Author: NLM Correspondent

By Wafula Wakoko If history and the writings of theologian Martin Niemöller taught us anything, it is that the law ought to protect the powerless. Those of us who’ve been afforded capacity to use logic have a duty to make conversations centring on the protection of minorities commonplace. Not because we shall soon need protection from someone, and we well may, but because we have been blessed with reason. The doorstep phenomenon – I will only shout if it affects me directly – is the force behind normalised infringement of rights. Let us shout now. A glance at history paints…

By Shadrack Muyesu On June 8, 2018, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court overturned a 2016 decision that had found Congolese warlord and former vice president, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Bemba had been in ICC detention since his arrest in Belgium in 2008. After a trial that lasted almost four years, the ICC’s Trial Chamber III found him liable under the theory of command responsibility for his failure to prevent and punish the criminal behaviour of his troops, who committed rape, murder, and pillage while in the Central African Republic. The Appeals…

By Prof Makau Mutua Its checkered history notwithstanding, the rule of law remains a pillar of good governance. It has evolved over time to contain within it the core values of human rights. Over time, the understanding of the concept – including its normative reach, scope, and content – has become more sophisticated. Soon after Africa’s independence, cadres of Western academics and policy-makers believed that Africa’s new states would be “civilised” by the rule of law. Western thought viewed pre-colonial Africa as pre-law, and thus argued that emergent states needed formal Western legal regimes to enter modernity. No credit was…

By TNLM Writer The International Energy Agency puts the current electrification rate in sub-Saharan Africa at just 43 percent. The inference here is clear: greater action must be taken to achieve the international community’s goals of universal electricity access. Although there are positive developments taking place across the continent, there are also a number of key challenges that beset transformation of the sector. Energy outlook Sub-Saharan Africa currently has a total installed generation capacity of 122 gigawatts (GW), and accounts for 4.5 percent of global primary energy demand (the equivalent of 619 million tonnes of oil) according to the IEA…

A chain of countries winning independence has created a continent cut into pieces by borders, which now need to be overcome. Behind these borders economic thinking focuses only on a national level, which is far too restricted a scope for mass markets to emerge. And along with geographical borders come a number of other barriers, such as tariffs, taxation, customs and regulations. Encouraging growth rates seen over the last 15 years remain too weak to respond to the needs of a market representing 1.3bn people. The demographic potential is there, but a vast gulf exists between the current state of affairs…

Jack Ma’s sermon to entrepreneurs Ali Baba founder Jack Ma last month officially launching the Netpreneur prize in South Africa, a $10 million competition for tech innovators. The prize will “further [Africa’s] digital economy through local entrepreneurship.” The competition will host an annual pitching session, awarding $1 million in prize money over ten years. Ma drew on his own story of trying to launch an e-commerce company on achingly slow bandwidth in China 19 years ago. He recalled trying to register an internet company when the concept itself seemed unfathomable. He sees a similar environment in Africa. IEBC to adopt…

By Carlos Mureithi  and Lee Mwiti Worried about being up to its ears in debt, Kenya’s government wants to hire experts to manage its borrowing, local media has reported. National Treasury data shows Kenya owes China 72% of its bilateral debt. But bilateral debt is just a part of a country’s external debt. Much of Kenya’s borrowing in recent years has been from China, US-based news website Quartz, said in a July 2018 article. But does China account for nearly three-quarters of the money Kenya owes foreign lenders, as Quartz alleged? Quartz said its source was an article in the…

BY MANYIKA KANGAI China is still a developing country and is by no means perfect. However, what it has managed to achieve in about 30 years is very impressive and can provide lessons for African nations. China’s transformation is inspiring and teaches that a nation that truly believes in itself and has the right mind-set can overcome any challenge and achieve greatness. As a proud African who lived, studied and worked in China for five years, I saw many lessons that African nations can learn from China. Let me be clear. I am not suggesting that African nations should copy…

By TNLM Writer Two years ago, when a senior prosecutor walked into a procurement meeting he had no business being in once and asked a junior officer why there wasn’t a seat reserved for him and the junior officer responded, it was with the blasé fed-’upness of someone who was at the very end of his wits. “Who among us would you like to give up their chair so you can sit?” he posed without as much as a glance towards him. “Or would you like to sit on someone?” His eyes were fixed on the table. Most started. A…

Because of his no-nonsense demeanour, you’d think his juniors are terrified of him. But, officers who spoke with the Nairobi Law Monthly think he is a fresh break from the suck-up heads of divisions they are used to. An Interpol officer who had come to have a file verified and signed described the DCI as “the best thing to happen to the DCI in many years. He should have been appointed earlier.” Mohamed Roba, Kinoti’s executive advisor, is urbane and polished. He is the face of the DCI’s work ethic, which is exuded effortlessly. Like his boss, he is meticulous…