Author: NLM Correspondent

BY SHADRACK MUYESU You may recall the devastating floods and mudslides that the North Rift suffered late in 2019. 49 Kenyans perished in less than 48 hours with entire families being wiped out. The story barely featured in the local press before it was eclipsed by more “important news items”, when it was the splash item on Al Jazeera for the entire period of the catastrophe. As a friend once noted, Kenyans love politics and that’s the kind of content they prefer.” It made sense at the time, understanding our politics-crazy country, until a few weeks later when I finished…

Those under the Young Dealer programme and established financial dealers speak of exploitation that tends towards slavery, harassment and an oil marketer operating on impunity By NLM Writer It is a Thursday mid-morning and at a Total petrol station in the outskirts of Nairobi, Peter Waruru* (not his real name) watches as his staff serve customers who are already lining at the forecourt. It is a busy time and all its all hands on the deck. By any estimation, the station is in business proper. Yet the same cannot be said of Peter. He runs a station that has a…

By David Himbara Kenya is an economic success story by any measure. The country is the fourth-largest economy by GDP in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) after Nigeria, South Africa, and Angola. With a GDP of $109bn, Kenya is the largest economy in eastern Africa, having overtaken Ethiopia in 2017. The economy is larger than the combined economies of Tanzania and Uganda, its two East African Community (EAC) partners. And Kenya is the only country in eastern Africa to have significantly reduced poverty, having graduated from low-income to middle-income level. Yet the country faces an internal challenge that persistently undermines its development potential — the country’s…

Drivers, destinations, and policy options By Landry Signé, Mariama Sow, and Payce Madden Since 1980, an estimated $1.3 trillion has left sub-Saharan Africa in the form of illicit financial flows (per Global Financial Integrity methodology), posing a central challenge to development financing. While the international development community often focuses on the amount of aid and investment that enters the African continent, the other part of the balance sheet—the funds exiting the continent—has often been overlooked. Between 1980 and 2018, sub-Saharan Africa received nearly $2 trillion in foreign direct investment (FDI) and official development assistance (ODA), but emitted over $1 trillion…

BBI may succeed in creating a recalibration of our democracy, but not – never – a realignment By Kevin Motaroki The last time democracy almost died in Kenya, when Daniel Moi was President, heroes of the Second Liberation did not argue about it or call political rallies to tell the masses what, in their view, was wrong. They set about fixing it – with blood and sweat, with cerebral politics and ideology, with grit and determination not witnessed before then – or since. In Parliament, legislators with balls of steel defied the deity that was Moi. In the streets, and…

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…