Author: NLM Correspondent

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…

BY TNLM Writer The Judiciary is committed to ensuring that all the anti-corruption and Economic Crimes cases brought before courts are dealt with impartially, expeditiously and in accordance with the law and the evidence presented, Chief Justice David Maraga asserts. Observing that this is the only way Judiciary can maintain the confidence of the people it serves, Maraga urged judges to be professional when handling cases and urged other actors in the justice chain to be equally diligent and professional in their work. “We are meeting at a time when the fight against corruption has gathered momentum and the Judiciary is…

By Prof John Harbeson The two countries in sub-Saharan Africa whose trajectories I have most closely followed throughout my professional life, Kenya and Ethiopia, could become pace-setters in the fundamental and profoundly important task of reconstructing their states. Under the leadership of new prime minister Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia is preparing the groundwork for the formation of a truly post-imperial state after failed and corrupted, authoritarian initiatives by the military regime from 1973-1991, and the current Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Republic Front (EPRDF) from then to the present. And I am intrigued by the idea afloat in Kenya of conducting lifestyle…

By Ahmednasir Abdullahi, SC The thing with Kenya’s kind of graft is that it has permeated virtually every facet of our lives. It has, in fact, assumed the status of an institution, which is why how we proceed with the war on graft is a vital determinant to the final outcome; the race to reclaim the country’s pilfered resources and public integrity is not something to be approached as though it were a checkers game. Through observing goings-on in the past month, I would like to suggest a few strategies for His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta, his Deputy and their…