Reading list: Kenya royal visit 2025

From 18 to 20 March 2025 Dutch royals King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will go on a three-day State Visit to Kenya. The State Visit has evoked strong criticism from Kenyans in the Netherlands and abroad, in light of the political and human rights situation in the country. In this reading list, the African Library has assembled resources on the State Visit, recent protests in Kenya, and general sources on Kenya and its political and human rights conditions.

Sources on the state visit and recent protests

Why Kenyans are rejecting planned Dutch royals visit / S. Wanga. The Standard, retrieved 13 March 2025.

Kenya is at an inflection point. It needs a new path to progress / Jane Munga. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 12 March 2025.

Kenya’s historic Gen-Z led protests: the issues / Westen K. Shilaho, Lennon Monyae. ACCORD, 12 March 2025.

AD: Koning stelde eerder staatsbezoek aan Kenia uit / Vorsten, 10 March 2025. (In Dutch)

Amnesty kritisch over staatsbezoek Kenia: ‘Mensen worden nog steeds ontvoerd en gemarteld’/ J. Hoedeman. Het Parool, 10 March 2025. (In Dutch, Restricted access)

Kenyans in Netherlands deliver petition seeking reconsideration of Dutch royals' visit / Esther Nyambura. The Standard, February 2025.

State visit to Kenya: Programme / Royal House of the Netherlands, 18 February 2025.

Kenya: Dutch diplomat discusses March royal visit with Kenyans in Netherlands / B. Makong. Capital FM, 7 February 2025.

Human Rights Ambassador Wim Geerts meets with members of the Kenyan community in the Netherlands /  Government of the Netherlands, 6 February 2025.

Keniaanse overheid begint eigen campagne na protest tegen komst Willem-Alexander / NOS.nl, 18 January 2025. (In Dutch)

30 reasons why Kenya rolls out the red carpet for the Netherlands' royals / Andrew Muoki [@AndrewMuoki2]. X, 16 January 2025.

Kenyans protest Dutch royal visit / ZAM, 15 January 2025.

Kenianen protesteren tegen komst Oranjes: ‘President misbruikt jullie bezoek’ / NOS.nl, 14 January 2025. (In Dutch)

I’m sure Kenyans would like to send some greetings to His majesty the King of Netherlands as he plans to visit / Nelson Amenya [@amenya_nelson]. X, 11 January 2025.

Despite a crackdown on Gen Z demonstrations, dissent persists in Kenya / ACLED, 12 December 2024.

The Gen-Z movement is reshaping Kenyan politics / Julia Kamau, Irene Asuwa, Samuel Kasirye. Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, 24 September 2024.

Researcher: The Gen Z protests in Kenya humbled the president / The Nordic Africa Institute, 17 September 2024.

Kenya’s Gen Z protests and the power of digital activism / M. Nyamweya. Democracy in Africa, 30 July 2024.

Kenya: seven days of rage / B.N. Kirori. ZAM, 27 June 2024.
 

General sources on Kenya and human rights

Kenya at 60 / A.J. Dietz & D.W.L. Ehrhardt. ASCL Infosheet, 2024.

Election technology and electoral justice in Kenya/ International Commission of Jurists, Kenya Section.
Nairobi : ICJ Kenya, [2023].

Guerrilla incursions into the capitalist mindset : essays with focus on Kenya 1979-2023/ Shiraz Durrani.
Nairobi : Vita Books, 2023.

The Palgrave handbook of contemporary Kenya/ Shadrack Wanjala Nasong'o, Maurice Nyamanga Amutabi, Toyin Falola.
Cham : Springer International Publishing AG, 2023.

The Palgrave handbook of Kenyan history/ Shadrack Wanjala Nasong'o, Maurice Nyamanga Amutabi, Toyin Falola.
Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2023.

Safeguarding human and peoples’ rights within the agenda of the East African Community : progress, challenges and prospects/ Kenya Human Rights Commission.
Nairobi : Kenya Human Rights Commission, 2023.

Evaluation of human rights indexes in the eastern Africa region : Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda/ Elias Omondi Opongo.
Nairobi : Hekima University College, 2022.

The state of Kenya population 2021 : state of women empowerment in Kenya/ National Council for Population and Development.
Nairobi : National Council for Population and Development, 2022.

State of local democratic governance in Kenya : comprehensive report / International IDEA, CMD-Kenya/ International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and CMD-Kenya.
Stockholm : International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance International IDEA, 2022.

Never a rose without a prick : (Dutch) multinational companies and productive employment in the Kenyan flower sector/ A.H. Kazimierczuk, P. Kamou, B. Kinuthia, and C. Mukoko.
Leiden : African Studies Centre, 2018.

ASC-KDCN-VSO Kenya volunteer project maximizing the value of the Kenyan diaspora/ Akinyinka Akinyoade and Antony Ongayo.
Leiden : African Studies Centre, 2016.