Panel 54 Podcast

Panel 54 Podcast - Tom Mkwana

EPISODE 3: Gen Z Rising — Protest, Power, and the Fight to Be Heard
Across the continent, young people are speaking up. But are they changing the game—or just trending for a moment?
In this episode, we dive into the heart of Gen Z activism in Africa. From hashtags to hardline protests, we ask: is this a real political awakening or a mirage that fades when the Wi-Fi cuts out?
Journalist and investigative reporter Tom Mkwana joins hosts Waweru Njoroge and Ndu Okoh to explore how social media, protest culture, and civic literacy are reshaping the idea of youth power.
Mkwana has covered everything from corruption to human rights violations and now takes us into the tension between visibility and voice. Are today’s movements leaderless by design or directionless by accident?
We unpack: –
Why digital protest doesn’t always translate to political power 
– How Gen Z became the unofficial opposition in Kenya and Africa as a whole
– The role of civic education, representation, and rage
– And why strategy—not just spark—will decide the future
– How online-led movements risk being steered intentionally or not by political operatives or foreign interests who understand the algorithm better than the activists do
From Sudan’s sit-ins, Kenya’s finance bill, South Africa’s Fees Must Fall, to Nigeria’s Lekki tollgate massacre, this episode takes stock of a generation that has the numbers, the noise, and maybe, the next step.
Also: the myth of the social media saviour, the realities of political co-option, and why some movements survive—even when their heroes fall.
This is Panel 54, podcast. Global perspective through an African Lens
📩 Let’s talk: hello[@]panel54[dot]com
🎙 Recorded at Amp Studios Nairobi
🎧 Produced by Commex Africa and E & C Talent

Panel 54 Podcast - Col (Rtd) Seth Shava

EPISODE 2: The War Is Ours, But the Blueprint Isn’t
Africa is a frontline in global security—but not always a voice in its planning. In this episode, we explore what it means to be a host to military might, but not its mission.
Is Africa building capacity or just playing a supporting role in someone else’s war room?
Join hosts Waweru Njoroge and Ndu Okoh as they go beyond drills and defence deals to ask: what does true security look like for Africans?
Former Kenya Air Force Commander and Top Gun graduate, Shava has lived through dogfights, diplomacy, and development failures. His perspective is rooted not just in combat strategy—but in what happens when governance, poverty, and politics become the real battlefield.
We unpack the paradox: the continent is flooded with flags, drills, and surveillance ops—yet Africans rarely write the rules. From Djibouti to the Sahel, whose interests are really being served?
Colonel Shava talks intelligence, radicalisation, and why terrorism isn’t always a military problem—it’s a governance one. We explore the link between disenfranchisement and security breakdowns, and what “real capacity building” should look like.
In a lighter (but true!) moment, Shava shares the unbelievable story of ejecting from a fighter jet and crash-landing in a rural village—only to be mistaken for the second coming of Jesus. We’re not flying—we’re flowing. This is Panel 54 — rethink the world, one African perspective at a time.
📩 Let’s talk: hello[@]panel54[dot]com
 
Recorded at Amp Studios Nairobi
Produced by Commex Africa and E & C Talent

Panel 54 Podcast - Khainga O’Okwemba

Join hosts Waweru Njoroge and Ndu Okoh as they lead bold, unfiltered, and thought-provoking sessions with some of the most powerful (and often inaccessible) voices on the continent and beyond. This playlist is your front-row seat to unsilenced, interrogated geopolitical conversations and African relationships that matter.
In our very first episode, your hosts Waweru Njoroge and Ndu Okoh dive headfirst into the chaos that is modern media. Is it still the fourth estate, or just another loud corner of the internet?
Segment 1: We unpack the media’s crisis of trust — from dying newspapers to the TikTok takeover. Is truth being drowned in the scroll?
Segment 2: We sit down with the legendary Khainga O’Okwemba — veteran journalist, author, and truth-teller — to talk about the golden age of Kenyan journalism, today's newsroom pressures, and how media buying by foreign powers are reshaping the game.
Segment 3: Street Voices! We ask Kenyans: Do you still trust the media? The answers? Brutal. Funny. Eye-opening.
Tune in, subscribe, and let’s talk about who really controls the narrative.
lets talkhello@panel54pod.com
 
Recorded at Amp Studios Nairobi
Produced by Commex Africa and E & C Talent