A look back at the top stories on Nation.Africa in 2023
Stories on Opposition protests that were spearheaded Raila Odinga, the closure of Hilton Hotel and Fridah Warau (right) who drowned alongside lover in Juja dam were some of the biggest headlines on Nation.Africa in 2023.
What you need to know:
- The stories show that Kenyans were interested in more than politics and crime but mostly in human interest stories.
- The news cycle feels more frenetic than ever, which can make it hard to remember everything that's happened this year.
Top sector highlights of events that captured the attention of readers in Kenya’s landscape, as covered by Nation.Africa newsroom, provide unparalleled insight into the key trends and challenges that shaped the country in 2023.
The stories show that Kenyans were interested in more than politics and crime but mostly in human interest stories. The news cycle feels more frenetic than ever, which can make it hard to remember everything that's happened this year.
Here's a look back at the top stories that captured our readers' attention in 2023.
Over 300 people arrested on Day One of Azimio-led anti-government demos across Kenya; to be charged with various offences, CS Kindiki says.
A police officer fires a teargas canister at demonstrators on Nairobi's Wabera Street during protests by Opposition supporters on March 20, 2023.
When she came and I told her about my decision, she didn't have much to say to me. The only question she asked before saying goodnight was whether I had mailed the notice to HR in which case I said I hadn't. She signed her section and gave me the green light to take it higher.
An idling engine uses fuel approximately about a litre every 20 minutes) and gets you nowhere, which is both a waste of money and a cause of avoidable pollution.
The institution’s bus hit a 14-seater matatu in Kayole area of the Nairobi-Naivasha highway before landing in a ditch. A journey that had started at midnight on Thursday was halted fatally and abruptly, and with casualties.
Two MPs, a former governor and a popular Kiambu musician are among those who reportedly played lead roles in mobilising the gang last Friday when the plot to counter Monday’s demonstrations was hatched. The youths were recruited from Kiambu and Nairobi.
Some of the individuals who invaded part of the Kenyatta family-owned Northlands City and stole livestock on March 27, 2023.
It was revealed that they were ferried from Ruiru, Githurai 45 and Gatundu South in Kiambu as well as Ruai, Kayole and Mathare in Nairobi.
June Jerop Kangogo, was in high spirits when she was last seen by her classmates on Saturday, March 18, 2023.
June Jerop Kangogo, an accountant at National Industrial Training Authority and an MBA student at Kenyatta University. Her body was found dumped in Nairobi.
Her elder sister, Ms Joyce Jepkemoi, said Jerop, said she spent the day with her friends until around 5pm, when she excused herself to go on a coffee date. That was the last time her classmates saw the 36-year-old alive.
The norm in society is that men date or marry younger women and women date or get married to older men.
But the narrative has changed. The older women dating younger men, popularly known as cougars, or closer home, Aunty wa Harrier, or more recently, ‘Mumamas’, have made the dating world more competitive.
Mwangi Kibaara’s world turned black when his mud-walled kitchen in Murang’a County was swarmed by a gang of young men out to murder his 75-year-old wife, Mary Njoki. He opened his eyes when he heard his wife scream after she was slapped by one of the about 100 intruders.
Fridah Warau Kamuyu, 22, who died on January 17 in Kiambu County’s Titanic dam, was almost cut off from her relatives. Fridah died alongside Tirus Maina Gikonyo in his vehicle when it slid into the water.
Fridah Warau Kamuyu who died on January 17, 2023 in Kiambu County’s Titanic dam.
No missing person’s report was made, and in the end, it is detectives who went looking for her parents to identify her body in the mortuary nine days after her demise.
Detectives investigating the murder of former Treasury official Tom Fred Mokaya Osinde revealed that he was killed at his Nakuru home in Ngata Estate before his body was transported to Kisii and dumped in Gucha River.
According to a senior detective at the centre of the murder probe, investigators found blood stains in his house.
In March, it was revealed that retired President Uhuru Kenyatta had threatened to personally visit the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) offices before former Interior CS Fred Matiang’i was released.
Close associates of Mr Kenyatta told the Taifa Leo that while in Mombasa, he (Mr Kenyatta) received news that police had refused to allow Azimio la Umoja party leader Raila Odinga to access the DCI offices something that greatly annoyed him.
The story about the closing of the iconic Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, which was known for its imposing 17-storey circular tower and has been an iconic landmark in Nairobi for more than 53 years was among the most read stories of the year.
The iconic Hilton Hotel in Nairobi in this picture taken on December 31, 2022. The hotel has since been closed.
The iconic hotel closed its doors forever and has since remained so as the building does not have a new occupant.
The alleged boyfriend of June Jerop Kangogo, an accountant at the National Industrial Training Authority (Nita) in Nairobi who was found murdered in April, claimed that she owed him Sh1 million.
Mr Jesse Wafula Walukha, in documents filed at the High Court in Nairobi, also said Kangogo was his business partner and she was avoiding queries from her colleagues at work over her lifestyle and ownership of a motor vehicle.
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) this year adjusted Civil Servants housing allowances.
According to the new rates, Nairobi-based civil servants in job group K, for example, were to receive a Sh16,500 house allowance per month up, from Sh10,000.
Nairobi-based public officers in job group A – drivers, personal secretaries, cleaners and messengers – will receive Sh3,750 a month up from Sh3,000, an adjustment that is likely to disappoint many given that the amount still falls below the prevailing market rates by far.
