“President Ruto, my friend, did a good thing to bring this fight against me and the people of the mountain because now we know him. Now we understand you (Ruto) and we will address you as we know you and who you are. Now we will have talks with respect.”
He affirmed that the political movement that will come out of Mt Kenya region in the new year “will make the 2002 movement look like a joke.”
Insiders believe that the impeached DP will be joining forces with some opposition leaders such as former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and DAP-Kenya leader Eugene Wamalwa among others. Gachagua on December 18, 2024, did reveal that he would team up with Kalonzo, stating that he owed the former Vice President a favour for standing with him since the regime of the late Mwai Kibaki.
Donald Trump Inauguration As US President
On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump will be sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States on the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
The event will be Trump’s second inauguration as president and the 60th U.S. presidential inauguration. JD Vance will be sworn in as the 50th vice president of the United States. It will also be held on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which marks the third time an inauguration has occurred on the same date as the holiday
The event will include a swearing-in ceremony, a signing ceremony, an inaugural luncheon, a pass-in-review, a procession, and a parade. Inaugural balls are held at various venues before and after the inaugural ceremonies. Several Democratic members of Congress have decided to boycott Trump’s inauguration.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been invited to the ceremony, however, no foreign heads of state have been recorded attending a US presidential inauguration; diplomats generally represent their countries at inaugurations.
Russia confirmed that President Vladimir Putin did not receive an invitation. Trump stated that he had not invited President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his inauguration but expressed willingness to welcome him if he decided to attend.
AUC Elections
Member States of the African Union are set to vote in February 2025 to pick the next AUC chairperson. Raila Odinga, whose candidature had been sponsored by Kenya, is seeking to replace Moussa Faki whose term has come to an end.
The former Prime Minister is battling it out with his main challenger Mahamoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti. Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar is also contending for the position.
“The Chairperson of the African Union Commission is the Chief Executive Officer, Legal Representative of the Union and the Accounting Officer of the Union,” the AU explained.
“The Chairperson of the Commission is a transformative leadership role responsible for driving the performance of the AU Commission in delivering the continental vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.”
Raila will need support either by consensus or at least a two-thirds majority vote by member states represented by their heads if he is to bag the AU prestigious post. In the event Raila succeeds in replacing Faki, he will be barred from engaging in local politics until the end of his term, which would mean being locked out of contention for the presidential seat in 2027.
Lewis Hamilton To Ferrari
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton will start the 2025 season under new colours, having sealed his move to Team Ferrari from Team Mercedes in 2024 in what fans around the world termed a global-shaking development in world sports.
Hamilton signed for Mercedes in 2013 to partner Nico Rosberg, ending his 15-year association with McLaren. During his spell at Mercedes, he led the team to a dominant force in the motorsport, winning seven consecutive double Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships from 2014 to 2020 and securing a record-breaking eighth consecutive Constructors’ Championship success in 2021.
Lewis Hamilton checking on a Ferrari car during a Formula One race event. /MALTA TODAY
Hamilton won the last of his world titles in 2020 but controversially lost the 2021 championship to Max Verstappen, 13 years his junior, in a season which would have seen him break the great Michael Schumacher‘s record of seven World Drivers’ Championships. The Dutch Red Bull driver has dominated ever since, while Hamilton finished sixth in the drivers’ standings in 2022, third in 2023 and seventh in 2024.
The 39-year-old, who turns 40 in five days time, will move to Scuderia Ferrari which holds the record for the most constructor championships in F1 at 16, despite their last win coming in 2008.
The team also holds the record for the most Drivers’ Championships with 15, won by nine different drivers: Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen, most of whom Kenyans who have watched the motorsport over the years have known them for.
With hope of a record-breaking 8th championship, the move triggered a mass exodus as fans who were made to support Mercedes because of Hamilton started switching allegiances to Ferrari ahead of the new season.
The superstar, who has a significant following among Kenyans, visited Kenya on August 7, 2022, and toured Samburu County where he expressed his love for animals by posing for photos with baby giraffes and elephants.
Finance Bill 2025 & Budget Reading
The Finance Bill 2025 is expected to gain traction among Kenyans following the events that were witnessed in the country during the debate and financing of the 2024 bill. This means that Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) John Mbadi will have to tread very carefully with tax proposals by the government to avoid a repeat of the 2024 version which triggered mass protests.
Most importantly, Kenyans will be keen on the proposals to fund the 2025/2026 budget. As revealed by Mbadi, the bill will be ready by April and will be presented to the Cabinet before April 18, 2025.
Mbadi will then submit the bill to the National Assembly by April 29, 2025, in readiness for debate and public participation.
The CS will also catch national attention during the reading of the 2025/26 Budget, set to be his first since being appointed to man the National Treasury by President William Ruto.
2025 World Athletics Championships
The World Athletics Championships will be held in Tokyo from September 13-21, 2025. More than 2000 athletes from some 200 countries will come to Tokyo to take part in one of the world’s biggest sporting events.
This is the third time that the championships will be held in Japan, following the 2007 event in Osaka, and the 1991 event in Tokyo at the former National Stadium, which was rebuilt ahead of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The National Stadium in Tokyo will be the first major spectator event for athletics after the 2020 Olympics were held behind closed doors in response to the then-still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Tokyo defeated Nairobi, Kenya in its bid to host the global event after the latter confirmed its bid for the championships in October 2021.
In October 2019, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe stated consideration of a direct choice for Kenya to host this championship. However, Tokyo wound up victorious after it scored the highest in the bid evaluation.
With Kenya falling short of the bid, this will provide extra motivation for Kenyan athletic stars such as Faith Kipyegon, Beatrice Chebet, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, and Ferdinand Omanyala among others, seeking to repeat or better the heroics of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
World championships are usually held every year (or rarely, every two years), but the Olympics are only held every four years, meaning the former, alongside the Olympics, represents the highest level of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally including marathon running and race walking.
2025 Safari Rally
The 2025 WRC Safari Rally will take place in Nakuru and Nairobi from March 20-23, 2025. The government of Kenya is fully supporting the event, which is expected to be a significant economic boost for the country through sports tourism.
Organisers of the WRC Safari Rally Kenya on November 29, 2024, introduced two new stages and went the extra mile to enhance the spectator experience for the 2025 edition of the fabled event. The two new stages will be centred on Camp Moran and Morendat Farm in Naivasha with organisers also announcing a new location for shakedown in Sleeping Warrior relocating from the traditional Loldia stage.
Event Director Norris Ongalo revealed that the organisation of the event identified 12 designated spectator viewing points where fans will enjoy event proceedings throughout the weekend as well as the inclusion of the corporate village where spectators will follow rally action on location as well as live on the stages.
Ongalo added that the inclusion of the rally village is the game changer in the event. The star venue of the event has also been moved from KICC to City Hall Way where the event was started in the golden years.
“At the end of the prize-giving the spectators will be close to the prize-giving areas. What we want to see when the drivers are being awarded the backdrop is Kenya and the people. Unlike previous years when spectators were restricted from accessing KICC instead of having the flag off at the KICC we have it on the road outside City Hall way,” Ongalo stated, however noting that KICC will retain the percferme so that the event does not lose its iconic feature of safari.
As it stands, the rally will be held until 2026, as Kenya signed a deal with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in 2021 to keep the event on the World Rally Championship calendar. However, the government is currently negotiating with the FIA and WRC Promoter to extend the contract by another three years, until 2029.
WRC Rally cars battle it out during the Super Special Stage of the 2024 Safari Rally at Kasarani, Nairobi on March 28, 2024. /WRC