Author: NLM Correspondent

By Payton Mathau Failure of a bank’s newly installed internal financial control system might have led to massive multi-million fraud paid by clients, which has been either untraceable or misappropriated. Pan African banking corporation, Eco bank, with operations in thirty six African countries, could have lost over five hundred million shillings following confusion that reigned after it undertook core banking system change in October 2010. The confusion that marred the changes to Flexicube and Chequepoint systems led to the bank to accumulating unclaimed funds amounting to over nine hundred million shillings, which were locked in its suspense accounts with no…

By ArkANuddin Yasin “I was born here!” shouted the native, claiming jus soli. On March 26, 2017, the world watched an incident at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport that revealed the incorporeal prison grid that is the Westphalian nation-state geopolitical system. For both the ignorant and informed, the Miguna Miguna deportation debacle exposed fundamental contradictions that are intrinsic to the Westphalian nation-state system. “I am a Kenyan…Jus civile!” demanded the colonus, while meaning jus naturale, while in an actual state of jus gentium – claiming jus civile where no state even exists. “I am JaLuo”, directed at the JoLuo Ruoth would…

BY kenyatta otieno At this year’s Devolution Conference Raila Odinga said that the country should think of introducing a third tier Regional Government. Two things came to mind, Raila is a good governance junkie and this proposal was not a surprise to those who know him well. Secondly it is meant to test the waters and ignite debate that will lead to changes in the devolution law. Raila’s obsession with constitutional changes as a basis for good governance makes him appear as a one tool artisan. His astute political skills serve this obsession well making him a warrior of good…

BY David Matende In less than three months, Kenya’s premier media organisation, Nation Media Group (NMG), has lost close to 80 per cent of its key journalists and columnists to its rivals. Such a mass exodus of professionals from one entity is unprecedented in the history of the Kenya’s media. So what is happening at the Nation Centre? For a media house that is known for its rather cold-hearted poaching of good journalists from other media houses, the shoe is now on the other foot as the media giant appears to falter, with its star journalists scrambling out as if…

By Janek Sunga I believe the re-introduction of devolution has been wonderful for our democracy.  In the social sciences, five years is the bare minimum that is required for conducting a proper longitudinal study. In such a study, scientists make observations and gather data on the same subjects repeatedly over a long period of time. We are only seven years into this new Kenya experiment. I believe at the ten year mark, we can begin taking proper stock of the success of devolution. However, valid questions have been raised about the viability of some county governments which I will address in…

“The Handshake” has become a common reference to the political truce between President Uhuru Kenyatta and The People’s President Raila Odinga. The deal was made public through a handshake on the steps of Harambee House on March 9th 2018. Very few people knew about the talks between the two prior to the handshake and they kept the faith of their bosses to keep it a secret. These talks might have begun just before the January 29th swearing in of Raila as the people’s President. We heard romours of NASA leaders meeting the US ambassador before the swearing in. The five…

At the age of 36, Justice Luka Kimaru was appointed a judge of the High Court in December 2003, where he has served since. Within the Judiciary, he is known as a no-nonsense Judge who is a stickler for the law. His first station was the Nairobi Criminal Division, before he was transferred to Nakuru, then back to Nairobi. So efficient is Justice Kimaru at his job that the Rift Valley Law Society protested plans to move him to Mombasa while he was stationed in Nakuru. Justice Kimaru is given to bouts of anger – justified, some say – especially…

Aching for Bob’s brand of politics? Zimbabwe’s government distanced itself from a deputy minister who said the army wouldn’t allow the opposition to rule if it wins an election this year. The comments by Deputy Minister of Finance Terence Mukupe (pictured) – which echoed warnings that the military often made under former president Robert Mugabe – provoked outrage on social media and prompted a government spokesman to describe them as a threat to national security. In an online video, Mukupe is seen telling a rally in Harare that the army would not let opposition leader Nelson Chamisa take power if…

By Joel Okwemba There have been many instances where journalists have been discouraged from pursuing important subjects of public interest in relation to the country’s foreign policy agenda and the larger global affairs issues as a discussion led by the Centre for International and Security Affairs revealed. The event themed “Enhancing Public Interest in Global Affairs: The Role of the Media” convened the diplomatic community, journalists, international organizations, academia and students in exploring the bottlenecks on these matters. Education There is a glaring lack of specialisation of media training in our universities and media schools on matters diplomacy and global…

OBTUSE JUSTICE: When it comes to pinching a penny, it is unwise to be ‘petty’, at least according to the Kenyan justice system. Whereas small-time offenders, like Justinah (left), are hung out to dry for taking little bribes, elite looters, who have helped themseleves to billions from public coffers, as in the NYS looting spree that has come to light recently, can walk scot free. Like sin, where none is small or big, every crime deserves punishment; it is morally repugnant when double standards apply like this, by those who should judge in ‘letter and spirit’.