Author: NLM Correspondent

The vicious battle between Kenya and Ethiopia has played out in the open, and also brought to the fore the high stakes that foreign countries have in the just-concluded Jubaland elections. The allies-turned foes have high stakes in Jubaland because they both have troops in the United Nations backed African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), the former based in Kismayu sector and the later in Gedo. Kenya also sees Jubaland as a buffer zone in the war against terror. There are talks that should Jubaland go the Somalialand way, then it would be a strong ally especially looking at the…

A staggering Sh1.8 billion was allocated in the 2018/2019 financial year for renovation and infrastructural development of 24 airports and airstrips across the country despite minimal activity going on in the majority of them. In the current financial year, the National Treasury has once again set aside Sh1.4 billion for renovation of 10 airstrips. Questions however abound over the economic value of these airstrips, with details emerging during one of the parliamentary meetings that some of them do not receive even a single flight, hence no reason why taxpayers should continue to be burdened with financing non-viable projects. The National…

BY Kennedy Lumwamu A human rights organisation in Uasin Gishu County wants the Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate rampant cases of human rights violation and brutality by county enforcement officers. The executive director for Centre Against Torture (CAT) Kimutai Kirui said the most affected were small scale traders, including hawkers and boda boda riders, operating in Eldoret town. Addressing the press, Kirui asked the DPP to move with speed and expedite investigations into claims of brutality and torture. “It is unfortunate that the county law enforcement officers are carrying out their duties under the rule of jungle and our…

By Professor John Harbeson Ethiopia is at a crossroads – between a pathway toward the establishment of an economically and politically viable democratic state, and the possibility of its unravelling into a plethora of small ethnically-based mini-polities as they mostly were a century ago, and more prior to their incorporation in the Ethiopian empire by the conquests of Menelik II. In recent weeks, the existential possibility that Ethiopia may follow this latter pathway has arisen because the fifth largest ethnic group in the country, the Sidama, are poised to declare themselves an independent state within a few months. If…

Wanjiku, The Constitution is everything in a constitutional democracy. Considering the hallowed space it occupies, it is a little depressing the casual manner in which you are approaching the inevitable constitutional review process. You have surrendered the entire affair to politicians. And while it is true that constitutions and politics are bedfellows, please remember that the process doesn’t belong to them alone. You too, are a shareholder and, without a doubt, the most important one. The politicians have suspended all reason to sacrifice the country’s future at the altar of individual aggrandisement. It’s all about the next election, and the…

Over the past few decades, technological, governance, and market progress has lifted an unprecedented number of people out of poverty (extreme poverty rate has declined from 36 percent in 1990 to an estimated 8.6 percent in 2018) and delivered incredible new economic opportunities. But, at the same time, this progress has come at a real cost—growing inequalities (the world’s richest 26 people possess the same wealth as the poorest half of humanity) and an increasingly dangerous degradation of the natural resource base which supports life on earth and our economies. This environmental degradation is starting to reverberate and affect economic growth. If…

Elton John last month hosted a celebrity-packed gala that raised more than $6 million (Sh600 million) to fight HIV/AIDS in Kenya, thanks partly to auctions of a luxury car and an autographed piano used in the singer’s “Rocketman” movie musical. The British singer-songwriter, on a break from his farewell world tour, welcomed the likes of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, actress Joan Collins and Taron Egerton, who plays John in “Rocketman,” to a villa in Cap d’Antibes in France. “We’re here for the Elton John AIDS foundation, our first south of France fundraiser, hopefully to raise…

By Ibrahim Thiaw The good news: everyone, all 8.6 billion of us, are expected to have access to clean drinking water at a walking distance of no more than 15 minutes from our homes by 2030. It sounds like a tall order when 1 in every 5 people lacks access to clean and safe water today. But this goal is achievable if recent global trends on access to clean drinking water continue. The bad news: To sustain that achievement through to 2050 and beyond, bolder action is still needed in at least two areas. First, obstacles to safe water access…

By David Onjili There is a shared denominator amongst them: their parents sacrificed their lives for the country. They’ve been at the vanguard of many political moves, some of which led to imprisonment, torture, exile and even assassinations. While their parents’ names are engraved in the history books of the nation, their children have had a void to be filled, grown-up isolated if not broken pieces. “Many have resorted to either being slaves to alcohol or immersing themselves into religious fanaticism. That has been their escape from the stigma,” says Wafula Buke, a veteran agitator for the clamour of multiparty…

Network revolutions of the past have shaped the present and set the stage for the revolution we are experiencing today In an era of seemingly instant change, it’s easy to think that today’s revolutions—in communications, business, and many areas of daily life—are unprecedented. Today’s changes may be new and may be happening faster than ever before. But our ancestors at times were just as bewildered by rapid upheavals in what we now call “networks”—the physical links that bind any society together. In this fascinating book, former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler brings to life the two great network revolutions of the…