MAMBO! Articles
Features articles on the MAMBO! THE IFRA NOTEBOOK || IFRA’S BLOG ||
Street Vendors Associations in Kenya: Political or Economic Resource?
BY NATHAN KARIUKI · PUBLISHED 24/08/2022

Street vending plays a crucial role in the urban economy in most countries, especially in the Global South. This paper focuses on street vendors associations in Thika town in Kenya. The article asks whether street vendors associations play a role of economic and political empowerment and which role exactly
Asymmetrical gender relations among African Pentecostals in Switzerland
BY MAXENCE COUCHE FRANQUET · PUBLISHED 07/29/2022 ·

Carrefour pour Christ est une Église pentecôtiste africaine créée en 1993 en Suisse. La question de la soumission féminine dans le couple catalyse aujourd’hui les tensions entre les anciens, arrivés de RDC, et les jeunes fidèles nés et ayant grandi en Suisse. Ces derniers contestent les visions trop rigides des rapports de genre qu’ils jugent non adaptés à leurs réalités sentimentales et/ou maritales et familiales, mais ils les reproduisent aussi souvent.
Abdulrazak Gurnah, Winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature: A Memory of Zanzibar Exiles
BY MAÏLYS CHAUVIN · PUBLISHED 03/06/2022 ·

This Thursday October 7th 2021 is a day for celebrating Abdulrazak Gurnah in Zanzibar and the diaspora. The Royal Swedish Academy has just awarded him the Nobel Prize for Literature. The residents of Malindi, a neighborhood of Stonetown where the writer grew up, are proudly circulating a short clip made in his honor. On BBC Swahili, in London, the respected journalist and analyst Ahmed Rajab speaks with pride about his old classmate
The effects of Covid-19 on the teaching and learning of French in public universities in Kenya
BY MARGARET K. THANG’WA · PUBLISHED 01/20/2022 ·

En 2020, toutes les institutions d’éducation kényanes, y compris les universités, ont été sommées de fermer sine die pour endiguer les effets de la pandémie de COVID-19. Cet article vise à identifier les modes d’atténuation qui ont été utilisés pour gérer la nouvelle normalité éducative liée à la pandémie dans l’enseignement et l’apprentissage du français dans les universités publiques du Kenya.
Gender, access and working conditions. The case of urban cleaners in the city of Bujumbura
BY IMMACULATE NSHIMIRIMANA & RENÉ MANIRAKIZA · UPDATED 01/20/2022

Ce travail rend compte des dures conditions de travail dans le métier du nettoyage urbain à Bujumbura. Être agent de propreté urbaine demeure surtout compliqué pour les femmes, majoritaires dans ce secteur. La propreté urbaine a été construite comme un « bastion féminin », perçue comme étant en continuité avec les tâches que les femmes au Burundi exerçaient traditionnellement dans leurs ménages.
Vaccine Diplomacy and the Agency of African States: What Can We Learn from Kenya?
BY DAVID NGIRA & JOHN HARRINGTON · PUBLISHED 26/05/2021 ·

The politics of access to vaccines against COVID-19 has been discussed in terms of vaccine nationalism and imperialism. However, the implication of the pandemic on the ability of African states to act internally and externally to protect the health of their citizens has been obscured. Here, we share research findings which address that question with a particular focus on Kenya.
Towards a Ride-hailing Services Dependency in Nairobi? Uses, users and regulation
BY TEDDY DELAUNAY · PUBLISHED 06/05/2021 ·

On-demand Ride-Hailing services (RHs) now play an increasing role within many cities around the world. RHs might increase traffic congestion, vehicle ownership and access inequalities. RHs pose significant challenges for policymakers, and addressing these issues requires detailed information about RHs use. This paper provides insights into who the users of RHs are, and their motivations for using RHs.
“Tunataka Nchi Yetu” (We Want Our Country): Campaign Rallies, Music and Songs as Stages for Performing Zanzibari Nationalism
BY NICODEMUS MINDE · PUBLISHED 26/04/2021 ·

This essay aims to show how Zanzibari nationalism was expressed through music performances during the 2020 campaign rallies. It does so by sampling one famous song within the opposition, Tunataka Nchi Yetu (We want our country), which was played in all the three major opposition rallies I observed in Zanzibar.
Being Kenyan in the Times of a Crisis: Conflicting National Narratives against COVID-19
BY NOÉ MICHALON · PUBLISHED 18/02/2021 ·

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kenyan government developed a national narrative aimed to empower its population and give it the responsibilities the public authorities could not fully handle. Being a Kenyan, officials said, was about being resilient and innovative. This ideal-type of the resilient and responsible Kenyan was story-told broadly through an assertive media strategy that President Uhuru Kenyatta and other influential political figures put forward.
Guns and Conservation: Protecting Wildlife and Ensuring “Peace and Security” in Northern Kenya
BY SARA VAN DER HOEVEN · PUBLISHED 04/02/2021 ·

By mapping the circulation of firearms in northern Kenya, this paper aims to show the different ways armed conservation practices are more than a means to protect wildlife. Conservation is a means to achieve “peace and security,” too. Rangers fill the law enforcement vacuum that the government leaves open. Even though guns are but one element in conservation politics, following their circulation allows me to bring these different places and times into one analytical lens.
Engaging Men in the Fight Against Gender-Based Violence: Discursive Strategies of NGOs in the Gender Social Space in Rwanda
BY ZÉLIE JOBERT · PUBLISHED 12/14/2020 ·

Cet article s’appuie sur une enquête de terrain auprès de six ONG qui luttent contre les inégalités de genre au Rwanda. La participation masculine au sein de l’« espace social du genre », au Rwanda comme ailleurs, pose la question du « paradoxe à surmonter » : les hommes ne tirent aucun bénéfice à s’engager dans une mobilisation féministe, et ont même à perdre puisqu’il s’agit de remettre en question leur position privilégiée au sein du système patriarcal. Il s’agit de mettre en lumière les conditions de possibilité de l’adhésion masculine à un groupe, la participation à ses activités et à ses pratiques visant à la subversion des normes de genre.
Police Brutality and Solidarity during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mathare
BY PATRICK MUTAHI & KATE JANE WANJIRU · PUBLISHED 23/11/2020 ·

This paper analyses how state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic shaped security and policing of residents living in Mathare informal settlements. Relatedly, it focuses on how these residents, facing a repressive police force, mobilised and coordinated responses that protected lives and livelihoods.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
IFRA Nairobi (October 3, 2022). MAMBO! Articles. IFRA Nairobi. Retrieved February 15, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/pw2l

