Fwamba Nc Fwamba

06/10/2026

Yesterday’s meeting with PS Dr Juma Mukhwana also gave me an opportunity to catch up with my friends Wafula Wabwile, Geoffrey Makokha and Wilbert Wanyama, popularly known as Chapa Ilale. It was a good moment to reconnect, share experiences and engage on matters of mutual interest.

Such encounters are always valuable, especially when they bring together friends with whom one has shared different chapters of life and public engagement. I look forward to more conversations and opportunities to work together in advancing matters that are important to our nation.

Fwamba NC Fwamba
6 October 2026

06/10/2026

Jeffrey Archer, bestselling British thriller novelist, former politician and one-time prisoner, has died at age 86, his publisher said.

06/10/2026

Kisumu,see you soon.

06/10/2026

06/10/2026

Kenyans are a very hard working people. Traffic jam at this time- 5:07 AM!

05/10/2026

It is always my delight to catch up with my friend, Dr Juma Mukhwana, Principal Secretary, State Department for Industry. We had an opportunity to sit down, exchange views and discuss matters of importance to our Nation and the direction of our development.

Dr Mukhwana is a good man and one of those leaders one can always count on as a friend. He is someone with whom one can have an honest conversation and share perspectives on matters that affect our country.

I always value such conversations, not only because of the issues discussed, but also because of the friendships and relationships built over the years. It was good catching up with you, my friend.

Fwamba NC Fwamba
5 October 2026

05/10/2026

This is one of the most significant policy statements on pensions that has been made in a long time. For years, many retirees have left employment only to spend months or even years following up on their pension payments. Behind every delayed pension is a real person, a family and, in many cases, a lifetime of service that deserves to be recognised.

Some retirees have even died before receiving what was rightfully theirs. In such cases, their families have been left to continue the struggle, facing bureaucracy, delays and numerous obstacles in trying to access money that had been earned by their loved ones. Some families have pursued these claims for years without success, at a time when they may have been relying on the money for school fees, medical expenses, household needs and other pressing obligations.

The consequences of delayed pension payments have therefore gone far beyond administrative inconvenience. They have affected the dignity, security and welfare of retirees and their families. If implemented effectively, this policy could bring relief to many people who have waited for far too long.

The important test now will be implementation. Pensioners should be able to receive what is due to them through a system that is efficient, accountable and free from unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles. A lifetime of service should not end with a lifetime of waiting for one's pension.

Fwamba Nc Fwamba
5 October 2026

05/10/2026

THE FACE OF UNPREDICTABILITY

When I was growing up, there were those movie places at the market centres where we would sneak off to watch films. With very strict parents, those little windows of freedom felt like small adventures of their own. Looking back, perhaps they were not such a bad thing after all. They were part of growing up, discovering the world beyond the immediate boundaries of home and creating memories that somehow stay with you.

Among the action stars we watched, Steven Seagal was one of the most fascinating. One of his movies that stands out is Exit Wounds. What fascinated me was not only the fighting and gunfire but Seagal's remarkable composure. He could break someone's arm, disarm an opponent or take down several men while maintaining almost the same expression on his face. The action would be explosive, but his face revealed almost nothing.

That contrast offers an interesting metaphor for politics. When people can predict your emotions, reactions and intentions, they can prepare for you. When they cannot tell whether your next move will be confrontation, negotiation, patience or retreat, they are forced to calculate without certainty.

Robert Greene discusses unpredictability as a means of preventing opponents from becoming too comfortable with their assumptions. Sun Tzu emphasised concealing intentions and confusing an opponent's calculations. Machiavelli, through his discussion of virtù and fortuna, recognised that political circumstances change and that effective political action requires the capacity to adapt.

The same principle found its way into popular culture through The Notorious B.I.G.'s Ten Crack Commandments. One of its memorable strategic ideas is that nobody should know your next move. Strip away the criminal context of the song and the broader idea is familiar: do not make yourself so predictable that everyone else can plan around you.

Unpredictability is not irrationality. It is having options without advertising which one you will choose. It is knowing when to speak, when to remain silent and when circumstances demand a response different from the one everyone has anticipated.

Politics is full of people who think they have figured everyone out. They study speeches, alliances, public statements and past behaviour, then construct predictions about what will happen next. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes the person they were watching was never the person making the decisive calculation.

That is why revealing every intention can be a strategic mistake. Once people know what you are going to do, they have time to prepare for it. Surprise does not always require secrecy. Sometimes it requires refusing to confirm what everyone thinks they already know.

Perhaps that is what stayed with me about Steven Seagal. In Exit Wounds and his other films, the violence could be dramatic, but the face remained calm. You could not easily tell what was coming next.

In politics, the lesson is not about violence. It is about keeping the ability to surprise.

Nobody should know your next move.

Fwamba NC Fwamba
5 October 2026

04/10/2026

LOOK UP TONIGHT

Saturn is at opposition tonight, 4 October 2026, making this one of the best times of the year to observe the ringed planet. At opposition, the Sun, Earth and Saturn are almost aligned, with Earth positioned between the two. Saturn therefore appears opposite the Sun in our sky and remains visible for much of the night. From Nairobi, it is exceptionally high in the sky and should be easy to identify as a bright, steady, slightly golden object.

Saturn is approximately 1.26 billion kilometres from Earth tonight. That is about 0.000133 light years, a distance that is difficult to comprehend in ordinary human terms. Light travels at approximately 300,000 kilometres every second, so the light reaching your eyes tonight left Saturn about 70 minutes ago. When you look at Saturn, therefore, you are seeing the planet as it was more than an hour in the past.

The distance between Earth and Saturn changes as both planets move around the Sun. At their closest, they can be about 1.2 billion kilometres apart, while their greatest separation can reach approximately 1.66 billion kilometres. Even at its closest, Saturn is so distant that its light takes more than an hour to reach us. Tonight, however, the planet is relatively close and particularly well placed for observation.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and one of the great worlds of our Solar System. It is a gas giant surrounded by an enormous ring system composed largely of ice and rocky material, and it has many moons, including Titan. To the naked eye, the rings cannot be seen, but even a modest telescope can reveal them under suitable conditions. What appears as a single point of light is therefore an entire planetary system more than a billion kilometres away.

The nearest star beyond our Sun is more than four light years away, while Saturn is only a tiny fraction of a light year from us. That comparison gives some perspective on the enormous scale of the universe. Tonight, from Nairobi, you can look into the sky and see another world whose light began its journey to your eyes about 70 minutes ago. Sometimes astronomy does not require us to travel anywhere because all we need to do is look up.

Fwamba NC Fwamba
4 October 2026

02/10/2026

Elections in Kenya can change a lot of things!It is always good when the dice falls on your side but not very good when it doesn't.