NAIROBI — Kenyan President William Ruto has said the Kenya-Somalia border will stay shut for now, pointing to lingering security risks, Somalia’s political instability and shortfalls in funding for security operations. Ruto said the move reflects the current security climate in the region, alongside uncertainty inside Somalia and the cost of putting in place the measures needed to manage cross-border travel safely. The border has faced repeated restrictions in recent years, with authorities citing threats linked to militant…

by STEPHEN ASTARIKOWednesday June 3, 2026 Health CS Aden Duale addressing residents of Maalimin, ladgera sub county./STEPHEN ASTARIKO Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has urged President William Ruto to reopen the Kenya-Somalia border and accelerate the tarmacking of the Garissa-Liboi road, arguing that both steps would unlock the economic promise of North Eastern Kenya. Speaking in Maalim Sub-County at the launch of a Mini-Grid project, Duale took the opportunity to deliver what he called a special appeal on behalf of…

Wednesday June 3, 2026 President William Ruto has ended his three-day tour of Northern Kenya with a renewed promise to direct more development funds to a region he says has been left behind for too long. He argued that Kenya can only unlock the area’s huge untapped potential if the North is fully woven into the national development blueprint. “Northern Kenya is not peripheral; it is central to the development of Kenya,” he said on Tuesday at Maalimin in Lagdera Constituency, Garissa County. He added: “I am on a mission to…

by STEPHEN ASTARIKOTuesday June 2, 2026 Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi delivering his remarks at Wajir Stadium during the Madaraka Day celebrations./PCS Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi has said the people of Wajir, speaking through their council of elders, will present President William Ruto with 100 camels as a symbolic show of gratitude for what he described as the President’s steadfast support for development, inclusion, and empowerment in Northern Kenya. The pledge was made on Monday during the 2026 Madaraka Day…

By Moses KinyanjuiTuesday June 2, 2026 President William Ruto on Monday moved to immortalise a revered Wajir political figure by endorsing a request to rename the newly completed Wajir Stadium as the Ahmed Khalif Wajir Stadium. The proposal came during the 63rd Madaraka Day celebrations in Wajir County, where Governor Ahmed Abdullahi urged the President to use the landmark as a lasting tribute to the late leader, whom he described as one of the region’s most distinguished sons and a man who rose to the country’s highest…

Tuesday June 2, 2026 From Wajir County, a landmark moment has arrived for Kenya. In a clear message of inclusion, history was being made on Tuesday as the country marked Madaraka Day in the north for the first time in 63 years of self-rule. It was, in the words of the speaker, proof that the Bottom-Up promise to leave no one behind is being put into action. For the first time since independence, a national celebration of Madaraka Day was taking place in Wajir, deep in Northern Kenya. Far from being a symbolic gesture, the…

by Frankline Oduor Friday May 15, 2026 President William Ruto has laid out the reasons the Kenya-Somalia border remains sealed 15 years after it was first shut, even after he said earlier this year that reopening would begin in April. In an interview with France 24 on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Ruto said the plan was thrown off course by a fresh wave of instability inside Somalia. He said Kenya had initially made headway with the Somali federal government, but the process unraveled as tensions…

By JEREMIAH WAKAYAThursday May 14, 2026 Ruto said Kenya had made significant progress toward reopening the frontier before clashes erupted between Somalia’s Federal Government and regional state forces near the Kenyan border/PCS/FILE President William Ruto has said the long-promised reopening of the Kenya-Somalia border collapsed because renewed violence and political turmoil in Somalia upended the plan. In an interview with France 24 on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Ruto said Kenya had been moving…

Wednesday April 29, 2026 A casual remark by Kenya’s president has ignited a transcontinental debate, after William Ruto was quoted as saying Kenyans “speak some of the best English in the world” and that Nigerians can require “a translator” when speaking English. Kenya's President William Ruto. / Reuters Are Kenyans better English speakers than Nigerians, or have national pride and online banter simply taken over? That question has dominated social media in recent days after remarks attributed to Kenyan President William…

Ruto nominates Frank Ole Kibelekenya as Kenya’s ambassador to Denmark, names deputies to Somalia, Russia and Tanzania President William Ruto has nominated Kosiom Frank Ole Kibelekenya to serve as Kenya’s ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark and named senior diplomats to postings in Somalia, Russia and Tanzania in a shake-up of the Foreign Service aimed at strengthening the country’s representation abroad. The changes, communicated through Presidential Notification of Action No. IV of 2026 and announced Friday, will go before…