Author: NLM Correspondent

By Cynthia Orenge The recent Mau forest complex evictions brought to light the extent of violations of the rights of Kenyans, in government’s bid to reclaim the vital resource. To enable better realization of environmental rights, advocacy, community engagement and environmental justice litigation require further development and strengthening. This is possible through capacity building at various levels. Environmental justice is fundamental in improving the day to day livelihoods of people, and therefore it requires protection from government and other stakeholders. Capacity building for environmental sustainability can be defined as the process by which individuals, organisations and societies strengthen their ability…

Democracy and pluralism are under assault By Sarah Repucci Democracy and pluralism are under assault. Dictators are toiling to stamp out the last vestiges of domestic dissent and spread their harmful influence to new corners of the world. At the same time, many freely elected leaders are dramatically narrowing their concerns to a blinkered interpretation of the national interest. In fact, such leaders are increasingly willing to break down institutional safeguards and disregard the rights of critics and minorities as they pursue their populist agendas. As a result of these and other trends, Freedom House found that 2019 was the…

How to create and enhance democratic space for independent candidates By Wafula Wakoko The freedom to exercise political rights in Kenya has been a growing curve, at least optically. The Kenya at independence and during the 1969-1991 period cannot possibly fathom the existence of independent candidates or the current 68 registered political parties. In 1960, there were two Political Parties; Kenya African National Union (Kanu) and Kenya African Democratic Union (Kadu), with the latter dissolving and a majority of its membership defecting to Kanu in 1964. It is recorded elsewhere that Kadu was formed, among other reasons, to protect the…

COVID-19 is going to have a devastating impact on economies. Africa has a particular vulnerability because so many people work in the informal sector. The informal sector thrives in Kenyan rural and urban centres. According to 2015 estimates there were 11.8 million people employed in the informal economy, against 2.4 million working in the formal sector. By 2018 the informal sector accounted for 83.6 percent of total employment. Worryingly, despite the huge number of people in this labour force, the earnings differentials between the formal and informal sectors are significant. Entry level staff in the formal sector earn between Sh10,000…

Kenya ranks in position 121 out of 156 countries in the latest Global Happiness Report released last month. Kenya’s happiness index stands at 4.583 out of the possible 10, according to the United Nations’ 8th World Happiness Report. Kenya however ranked the happiest nation in East Africa ahead of Uganda (126), Burundi (140), Tanzania (148), Rwanda (150) and South Sudan (152). For the third year in a row, Finland was named the happiest nation in the world with a score of 7.809. Denmark is second with an index of 7.646 followed by Switzerland (7.560), Iceland (7.504) and Norway (7.488). Others…

Violent extremism prevention ‘only effective’ if human rights are enshrined By NLM Writer Counter-extremism programmes, including those in the United Kingdom and the United States, are contributing to human rights violations, according to a United Nations expert. A report submitted to the Human Rights Council last month said religious groups, minorities and civil society actors in particular have been victims of rights violations and targeting under the guise of countering “extremism.” Special rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aolain said any programme that relies on teachers, social workers and health-care staff to report signs of radicalisation should be scrapped.  “The negative impact cannot be overstated,” her report read.…

Gatekeepers of the present order adapt efficiently. But others can open up a plurality of futures Exceptional moments legitimize exceptional policy responses. Declarations of emergency, usually by definition, mean that democratic rights and liberties are diminished. Times like this, however, can also provide opportunities for experiments that expand the limits of the politically possible in ways that enhance democratic imagination.  Changes in what seems politically possible can mean expansion of state regulation. National budgets suddenly become more flexible, providing new policy space for Keynesian-inspired arguments to increase state intervention to mitigate the shock. At the same time, the crisis can…

The coronavirus (COVID-19) contagion has spread across the world, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially declared the disease a pandemic. As the threat becomes more widespread, new precautions must be taken. The virus, first and foremost a human tragedy, has affected billions of people. It is also having a growing impact on the domestic and global economies – the containment measures proposed by governments worldwide have caused far-reaching but necessary disruption generally. Our government has implemented various protective measures, as have counties and organisations, even as fears mount that individuals are not according the prescribed measures due seriousness.…

By Oduor Ong’wen T here was an outpouring of love, adoration and canonisation of former President Daniel arap Moi when his death was announced in February. I don’t begrudge those who attempted to sanitise the departed former president to portray him as a saint. They had every right to do so because that is how they knew him. In their tributes, many described Moi as “the best leader this country ever produced.” The Moi I knew doesn’t fit this description. In African tradition, it is unacceptable to talk ill of the dead – more so if the deceased was an…

With the colonial ideology of order, but without a tribal elite to implement it, Daniel Arap Moi maintained the exploitative state by crushing alternative spaces of imagination in the same way his predecessors had done, but with more cruelty. As the saying goes, every time history repeats itself, the price goes up. By Wandia Njoya  I have always had a tortured relationship with Daniel arap Moi, Kenya’s second president. I was in primary school when I first became conscious of him – because of the milk that we drank in school, which was provided for free by his government. As I…