Author: NLM Correspondent

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…

Why did Moi die a hero? Why was it unfashionable, shameful even, to demonise Moi on his deathbed and in his death? Simple: the atrocities of successive regimes By David Wanjala December 30, 2002 will go down in history as one of the most difficult times in the life and times of the late President Daniel Toroitich arap Moi. It is the day he handed over instruments of power at Uhuru Park after his 24-year rule in the most chaotic presidential inaugurations of our times, before a hostile, ecstatic crowd whose delayed and frustrated expectations for a new dawn had…

They are the minerals and metals that make up the fabric of the most essential parts of today’s world, from computers and smartphones to TVs and cars. They are also a vital component for the renewable energy technologies required for the transition to a low-carbon future. For instance, in one 3-megawatt wind turbine alone, there are 4.7 tons of copper, 3 tons of aluminium, 335 tons of steel and 1,200 tons of concrete – this is equivalent to the weight of 300 fully grown elephants. The demand for extracting and processing critical minerals is increasing at a monumental pace. This is primarily due to the…

By Jacob Oketch I have a friend whose brother- in- law is an alcoholic who needs help. His problem is serious and requires urgent action before it gets completely out of hand. Sometimes, it is how soon we act that matters and not how concerned we are. The more an alcoholic gets steeped in his ailment, the more his or her chances of recovery ebbs away. My friend’s brother in law is in deep trouble because his comfort zone has been blown away. He has had a sick mother who for all intents and purposes, has been shielding his problem in…

Kenya has world-class runners but investors have been hesitant to back locally-made running shoes Kenyan runners are known worldwide for winning gold medals and breaking world records. But the country’s first performance athletic shoe company, Enda, ran into multiples hurdles when trying to convince investors at home and abroad Kenya could become a significant manufacturing hub. Kenyan Navalayo Osembo and British-American Weldon Kennedy co-founded Enda in 2016 with the intention of creating a high-quality product for export and to bring the world’s attention to Kenya not only as a home of great runners, but of high-quality manufacturing as well. But…

BY Faisal Kalim A Pew Research from earlier 2019 found that almost seven-in-ten (68 percent) of people have news fatigue. “If you feel like there is too much news and you can’t keep up, you are not alone,” commented Pew Research Centre analysts, Jeffrey Gottfried and Michael Barthel on the findings. The vast amount of information made available on the Internet should ideally help us develop a better sense of what’s happening in the world. But the sheer volume, scale, and speed of new content creation and delivery keeps growing. Add to that a regular dose of anxiety due to the fear of…

By Newton Arori The payment of bride price is a prerequisite for customary marriages across many Kenyan communities. Traditionally it was justified on grounds that it was compensation to the bride’s family for lost labour. This made sense in the traditional African setting where the bride would leave her family to join the groom’s extended family and henceforth assist in chores. In the modern setting, most couples live away from both their families in a jointly owned home and share household responsibilities. There is therefore no reason for the groom or his family to ‘pay’ the bride’s family or vice…

BY Emilia Onyema Throughout my career arbitrating on disputes between companies and governments outside the courts, I’ve noticed a growing number of claims made by Africans. But at the same time, I’ve seen a limited number of African colleagues acting as international arbitrators on the panels that rule on these claims. Official statistics back this up. Between 1998 and 2007, a total of 472 parties from Sub-Saharan Africa arbitrated their disputes before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). But over the same period, only 64 arbitrators from the same region were appointed by the ICC. North Africa fared slightly better with 225…

BY Dinusha Mendis In the last few years, the use of 3D printing has exploded in medicine. Engineers and medical professionals now routinely 3D print prosthetic hands and surgical tools. But 3D printing has only just begun to transform the field. Today, a quickly emerging set of technologies known as bioprinting is poised to push the boundaries further. Bioprinting uses 3D printers and techniques to fabricate the three-dimensional structures of biological materials, from cells to biochemicals, through precise layer-by-layer positioning. The goal is to replicate functioning tissue and material, such as organs, which can be transplanted into human beings. We have been mapping the…

BY Ignacio Torterola Bethel Kassa Africa has continued to attract foreign investments from across the globe. In 2018, foreign investment in Africa increased by 6 percent with Egypt and South Africa receiving the largest shares of the investment. Foreign investment in Egypt increased by 7 percent with real estate, food processing, oil and gas exploration, and renewable energy taking the major share of investment. South Africa reported the next highest foreign investment in mining, petroleum refining, food processing, information and communication technologies, and renewable energy. In West Africa, Ghana received the largest foreign investment and Ethiopia took the highest share…