Author: NLM Correspondent

By Barrack Muluka It is common knowledge that the Deputy President, Dr William Ruto, is walking a tight rope. Make no mistake; the Deputy President is a man under siege. The rain began beating him shortly after the fabled March 9, 2018 handshake, which sent him and his sidekicks into the panic of protecting their space from perceived interlopers from the Orange Democratic Movement. In the weeks following the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his nemesis Raila Odinga, a panicky ex-URP (United Republican Party) brigade began gallivanting across the country, taking the ODM leader to task. They cautioned him…

By Emeka Mayaka Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta was the only head of state who attended the inauguration of Felix Tshisekedi as the new leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tshisekedi succeeds President Joseph Kabila who has been in power for 18 years. Tshisekedi, 55, will be the first Congolese head of state to take power through an election since independence leader Patrice Lumumba in 1960. The historic December 2018 election was particularly significant because there wasn’t bloodshed, which has characterized past power transitions. Equally, the polls brought Kabila’s reign to an end having extended his stay beyond his constitutional limits.…

Fuad Abdirahman All is not well with Omar Al Bashir’s presidency. Sudanese masses seems to have had enough of the tyrant and want him out. Their simmering anger – pent up over decades – boiled over when, after a blundering policy, the price of bread more than tripled. The strongman, whose journey to the top began when he joined the army, was first elected in 1996; he has stayed in power ever since. His most remarkable contribution in the military was when he crushed the rebels of the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in the ‘80s. The price hike…

By Kennedy Lumwamu A group which donated land for a public utility in Uasin Gishu County thirty-six years ago have sued the county for allegedly planning to use the parcel for purposes not initially meant for. 16 residents of Cheptiret Uriri Farm told an Eldoret court that they jointly donated 20 acres in 1983 for a market centre, with 0.55 acres earmarked for recreational purposes, but the county wants to turn it into an office block without regard for its intended purpose. They contend that the land, registered as LR No 7728/1 and 3655 measuring 20 acres, belongs to the public, and hold…

By Prof John Harbeson We are now three years into the second major, multilateral international effort to overcome the most salient manifestations of underdevelopment across the entire globe. The first, the Millennium Development Goals project sought to achieve eight major objectives between 2000 and 2015: ending extreme poverty, universal primary education, gender equality, reduced child mortality, improved maternal health, overcoming incidence of HIV, tuberculosis and other major diseases, sustainable environments and effective development partnerships between richer and poorer countries. Overall, for Kenya, as for sub-Saharan African countries, progress toward these eight goals was mixed and uneven. More progress was achieved…

By Ahmednasir Abdullahi, SC The country is smarting from yet another terror attack and remains at a loss on how to permanently deal with the problem. And while quick solutions are needed, it’s of uttermost importance that we exercise patience and sobriety when dealing with the issue. Calm in the face of peril is the ultimate show of resilience. But, we cannot talk solutions without appreciating the problem. While it may seem obvious that all Kenyans want is to feel and be safe, the truth is that oftentimes when crises have presented us with opportunities to rethink our society, we…

More than a dozen national elections will be held across Africa next year. All 55 members of the African Union (AU) are obligated to hold regular and ostensibly democratic elections. Is all this electoral activity helping to entrench democracy as the foundation for national and regional security, development and integration? Or have elections become the means for demagogues to grab power—or, more typically, for powerful elites and authoritarian rulers to entrench themselves? Democratic theory prescribes credible elections as a necessary, but insufficient means, to consolidate real democracy. Real democracy typically abets peace and security. National circumstances vary. Most deadly conflicts…

By Jared Juma The year 2018 has closed its eyes on Miguna Miguna without his much anticipated “grand return” and the promised “dramatic showstopper” in the political scene as Nairobi Deputy Governor. Considering that the man had initially run against Governor Mike Sonko, it would have been interesting to see the two work together – or make the attempt to. Alas, the conclusion to this brief thriller is a matter for another time. Miguna, in his brilliant, brazen eloquence – a diligent worker who has made it clear he has very limited time for political weaklings and cowards – seems…

Over a dozen novels and almost five decades, the Somali writer Nuruddin Farah has chronicled the effects on ordinary lives of his country’s upheavals. Some of his characters stay put amid the turmoil; others return from exile and try to fit in, remain afloat and make sense of the chaos around them. In “North of Dawn”, Farah charts the fortunes of a Somali family who leave Kenya for Europe. In this absorbing story, the stakes are raised. Mugdi and Gacalo feel their safe world implode when their Norwegian raised son returns to Somalia, embraces jihadism and kills himself in a…

By Henry Munene In 1986, Kevin Shillington, an independent English scholar and author of A History of Africa, approached Ugandan guerrilla fighter Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and impressed upon the newly installed president the need to record the success of his struggle against Idd Amin Dada and Milton Obote in a book. Although Museveni thought it was a brilliant idea, he reckoned that he would be hard pressed for time, what with the war going on and placing lots of demands on him. So a deal was struck. Shillington would bring a voice recorder and interview the man who would become…