Blog
31
Aug
‘MUMBI AND THE FULL NINE’-A REVIEW BY AUTHOR CIKU KIMANI
In 2022, Gilbert Mwangi published NOBODY'S DARLING, a historical fiction of Muthoni Nyanji...
24
Mar
WHO IS GĨKŨYŨ? (AGĨKŨYŨ CREATION MYTH EXPLAINED)
The first man, according to the Agĩkũyũ creation myth, was called Gĩkũyũ. The name rises f...
11
Mar
THE FULL NINE: WHAT’S IN A BOOK TITLE?
“Whats ‘Full Nine’?” One reader asked when I launched the book 'Mũmbi and the Full Nine' l...
11
Mar
AFRICAN HEROINES VS FAIRY TALES: MEET MŨMBI AND THE FULL NINE
When we were young, they taught us about Cinderella—the hapless girl who flees as the bell...
11
Mar
MUMBI AND THE FULL NINE
Finally,the fire returns!
When the world was still soft with dawn, Mwene Nyaga, the...
02
Feb
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
February is Black History Month.
It’s not just another hashtag, or calendar event. It’s...
18
Dec
THE FORESTS ARE TURNING BLUE: THŨNGŨYA BLOOMS AGAIN
“In the forest of Upper Kikuyu in the Aberdare range there grows a small tree called Thong...
07
Dec
SEVEN TRAVEL TRENDS THAT WILL DEFINE 2026
Data from the world's leading hotel groups, travel firms and trend forecasters suggests th...
20
Nov
DIGITAL ‘GUKAS’ FIGHT IT OUT ON FACEBOOK
I dunno who opened a Facebook account for Gicheru, our breeder-cum-herbalist in the villag...
20
Nov
BASIR
Basir.A place I can’t visit anymore. But a photograph, like this one I took ten years ago,...
05
Nov
LESSONS FROM A CON MAN
In my short life under the sun, I have seen a lot. This happened back in the early 2000s. ...
28
Oct
OUR BOYS NOW CONSULT CHATGPT BEFORE FACING THE ‘CUT’
The closure of schools in Murima signals the beginning of the intitation season for the yo...
26
Oct
THE NUN’S SECRET DUET
It’s was the late 1950s.The Catholic Diocese of Murang’a had just completed building Kiang...
23
Oct
CHILDREN OF THE FOREST
When the Mau Mau war ended, there was a flurry of literature:recollections of a burning ti...
22
Oct
RAILA AND THE MAKING OF A MODERN MYTH
When the remains of Raila Amolo Odinga arrived from India yesterday, the city broke into h...
26
Sep
WHEN A FRIEND DEPARTS, HE TAKES A PIECE OF YOUR WORLD
There was always something about Francis, one of the boys I met when I joined high school....
19
Sep
LATEST FAD IN KENYA WILL MAKE YOU SNEEZE
At any given moment, there’s always a fad sweeping across this Jamhuri, some new miracle p...
18
Sep
THE YEAR OF THE COUGAR?
Of late, there has been an explosion of older women getting hitched to young studs. I do n...
22
Aug
DEAD OR ALIVE
Gicheru and Uncle may be agemates, but they are as different as water and oil. You’d expec...
21
Aug
REMEMBERING TO REMEMBER: THE SACRED DUTY OF MEMORY
I was delighted to read in the Daily Nation of 16th August 2025 that the family of the lat...
18
Aug
CULTURE IS,NOT WAS
Lately, there has been a vibrant revival of Agikuyu-themed festivals:gatherings that pulse...
15
Aug
WHERE THE CAMEL BELLS STILL RING
This week, six years ago, I took my last rickety flight out of Wajir aboard one of those b...
14
Aug
BIZARRELY DELICIOUS:QUIRKY FOOD NAMES FROM CENTRAL KENYA
Murima folks aren’t known for their culinary prowess. We are the national laughing stock i...
01
Aug
HOW TO DATE A LOADED KIKUYU MUBABA
Once in a while, I receive letters from readers that range from the curious to the downrig...
07
Jul
THE ICONIC ‘TOYOTA STOUT’ PICKUP
Great moments in history are captured in iconic photos. The good thing about a photo is th...
05
Jun
NGUGI WA THIONG’O- A MEMORIAM
I was introduced to the wonderful world of Ngũgĩ’ wa Thiong’o when I was a scrawny Standar...
25
May
DANIEL KAMAU,THE MAN WHO BROUGHT BENGA BEAT TO KIKUYU POPULAR MUSIC
Before there was Samidoh , HSC , before mugithi,there was Daniel Kamau Mwai.Affectionately...
08
Feb
MAGICAL MURANG’A: DARE THE ABERDARES HIKE
Back in 1884, a wide-eyed British explorer named Joseph Thompson left England, dreaming of...
04
Feb
‘RATISH’: THE AMBER REVOLUTION BREWING TROUBLE FOR BREWERS
Mũratina, the golden nectar of the House of Mũmbi is slowly staging a grand comeback. If I...
02
Feb
‘MY PEOPLE’ POEM THE KIKUYU VERSION
If there is a poem that every Black child must learn by heart,then its 'My People' by the ...
30
Jan
KIBAKI’S MASTERCLASS IN CUTTING THROUGH NON-ISSUES
Once upon a time, during President Kibaki’s administration, the Secretary to the Cabinet d...
29
Jan
THE BROKEN POT
Mũmbi collected a dollop of clay from the riverside and conjured a beautiful earthen pot t...
26
Jan
MAGICAL MURANG’A: MURANG’A GORGES
Heading to Sagana from Murang’a town? There’s a little detour waiting to sprinkle some mag...
14
Jan
WHEN THE WILD ROSES BLOOM: THE MYSTICAL CLOCK OF “THŨNGŨYA” PLANT
Among the Agĩkũyũ people, the passage of time wasn’t marked by mere calendar years dictate...
11
Jan
NEW TERM,FRESH EDUCATIONAL TOUR SITES
Howdy everyone,
The first term is here, and so is school tours season. At Drum Major To...
09
Jan
MEASLES, MARX, AND STINKY STATE GOONS
Around January 1999, I developed a strange sickness that wouldn’t respond to any antidote ...
07
Jan
ABERDARES BONGO ECO LODGE-WHERE ‘AWESOME’ RESIDES
Awe is described as the sensation of being in the presence of something enormous that is b...
03
Jan
LIFE IS A WHEEL THAT ALWAYS ROLLS ON
One of the oldest traditions amongst many ancient communities is that time will stop at th...
31
Dec
APPRECIATION POST
Thank you all for the support in 2024.All year,you were the wind beneath our wings.
May...