Darren Taylor
Darren Taylor is a freelance journalist based in Johannesburg. He is a regular contributor to several African and international news organisations.
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/ 7 June 2006

In East Africa, soccer is ‘very, very important’

<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=soccer_world_cup_2006"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/272488/icon_focuson_wc3.gif" align=left border=0></a>It has been dubbed "The Greatest Show on Earth", and in Kenya that’s precisely what the Soccer World Cup is. So, with just days before the latest tournament kicks off in Germany, excitement among soccer fans in the East African country is mounting.

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/ 2 May 2006

Aids teen murdered

Aids activists have threatened mass action and a lawsuit against Kenya’s government for its apparent failure to protect HIV-positive people from violence and intolerance. This follows the brutal murder of Isaiah Gakuyo, a frail 15-year-old boy who had been living with Aids.

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/ 27 April 2006

From petrol power to pedal power

Minibus taxis, referred to as ”matatus”, have long been a ubiquitous feature of the Kenyan landscape, providing transport in cities — and linking urban and rural areas. But a revolution is under way in western Kenya: bicycle taxis are replacing motorised vehicles, their passengers perched on padded seats positioned above the back wheel.

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/ 2 April 2006

Anti-corruption war stalls in Kenya

More than a month has passed since authorities in Kenya pledged a fresh drive against high-level graft in the corruption-riddled East African country, but no assets have been seized, as promised. The first group of high-profile Kenyans suspected of looting public coffers recently appeared in court on related charges.

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/ 29 March 2006

Eating shoots and leaves

Kenya’s Parliament reconvened amid the usual grandeur and opulence that accompanies the occasion. While the rulers sated themselves with a sumptuous dinner and stroked one another’s egos with speeches overflowing with praise, Betty Tom lit a fire 400km away at Orongo in western Kenya and gave thanks to God.

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/ 24 March 2006

Feeding off the word of God

A Christian charismatic revival is sweeping Kenya and Uganda and its surrealism is intensifying. Each weekend, especially in Nairobi and Kampala, tens of thousands attend ”crusades” at sport stadiums and public parks at which American evangelists and their equally ebullient brother and sister preachers from Africa fling hope at the masses.

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/ 21 February 2006

Graft scandals rock Kenya

The fallout from a growing list of corruption scandals in Kenya is intensifying by the week as national and international outrage at the apparent rot at the heart of President Mwai Kibaki’s regime swells. Recently, education minister George Saitoti, Kibaki’s personal assistant Alfred Getonga and the president’s close ally Kiraitu Murungi exited the corridors of power.