Pauline Njoroge: Power, politics, and the price of speaking out

Digital strategist and political insider Pauline Njoroge offers a rare glimpse into her life as one of Kenya’s most recognisable online political voices. A woman shaped by proximity to power and undeterred in her political ambitions.

Njoroge is best known for her work behind the scenes of major political movements. Her career has placed her at the centre of some of the country’s most consequential political moments.

In the final years of former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, she led the digital team tasked with documenting and communicating his legacy projects. She has also worked with the African Union, broadening her political footprint beyond Kenya’s borders.

As Kenya edges toward another general election cycle, Njoroge says her political instincts are aligned with the emerging united opposition, a coalition she says is still finding its footing.

“This is a formative stage; these have leaders who have served this country in different capacities, and each believes they are bringing the best to the table. That’s natural. With time, it will come together into one formidable force,” she says.

Njoroge played a visible role in Raila Odinga’s bid for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship, a campaign she says was deeply personal long before it became professional.

“Before he even called me to join the team, I already believed in him. I spoke about it online because I genuinely believed the AU needed more than a bureaucrat. It needed someone who could consolidate goodwill among heads of state. To this day, I believe Baba was the best candidate,” she says.

Reflecting on the AUC loss, Njoroge argues that the outcome exposed deeper fractures within the continent.

“As Africans, we still struggle to see the common good. We allow ourselves to be divided by identities created by colonisers, and those divisions have become part of who we are. Raila used to say we must see ourselves first as Africans, and in that moment, we lost an opportunity as a continent,” she explained.

She added, “Look at us today. African Heads of State still fly to Washington to resolve domestic issues because we don’t have a continental body strong enough to do that.” 

The AUC campaign, she says, brought her unusually close to Odinga, whom she describes as both a mentor and a father figure.

“This is a man I travelled with around the continent. It was an immense privilege. He was a man of conviction; if he believed in something, he pursued it to the end. But he was also reflective. He listened, even when he didn’t agree with you." 

Working in Kenya’s charged political environment has come at a personal cost. Njoroge says she has endured sustained online bullying, something she has learned to live with.

“People decide to make you the object of their anger and project their frustrations onto you on social media. There’s nothing you can do about that. You’re not in control of their feelings or actions,” she tells Citizen Digital.

In 2022, she was appointed to a government role under then Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala, an appointment that was later revoked following the resurfacing of a 2015 statement she had made about the economic value of Nairobi National Park.

Looking back, Njoroge says the controversy was a lesson in communication.

“As we grow older, we become wiser in how we express ourselves. I should have communicated better. I was speaking about the park as a national asset and how it could contribute economically to the country, but the framing mattered, and I regret that,” she remarks.

In 2023, Njoroge was arrested in Watamu over alleged social media posts, an incident she describes as both frightening and surreal.

“A few days before, someone called to warn me to be careful. On the day of the arrest, a car blocked ours as we left the hotel. Thankfully, I managed to send a text saying I had been arrested,” she recalls.

She says officers searched her hotel room without a warrant and later claimed to have found illegal substances, allegations she strongly denies.

“That was the first time I had ever seen bhang. They also claimed to have food psychotropic drugs in our rooms. We were charged with hate speech against the Head of State, but the case collapsed because there was no evidence."

Now, Njoroge says she is ready to move from the digital channels to elective politics. While she has confirmed her intention to run for office in Nairobi, she is keeping the specifics under wraps.

 “I will vie for a political position, and I will share more details in due course,"