Author: NLM Correspondent

BY NLM Writer The cervical cancer burden falls unequally on Africa, with 19 of the 20 most affected countries on this continent. The disease kills 311 000 women a year worldwide and is the second most common cancer among women in the African region. Yet, cervical cancer is one of the most preventable and curable forms of cancers, through vaccination, early detection and treatment, which makes bringing cervical cancer to an end a priority for the World Health Organisation. “With rates for cervical cancer up to six times higher in the African region than in North America, we can see…

Afrobarometer is now in its 20th year as a pre-eminent, independent, non-partisan network of African research institutes in several African countries, specialising in in-depth scientific measurement of African public opinion in more than 30 countries where political space is sufficient for it to conduct its surveys. Afrobarometer’s motto is to “let the people have a say.” In a just issued report, two Michigan State University scholars who are also affiliated with Afrobarometer have examined Afro-Barometer data on how African citizens in 34 countries assess the meaning for them of the quality of democracy in their respective countries. Overall, the…

The country has just borrowed another Sh210 billion from the international market, bringing our total debt value to figures above Sh5 trillion. A third of it will be used to repay the first portion of the 2014 Eurobond, due on June 24. The remaining will go towards plugging a Sh635 billion size hole in the 2019/20 budget. Lest it be forgotten, the Eurobond we are servicing is the same one whose spending remains a mystery. Government says it either spent it on development without giving specifics, or ask for time to explain. Pressed, it may point to the Galana-Kulalu irrigation…

The country has just borrowed another Sh210 billion from the international market, bringing our total debt value to figures above Sh5 trillion. A third of it will be used to repay the first portion of the 2014 Eurobond, due on June 24. The remaining will go towards plugging a Sh635 billion size hole in the 2019/20 budget. Lest it be forgotten, the Eurobond we are servicing is the same one whose spending remains a mystery. Government says it either spent it on development without giving specifics, or ask for time to explain. Pressed, it may point to the Galana-Kulalu irrigation…

If a debt goes unpaid and you’ve made no plans to repay it, your credit card company may sue you in civil court for the balance. Not only could a judgment in the creditor’s favor possibly allow them to seize your property or take the money you owe directly from your bank account or salary, but it also could leave you responsible for all court-related costs associated with the lawsuit. While any legal action taken against you is a serious matter, there are steps you can take after receiving a summons to appear in court that could lessen the blow.…

By Prof Kivutha Kibwana This essay is, first and foremost, a critique of one aspect of Professor J.B. Ojwang’s theorizing on the nature and scope of executive power in the African one-party state. Put in a nutshell, Ojwang argues the chief executive in Africa’s single regime possesses extra-juridical power derivable from non-constitutional and non-legal sources. Such argument, we think, not only lends ideological support to besieged authoritarianism, but it also boldly contradicts the refreshing research and writing on constitutional development in Africa, hence our interest in Ojwang’s unique constitutional ideas. Simultaneously with the above concern of criticising Ojwang’s work, we…

By Ahmednasir Abdullahi, SC This purpose of this editorial is not to foretell the imminent or premature demise of Justice J.B Ojwang, for I think it is too early to make this inference just because a tribunal has been set up to investigate some alleged misconduct on his part. I must admit, however, that I have never admired Ojwang, either as a scholar or as a judge, for I am yet see a scintilla of virtue I find attractive. But I also don’t loathe him; I have no reason to. That said, as someone who has known the good judge…

By Emeka-Mayaka Gekara There is no doubt that Supreme Court judge Jackton Boma Ojwang is a man of many feats. He scored a First Division in the Cambridge School Certificate and was in the pioneer law class of the University of Nairobi of 1971. After graduation, he was the only student admitted to Master of Laws and immediately after graduation was employed as a law professor before proceeding for his doctorate at Cambridge in the UK. He would then return to the University of Nairobi where he rose to become dean of the Faculty of Law. Prof Ojwang is also…

By Shadrack Muyesu The composition of the Judicial Service Commission in the run up to the 2022 general elections is a high stakes drama that is going to leave many bruised. President Uhuru Kenyatta promised to revisit, and he seems to be right on course. In the unending war for submission and dominance is the Deep State on one hand, a cabal of State House old dogs bent on taking advantage of a muzzled opposition to seize control once and for all and avoid the embarrassment of yesteryear, and the self-styled progressive brigade on the other – the last standing…

By NLM Writer Justice Ojwang’ is abrasive and arrogant. Learned he may be but he delivers his opinion like it were legal fiat, the Law of Moses. He will not only demean those who would disagree with him but he refuses to confer with his peers as a proper superior bench should. A proper man of letters, Ojwang’ is the kind of man that was ready to resign rather than prostrate himself naked before “inferiors” within the JSC. He was on his way to delivering his resignation letter when a call came in asking him to stay put. As a…