Author: NLM Correspondent

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…

By Antony Mutunga When the World Wide Web went live in 1991, only a handful of people knew what it was. Fewer still cared for it. And then everything changed. As people realized the revolutionary nature of the Internet, many boarded that ship. For proper perspective, in 1981 there were only 213 computers logged on but three years later in 1985, there were 16 million people online. Today, there are billions. This exponential expansion can be attributed to the emergence of support technologies such as email and web browsers, as well as the activities of companies like Amazon in 1998,…

Social media tax robs Uganda of Internet, mobile money revenue Uganda’s social media tax has proved to be detrimental to both its internet and mobile money sectors. In the three months following the introduction of the levy in July 2018, there was a noted decline in the number of internet users, total revenues collected, as well as mobile money transactions. In a series of tweets, the Uganda Communications Commission noted internet subscription declined by more than 2.5 million users, while the sum of taxpayers from over-the-top (OTT) media services decreased by more than 1.2 million users. The value of mobile…

Talamus Health Inc., an Africa focused health-tech business, has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2019. The list honours the businesses making the most profound impact on both industry and culture, showcasing a variety of ways to thrive in today’s volatile world. Half of the companies on this year’s MIC 50 list are appearing for the first time. Commenting on the recognition, Talamus founder Dr Muri Raifu said “…being recognized for our innovative approach to healthcare is a great endorsement of our approach to solving healthcare challenges on the African continent.…

At the end of 2018, everything was set for a local consultancy firm to work on a research project with the government of Lagos, Africa’s largest city. All the details had been agreed with the contract due to be signed, but it eventually didn’t materialize. Within weeks, the state’s governor lost his party’s primary elections so was no longer running for re-election and he soon “lost interest” in the project. With a new governor set to be voted in after Nigeria’s local state elections in two weeks, it’s unclear whether or not talks to sign the contract will ever resume.…

By Bosire Chrispin ‘The need to find the right balance between competing rights and competing interests is fundamental in all States.’ Law seeks to reconcile conflicting interests by securing the most and sacrificing the least. A balance – ‘eliminating friction and precluding waste in human enjoyment of the goods of existence’ – ought to be struck. This balance would be viewed as ‘social engineering.’ Proper, well-adjusted development of a country depends on the ability of government to balance the competing interests of security and human rights. ‘Kituo cha Sheria & 8 others v Attorney General’ restated reasonableness and proportionality of…

By Emeka-Mayaka Gekara It is utterly ironical that Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula is a Senator – so, too, for Murang’a’s Irungu Kang’ata – and that William Ruto is a deputy president in a government that stands accused of frustrating devolution. While Ruto made a solid case for devolution during negotiations for the 2010 constitution—which he would later ideologically oppose— Wetangula worked himself into a fit over the proposal to establish the Senate, which he said was a “waste of taxpayer’s money.” The two were members of the Parliamentary Select Committee that negotiated the current Constitution while Kang’ata in 2013…

By Ndung’u Wainaina The Constitution of Kenya 2010 fundamentally transformed the country politically, economically and socially. The Constitution ushered in a new republic with expanded, transparent political and economic structures. The Constitution marked a critical turning point for the nation.  Some of the changes were immediate while others will take time. It is Kenyans to be resilient and focused to work towards fulfilment of the Constitution objectives, purposes and values. The Constitution marked the end of a highly centralized state and attempts to resolve the critical issues of state power versus citizens’ rights and control over the development process while…

By Antony Mutunga According to the World Bank, in 2017 the manufacturing sector accounted for 16 percent of the global GDP. Good news, right? Not so much for Africa. Manufacturing is considered the weakest link in Africa’s ongoing integration into the global economy. According to the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the contribution of the sector to the continent’s gross domestic product has actually declined from 12 percent in 1980 to 10 percent in 2017. Even though Africa is full of the raw materials that make other economies thrive, a large quantity is never manufactured or refined on the…

By Shadrack Muyesu On January 22, 2019, the President assented to a miscellaneous law which inter alia sought to amend the Registration of Persons Act, CAP 107 of 1947. The amendments were to allow the State powers to collect personal information for purposes of creating a National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS). In its words, NIIMS is a central master population register that will be the “authentic single source of truth on a person’s identity.” Everyone from the age of six, including those living broad, was to be registered. In order to constitute the NIIMS database, the Government ordered Kenyans…