Author: NLM Correspondent

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…

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…