless primary school teachers, commonly known as P1 teachers can only dream of TSC employment as the the commission continue giving their employment a wide berth. With the new 24,000  internship  posts waiting to filled in Junior Schools come next year, primary school hopefuls have little to smile about, as their wait continues. The tutors have cited unfairness in recruitments, where the employer has largely prioritised graduate teachers to staff Junior Secondary Schools (JSS). Photo: Interim TSC Chief Excutive Officer Ms Everline Mitei Credit: Courtesy But is JSS really to blame for the plight of P1 teachers? On the surface, the commission might seem justified. Yet, a closer look reveals that the JSS transition has been poorly conceived and even more poorly misconstrued as the reason for lack of recruitment in primary schools . Here’s why. A Long-Running Shortage....  Kenya’s public education sector has grappled with teacher shortages since before independence. Success...

 As millions of Kenyans still reel in shock following the sudden and catastrophic death of Raila Amolo Odinga, one sentiment cuts across the nation: the timing of his passing feels unspeakably cruel. File photo. The late Raila Odinga at a past event.  Courtesy of The Nation  It is as though the lights were switched off without warning, while we were deep in the room, leaving us groping for direction—unsure how to stagger our way out or even how to switch them back on. For decades, Raila was the constant in Kenya’s unpredictable political equation. His name was a rhythm, his voice a compass. To his supporters, he was Baba—the moral north star who embodied hope, resilience, and the endless fight for justice. His absence has plunged the nation, and especially his vast following, into a deep, disorienting darkness. The elusive presidency was never out of sight...  The elusive presidency was never completely out of his line of sight. Despite multiple failed attempts, Rail...

After an action packed weekend in Premier league Football , it's time for a quick round Up.  Photo: Rio Ngumoha erupts as he celebrates winner against Newcastle   Credits : Getty Images  London's Goals Galore  The football weekend kicked in London where Chelsea ripped apart a shambolic West Ham side in  their London Stadium . Chelsea goals were slotted home by five different scorers with Joao Pedro netting his first premier goal for the blues after his summer switch from Brighton . Lucas Paqueta  grabbed the consolation goal for the Hammers. The loss left Graham Potter 's side sitting pretty at the bottom after a point-less start  to the campaign.  Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images:, Nathan Chaloba celebrates scoring Chelsea's  first goal City's spurs jinx continues...  As sure as   sun   rises in the East so is the Spurs three points guarantee from City. Tottenham   inflicted the first of the season defeat to ...

When you think of tragic love stories, Shakespeare gave us Romeo and Juliet, Hollywood gave us Twilight , but the Premier League  beats them all. Enter Manchester United and their soulmate: 15th position. Unlike Kenyan politicians who love defecting from one party to another, United has been faithful. Loyal. Consistent. Their romance with 15th Position is so unshakable, even ODM strongholds would clap in admiration. The Courtship – Like Matatus and Traffic Jams It began slowly, like a Nairobi matatu sneaking into a jam-packed roundabout. A bad game here, a humiliating loss there. Fans thought it was just a “construction jam” on their way back to the top. But no. This jam wasn’t moving. United parked there, opened the windows, and started selling smokies and eggs at 15th place. Love Like Chanda na Pete United and 15th position go together like  Chanda na pete. No frills, no glamour, just  like humble pairing. Forget Champions League nights — these two share Tuesday evenin...

 Teachers Service Commission has cautioned Junior schools teachers against failing to attend  the nationwide retooling program set to begin Monday, 2nd December. The commission has put on guard TSC Subcounty Directors to ensure a 100% attendance of the program in their respective venues. The staffing officers are directed to swiftly institute displinary action for teachers who will fail to turn up for the four-day activity. JSS teachers have taken an issue with the timing of the retooling program with many claiming to be far away from their respective venues.  Some tutors have asked their Heads Of Institutions to facilitate the travelling cost but the heads have been unresponsive while others have promised to refund the fare when schools reopen much to discontent of the 'moguls' as are popularly known. As we approach the start of the program, some have already made up their minds not to attend. The Subcounty TSC officials have admitted  to have received a barrage of ...

 Junior Secondary School Teachers have called out the Teachers Service Commission for organizing retooling during the festive December Holidays. The displeased teachers cite the inconvenience the commission will pose for them to attend the week long training. Photo:Courtesy   "The Teachers Service Commission has planned the retooling of teachers handling grade 7 and 8 (Junior School) in Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) and Competency Based Assessment (CBA) with the effect from 20th November to 5th December, 2024..." read part of the circular dated 28th October, 2024. While the teachers appreciate the need of organizing such workshops, they have faulted their employer for 'inconvenient timing.' The face to face training will take place between 2nd and 5th December in select venues at the Subcounty level. Consequently, teachers who had traveled to their homes for December Holidays will be forced to travel back to their stations and back again to their homes after the t...

Jobless primary school teachers commonly known as P1 teachers are up in arms demanding the Teachers Service Commission to add them to its payroll. The tutors are citing unfairness in recent recruitment with the employer focusing on Graduates in staffing Junior Secondary schools. But, is Jss the reason for not employing P1 teachers? Well, on face value the commission cannot be blamed but let's face it, JSS Transition is as lame as it gets . Here is why...  Photo: TSC CEO, Dr. Nancy Macharia. ( Credit : The Standard  Teacher shortage in Public Educational Institutions has  rocked this country  since pre-independance era to date. Different governments have tried to plug the deficit but the efforts  are yet to achieve the ideal student to teacher ratio. The roll out of Competence Based Curriculum was bound to deepen the teacher shortage crisis as the new curriculum gave rise to a whole new dynamic of permeating knowledge, skills and attitudes in addition to  in...

It is little over a month since the historic ouster of former Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua but  some quotas of the population are still wrapping their heads around this unprecedented development. Yes, it happened! The DP was indeed removed through a constitutional process. While the constitution has such provision, did the framers shoot themselves in the foot by creating a 'opportunistic' process for political maneuvering?  Photo: Courtesy  One of the fundamental reasons as to why a new constitutional dispensation was indispensable  was to strengthen the constitutional institutions. To give them some independence dimension which was glaringly lacking in the previous dispensation. The executive which bore the biggest brunt of political intrusion in the old constitution era was set to be relieved. The Presidency oscillated around an all-powerful individual who  wielded excess potency that turned them  into  mafia rulers; dictating with an iron-fist...