Lead image for Veteran journalist Macharia Gaitho inducted into Katiba Roll of Honour for defending freedoms.
For decades, Macharia Gaitho has built a career on asking the questions those in power would rather avoid. He has built his reputation on challenging politicians, exposing uncomfortable truths and refusing to retreat when authority comes knocking.
That defiance earned the Nation Media Group editor, Daily Nation columnist and Weekly Review writer recognition from a generation increasingly vocal about power, rights and accountability.
The veteran journalist was inducted into the 2026 Katiba Roll of Honour for his decades-long defence of constitutional freedoms on Thursday, August 27, 2026.
The award, presented by the Youth Congress and its partners during a Katiba Day event in Nairobi, recognised Mr Gaitho for what organisers described as his relentless pursuit of truth, willingness to ask difficult questions and determination to hold power to account.
Speaking during the award ceremony, Gaitho recalled a time in the late 90s when expressing a political opinion in Kenya could cost one their freedom.
“A newspaper column could bring trouble to your doorstep,” the Daily Nation columnist said. “A lecture in the university could attract the attention of security agents.”
"Speaking too loudly against the government could mean being picked up, detained and, in the darkest cases, tortured."
According to him, Kenya has made significant progress since the dark days of the Nyayo era, which entailed authoritarian rule. However, it still has a long way to go. His concern was that some of the freedoms Kenyans fought for, and which were eventually entrenched in the 2010 Constitution, were once again being treated as privileges that could be restricted whenever those in power found them inconvenient.