History
George Saitoti was one of the most prolific politicians Kenya has ever had. He served as the country’s sixth Vice President from 1989 to 2002 during president Moi’s tenure. At the time of his death, he was serving Internal Security minister deputized by the Late Orwa Ojode. He died on 10th June, 2012 in a…
The historic Kipande House built in 1913 is located at the corner of Kenyatta Avenue and Loita Street in Nairobi’s Central Business District. ‘Kipande’ is a Swahili word that means ‘identification card’. Henry Belfield, who was Kenya’s governor between 1912 and 1917, ordered the building to be used for issuing identity cards only to Africans….
The first modern flushable toilet was invented in 1596 by Sir John Harrington. He installed one for his godmother, Queen Elizabeth I. His invention included a water tank and a flush valve. However, the flush toilet wouldn’t become popular for another 250 years. Most toilets in Medieval Europe were either holes in the ground, communal…
This was the only Kenyan town that ostensibly had a bar that was never manned! Revellers would just go, take beer and leave the money at the counter- and if they needed change they would take the exact amount and stagger to the hyena-laden fields of Farm 64 as the emerging town was known then….
We’ve all heard of Ponzi schemes, but the man they’re named after is a mystery to many.In 1903, a penniless Italian immigrant with a gambling problem arrived in Boston with dreams of making it big in America. His name was Charles Ponzi. Standing 5’2 and weighing 60kg, the diminutive man may not have been imposing,…
Slain Kabete MP George Muchai was a troubled man by the time he was murdered in a mafia-style execution on the morning of Saturday, February 7 2015. He had tried to reinforce his personal security before his driver, two body guards and himself were shot dead by a lone marksman suspected to have…
Mohamed Moti business in Meru is said to have started in the early 1900s. It is now over 120 years since they opened shop. Meru was declared a township by the first colonial District Commissioner Edward Butler Horne on May 13, 1911. By then, Mr Mohamed Moti was an established trader. It is said In…
Lord Egerton Castle is located in Njoro, approximately 30 minutes drive from Nakuru, Kenya’s 4th largest city. The mansion with fascinating architecture and surrounded by numerous shrubs, canopy trees, and lush lawns was built by Lord Egerton between 1938 and 1952. The story of this castle is one of both love and hate. Lord Maurice…
This tattered, nondescript building on Kìrînyaga Road in Nairobi betrays little if any significance to a passer-by. Yet this is the first building in Nairobi’s CBD that was owned by a black Kenyan. But there was more to this building. Acquired by a little known businessman Kiburi wa Thumbi in the late 1940s, Kiburi…
