Author: NLM Correspondent

By NLM Writer In March, representatives from the Kenyan Government joined members of the diplomatic community and civil society for the launch of new research into preventing violent extremism in Kenya. The launch was co-hosted by the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), the British High Commission, and the Embassy of the Netherlands. The research, which was jointly funded by the British and Dutch Governments, seeks to further understanding of “at-risk” communities in Kenya, and to support an evidence-based approach to policy and decision making. Researchers looked at the drivers of radicalisation, how radicalisation and recruitment work in practice, and which…

Tensions are mounting dangerously between Rwanda and Uganda. The two African countries historically have been closely linked, with each playing a key role in the other’s political development. But all that is now in peril. President Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Movement (NRM), gained power during the Ugandan Bush War (1980-1986) thanks in part to the military assistance of Rwandan refugees who fled their home country when the Tutsi ethnic group was persecuted. Among those refugees was current Rwandan president Paul Kagame, who joined Museveni’s ultimately successful struggle against the government of Milton Obote (1980-1985) and Tito Okello (1985-1986).…

By John Page By some estimates, Africa’s working-age population will grow by approximately 450 million people—about 3 percent per annum—between 2015 and 2035. By 2050, Africa will have 362 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old. Where will the region find the jobs for such a rapidly growing young population? In the past, the answer has been industry. Historically, industry has led to structural change—the movement of workers from lower to higher productivity employment. In East Asia, large numbers of workers leaving agriculture moved into manufacturing, driving growth, job creation, and poverty reduction. In contrast,…

For once in a long while, conventional media must be congratulated for socially-responsible reporting on hunger-related deaths and thousands of starving people in the north. Citizens had almost forgotten that media could dare point out what government – its biggest client – was denying, including reportedly firing a chief for confirming the deaths. What a travesty! By the time government was announcing it had “set aside” Sh2 billion to deal with famine, it was two weeks too late, a few more deaths too late and in extremely ill taste, for individuals, including journalists, had already visited Turkana and Baringo to…

By John Page Economists have long regarded structural change—the movement of workers from lower to higher productivity employment—as essential to growth in low-income countries. Yet, until recently, Africa’s economic structure had changed very little, worrying both policymakers and analysts. The African Union, the African Development Bank, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa have all voiced concern with Africa’s slow pace of structural change. Historically, manufacturing drove economic transformation. Today, new technologies have spawned a growing number of services and agro-industries—including horticulture—that share many characteristics with manufacturing. They are tradable, have high value added per worker, and can absorb large…

Have you recently carried heavy shopping bags up a few flights of stairs? Or run the last 100 meters to the station to catch your train? If you have, you may have unknowingly been doing a style of exercise called high-intensity incidental physical activity. Our paper, published today in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, shows this type of regular, incidental activity that gets you huffing and puffing is likely to produce health benefits, even if you do it in 30-second bursts, spread over the day. In fact, incorporating more high-intensity activity into our daily routines—whether that’s by vacuuming the…

By Dr Tom Odhiambo Donald Trump is a man one can’t just wish away. If you like him, he can easily become a cult that will swallow your whole life. His bullishness can be reassuring in a confusing world. If you dislike – not hate, mind – him, he could still eat away your soul as well. His scaremongering can make one’s life hellish. But the appeal of Donald Trump isn’t Trump the man; it is Trump the drama. This is a man who has made much of the world that follows American politics to realize that actually Americans aren’t…

Standard of proof The burden of proof lies on the prosecution to establish the existence of compelling reasons that would justify the denial of bail, or the imposition of suitable bail terms and conditions. Some courts have required the prosecution to present “cogent, very strong and specific evidence” in order to justify the denial of bail. Mere allegations or suspicion will not be sufficient. According to these courts, where the prosecution opposes bail, it must support its objection with cogent reasons and facts, and it is not enough to “make bare objections and insinuations.” The question becomes, should the prosecution…

By Shadrack Muyesu On February 8 2018, the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Kiambu delivered a ruling in R vs Michael Ngobe Mugo, Traffic Case No 464 of 2018, in which it stated, inter alia, that driving under the influence of alcohol per se does not amount to an offence. The Court interpreted Section 44 of the Traffic Act to mean that for the offence to be established, the judicial forum must be certain that the driver was under the influence of drink or a drug, and that as a result of the drink or drug s/he was incapable of having…

The late, great Justice Antonin Scalia once remarked, “The judge who always likes the results he reaches is a bad judge.” The principle underlying this axiom is lost on many, who instead render it the other way: judges must automatically like the results they reach, because they reach the results they like. From there, politicians and pundits take it one step further, decrying any court ruling that deviates from their preferred policy outcomes as simply the result of jurists’ partisan bias. This hackneyed logic erodes the courts’ reputation as nonpartisan arbiters of the law. But it also has the more dangerous…