The European Parliament has demanded for economic operations to be moved to the African continent and for Europe to share its technological know-how with Africa. The European Union held a vote last month considering a new report that would revive EU Africa trade agreements. Under the new trade regime, more equitable treatment of African nations within the context of their existing bilateral trade agreements is advocated, which has been forwarded to the European Commission (EC) for deliberation and, if necessary, resolution. The paper, which was authored by the European Union Committee on International Trade, provides a number of suggestions for potential investments in Africa…
Author: NLM Editor
Concerns linger about whether the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is fully prepared to conduct free and fair elections next month. Early this month, nine civil society organisations wrote to the IEBC, highlighting ten areas – including transmission technology and cleaning up the voters’ roll – that could compromise the elections. S The organisations alleged massive inefficiencies, negligence, and outright corruption in the IEBC’s procurement and other electoral management operations. An audit by the consultancy firm KPMG flagged issues in the voter register that the IEBC must address to win public confidence, which has remained low since the bungled…
This year’s election promises to be one of the most competitive in Kenya’s history. It pits Deputy President William Ruto against the doyen of opposition politics Raila Odinga. Although there is the fear that the cut-throat competition between the two might result in a run-off, Professor George Wajackoyah’s (Roots Party) unexpected popularity with the electorate is shaking up the presidential race. On June 6, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IBEC) concluded its vetting process. It settled on four contestants from an initial list of 55, the other being lawyer David Waihiga of the Agano Party. Here is what is…
The silly season is here with us once again. Next month, Kenyans head to the polls to elect their political leaders for the next five years. It is the season that common sense takes leave from us. We shall conduct the periodic ritual of sending all manner of characters to represent us in the august houses, both in the counties and at the national level. As is the norm, Kenyans will pick their worst sons and daughters, and then cry until the next cycle. It is the season for murderers, con artists, money launderers, rapists, wife barterers, and the looting…
By Paul Kauku The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has the mandate to clear candidates who seek to occupy electoral offices, but such power is not necessarily monopolistic in its application. Chapter Six of the Constitution of Kenya is singular on what amounts to integrity but pluralistic in the manner in which integrity can be tested and arrived at. It is important to recognise the roles of other players, such as Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Commission for University Education (CUE), Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and Council of Legal Education (CLE) amongst…
By NJ Ayuk In a 2014 article, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa argued for an Apartheid-style boycott on coal, oil and gas companies as a way to fight climate change and help ensure global environmental sustainability goals. “We must stop climate change. And we can, if we use the tactics that worked in South Africa against the worst carbon emitters,” he wrote. Climate change is something to be rightfully concerned about. But although Tutu’s sentiment is laudable, it is also misguided. Oil and gas companies are not autocratic regimes focused on oppressing the people and steal their resources. They are businesses.…
By Ouma Ojango If the Government patronage that has shielded Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KP) from competition were to be dropped, the electricity retailer would suffer the same fate as Kodak, a one-time world leader in technology with products and services in commercial print, packaging, manufacturing and entertainment. Left to its own devices, KP would quickly join the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KP&TC) in the deep end of the sea with no prospects of ever rising to the surface again, leave alone staying afloat. These two are world’s best examples of how not to catch up with…
By Peter Wanyonyi S outh Africa, Africa’s most advanced and most sophisticated economy, is reeling under punishing electricity rationing. Operational failures, insufficient generating capacity, and an unwillingness to invest in new power plants have combined to create a disaster in waiting, as the country’s electricity monopoly, Eskom, hikes electricity tariffs to service debt. It is estimated that, at any given time, over a third of Eskom’s total capacity is offline due to power rationing. Kenya’s power-rationing story hardly needs retelling. Despite the talking heads at KenGen mealy-mouthing the now-tired “we generate more electricity than we need” every day, Kenya continues…
By Douglas Lucas Kivoi At least one person gets killed every two days in Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi. Most of these cases are never resolved. Only 94 murder cases were registered in Nairobi courts in 2021. Nairobi is Kenya’s most populous city with more than four million people. Like other major cities across Africa, it grapples with crime amid the strain of policing services. Kenya was ranked fourth in the 2021 Organised Crime Index in Africa, with the 2022 Economic Survey reporting that Nairobi regularly records the highest number of crimes in the country. The swift progress the Directorate of Criminal Investigations made in investigating the murder of Dutch…
By Eric Ngumbi On 27th August 2010, Kenyans ushered in a new constitutional order, which marked a paradigm shift from the past in many ways. As aptly captured by Willy Mutunga in his work ‘The 2010 Constitution of Kenya and its Interpretation: Reflections from the Supreme Court’s Decisions’, “the Kenyan people, in enacting the Constitution, chose the route of transformation to end their poverty and deprivation, and regain their dignity as well as sovereignty. The centrality of the Constitution, 2010 in Kenya’s transformation was also appreciated by the High Court in Republic v. Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Ex…