Author: NLM Correspondent

By Fuad Abdirahman Abdi Mohamoud Omar was the President of the Ethiopian Somali region since 2005, his tenure lasting close to thirteen years. He rose to power for what his adherent’s term as a “cleansing” the region of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). Omar was commonly referred to as Abdiiley, which loosely translates to “one eyed” –it is common in Somali tradition for one to be nicknamed on the basis of any physical defects one may have. Interestingly, both his eyes worked well; it was his father who was one-eyed, but his nickname stuck with his son. Much of…

BY Alexander Opicho As one paper put it, “the changes are nothing short of seismic, proof that nothing remains the same forever… In just over 100 days, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has taken radical steps aimed at dismantling the country’s troubled past and paving the way for a new future. After years of protests, state killings, ethnic violence, internet shutdowns, and emergency rules, the Horn of Africa nation has made an astonishing and promising turnaround for the better.” While many challenges stand in the way of Abiy after this honeymoon period is over, none presents a bigger challenge than…

By Emeka-Mayaka Gekara Deputy President William Ruto is a master of what philosopher Jacques Derrida calls kettle logic. This is a tendency to make multiple, contradicting arguments, in an attempt to prove a point. Derrida illustrates the case used by psychologist Sigmund Freud in The Interpretation of Dreams – a man accused by his neighbour of damaging a kettle he had borrowed. The borrower defended himself with three arguments, contradicting himself at every turn: that he had returned the kettle undamaged; that it was already damaged when he borrowed it; that he had never borrowed it in the first place.…

By Kenyatta Otieno The area formerly known as the Northern Frontier District is notorious for cattle rustling. In the past, cattle theft was conducted using spears, arrows and other crude weapons. Then government got the idea to arm home guards after the Shifta War; it proved disastrous. Later, the state of Somalia collapsed, and small arms became available to these pastoralists at very cheap prices. It was at this point that a small problem turned into a sophisticated, dangerous trade. In the beginning, the raids took a cultural pattern: young initiates conducted raids as a demonstration of their manhood, and…

By David Wanjala He speaks softly and pauses to listen whenever he is interjected, qualities someone speaking with him for the first time, more often than not, may mistake for weakness. Professor Kivutha Kibwana listens more than he speaks. And he lends an ear to just about everyone and everything, picking along the way valuable lessons and insights that a majority, especially those in his academic and political class would have no patience for. Behind the façade lies a meticulous, unassuming human being who hardened in the trenches of the struggle for multiparty democracy in the 1980s and 90s against…

Dead at 80: Annan, McCain exit world stage Two giants, a consummate diplomat and a brave political maverick, have left the world stage. Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and Arizona senator John McCain have had illustrious careers in diplomacy and politics. Annan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, died on August 18 in Switzerland. The 80-year-old global diplomat who brokered the 2008 Kenyan peace deal had retired to Geneva and later lived in a Swiss village. Senator McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who ran unsuccessfully for president as a self-styled maverick Republican in 2008…

Ranked among the top world economists, Dr David Mwangi Ndii holds a PHD, doctorate and master’s degrees in Economics from the Oxford University, as well as a masters and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Nairobi. He is also a Rhodes Scholar and Eisenhower fellow, who co-founded the Institute of Economic Affairs, Kenya’s first independent policy think-tank. HIGHLIGHT: Distinguished economist, stalwart of good governance, public intellectual IGNOMINY: Former Nyayo House torture chambers at the height of multi-party agitation The economist has distinguished himself with being a vocal critic of corruption, misrule and extrajudicial killings. In his own words, he does…

The contaminated sugar impounded and boarded in various go-downs by the multiagency taskforce on illicit trade in Mombasa, Webuye, Nakuru and Nairobi was last month being released in haste. Our informer says that this was on instructions from people in high office, in a rush to allow the Rai Family to sell its consignments ahead of Parliament’s report debate, to pre-empt the people-friendly proposal on destruction as recommended. The high stakes gamble was meant to forestall huge losses in a business deal that involved money owed to Commercial Bank of Africa in guarantees for import letters of credit for the…

By Kennedy Lumwamu Construction of the Sh4.1 billion Eldoret bypass may not take off immediately after people whose land is meant to be compulsorily acquired instructed their lawyer to have payment stopped until various “pressing” issues are addressed. The bypass, which stretches from Cheplaskei to Maili Tisa on the Nakuru-Webuye Road has been funded by the African Development Bank. The Kenya National Highway Authority (Kenha) says already the government has released Sh300million to compensate those affected. But at a meeting held at the Uasin Gishu County government offices on August 22, the landowners instructed their lawyer, Zephaniah Yego, to write…

By Kennedy Lumwamu An MCA has accused Governor Jackson Mandago of discriminating against non-Kalenjin, charging that development projects are deliberately being bent to disadvantage areas represented by members of the county assembly who are not locals of Uasin Gishu County. The leader of minority at the county assembly Ramadhan Ali, who is also the Kiplombe Ward MCA, says that in Eldoret, although county assembly committees deliberate on and approve budgets for various projects, when it came to implementation the technical staff deliberately by-pass areas where the MCAs are not from the majority tribe. In the county, Francis Muya, who is the…