Author: NLM Correspondent

By Prof John Harbeson These are troubling times for democracy, not only for Kenya but throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and the world. Gauging the quality of democracy is no easy task because reasonable minds can and do differ on the relative importance of particular criteria as they can and do on how well any individual criterion has been met. That said, there’s a fairly widespread consensus among scholars and practitioners alike that the quality of democracy worldwide has been slipping gradually but noticeably over the last several years, globally, in sub-Saharan Africa and, yes, in Kenya.   Freedom House has long…

For several months now, Kenyans have been treated to a number of very bad laws packaged as the President’s delivery on the Big Four Agenda. It started with the Dairy Industry (Licensing) Regulations of 2018, through which farmers would no longer be able to sell, offer for sale or expose for consumption any milk in its raw form without a license issued by the Dairy Board. The Board said at the time that the proposals were necessitated by the need to update policy and regulations with the liberalised nature of industry; adopt to changing technological innovations; respond to consumer demands…

Africa’s youth are key forces of sustainable development. Indeed, both the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063 and United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development identify youth as key partners of sustainable development, though the youth empowerment agenda is often set aside as part of the social inclusion agenda rather than the structural transformation one. Two of the region’s megatrends, urbanization and demographic transition, call for a paradigm shift toward youth-centred sustainable development. First, Africa is quickly urbanizing, primarily due to natural population increase in cities and peri-urban areas. Second, its youth constitute a large share of the continent’s population, with…

By David Onjili The enduring conflict for both retiring senior civil servants and politicians is to know when to hang up their boots by passing up on appointments. Sportsman Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, while announcing his retirement from basketball in 2016, said that he felt that he could no longer give the game anything more. Do politicians and civil servants ever feel this after decades of service? China, a communist country offers an interesting view. The ideal is all about working for the revolution with their last breath and last drop of blood. This explains why retirement…

You’ve got problems. Perhaps more than you know. Apart from all the usual woes—work, relationships, money, time—the civilised life may also be causing you psychological trauma. Disconnection from nature can be bad for our mental health. But there was no name for this particular malaise until Australian sustainability professor Glenn Albrecht coined the term psychoterratic, creating the beginning of a vocabulary to discuss the relationship between mental health and environment. Since then, he’s thought up a whole lexicon. In May, Albrecht’s book, ‘Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World’, will be published by Cornell University Press. It includes gems…

“The origin of civil government,” wrote David Hume in 1739, is that “men are not able radically to cure, either in themselves or others, that narrowness of soul, which makes them prefer the present to the remote.” The Scottish philosopher was convinced that the institutions of government – such as political representatives and parliamentary debates – would serve to temper our impulsive and selfish desires, and foster society’s long-term interests and welfare. Today, Hume’s view appears little more than wishful thinking, since it is so startlingly clear that our political systems have become a cause of rampant short-termism rather than…

By Bosire Nyamori A High Court decision delivered on November 29, 2018 has highlighted the complexity in determining the Value Added Tax payable on land and property transactions, and the consequences that can follow where the parties disagree on the tax liability. In ‘David Mwangi Ndegwa v Kenya Revenue Authority’, Civil Suit No. 541 of 2015, the High Court held, “sale or purchase of land, together with residential premises and commercial premises erected on the land’, is VAT-free. Further, it ordered Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to refund David Mwangi Ndegwa (Plaintiff) Sh11.2 million, which he paid as VAT when he bought…

By Bosire Nyamori The High Court of Kenya, on December 21, 2018, ruled on the eagerly awaited case of ‘Commissioner of Domestic Taxes v Total Touch Cargo Holland’, Income Tax Appeal No. 17 of 2013, where it held that the test for determining whether a service has been “exported out of Kenya” is the location where that service is to be finally used or consumed. Background Item I of Part A in the Fifth Schedule to the Value Added Tax Act, chapter 476, Laws of Kenya (“VATA 1990”) treated “exportation of goods and taxable services” as zero-rated supplies, attracting a…

By Ian-Johnson Ondari Many Kenyans have resorted to the informal justice systems to circumvent bumps to access to justice in the formal legal system. In some areas, such as Northern Kenya, informal justice systems have almost replaced the formal justice system. From a historical perspective, Kenyans were not very conversant with their basic rights. This affected their ability to use the judicial system for dispute resolution. Access to justice in Kenya emerged due to the new constitutional order that affirmed the right to legal representation. Before then, Kenyans had little knowledge of how the court system worked, and those who…

By Chrispin Bosire and Aaron Onyango Government agencies continue to trade accusations on who is to blame for the failing war on corruption. For President Uhuru Kenyatta, the fault cannot be his, considering the much he has done in pushing the wagon forward – including suspending and sacking ministers? Former Attorney General, Githu Muigai blames the Judiciary; former Prime Minister Raila Odinga too. In his recent address at the University of Nairobi, Raila wondered why culprits are arrested and evidence adduced in court only for the courts to release them on lenient bail terms. The Director of Public Prosecutions is…