Author: NLM Correspondent

Rwanda’s government closed thousands of churches and dozens of mosques last month as it sought to assert more control over a vibrant religious community whose sometimes makeshift operations, the country’s administration says, are often a threat to the lives of followers. President Paul Kagame, alarmed at the number of churches in the capital alone (as many as 700), did not hide his disdain at the revelation: “700 churches in Kigali?” he posed. “Are these boreholes that give people water? I don’t think we have as many boreholes. Do we even have as many factories?” His move, although criticised by most…

After Raila ‘s much-publicised visit to retired President Moi last month, his erstwhile deputy, Kalonzo Musyoka, made spirited attempts to secure a similar trip to no avail. Those in the know say Moi is a man who knows what he wants, which happens to be Raila at this point, and what he doesn’t need, which happens to be Kalonzo Musyoka. The Wiper leader was reportedly told in no uncertain terms that the former President was not looking to offer him any mileage, let alone blessing for any aspirations he may have, and that he best spend his energies elsewhere. It…

After the expose by The Nation on the rot at City Hall, it is understood that snitches within the newsroom and some actual spies from intelligence agencies have been deployed at the county leadership’s behest to find out those responsible for the exposé. An editor who spoke with The Nairobi Law Monthly explained that despite doing brisk business with the Nation Media Group’s broadcast division, it had been decided that the print segment, and particularly Sunday Nation, would expose the rot in Nairobi county, both as a form of the bold journalism it is famed for, and partly so that…

When three IEBC commissioners resigned last month on account of what they termed as incompetence and lack of leadership from Chair Wafula Chebukati, a series of events happened in quick succession. Commission chief executive Ezra Chiloba had just been sent on compulsory leave – ostensibly Connie Maina, Margaret Mwachanya and Paul Kurgat resigned in solidarity with the CEO. Soon after, the security detail of the remaining commissioners, including the Chair was withdrawn for inexplicable reasons, to be quietly reinstated a few days later. Our source at the Harambee House intimates that the resignation of the three, a well-orchestrated move meant…

A local bank with operations in over twenty countries lost hundreds of millions of shillings in ensuing confusion after changing its core banking system eight years ago. The financial institution’s move to improve its internal control system instead resulted in massive fraud, with millions of shillings paid by clients as tax for over five years disappearing without a trace. Over five thousand clients remain unaware of the status of their tax positions during that period, although several people have been prosecuted for theft of the millions of shillings from the bank. The confusion caused an accumulation of unclaimed funds amounting to…

By John Harbeson For all its central importance to Africa’s modern political history, especially from the mid-19th Century to the present, the Horn of Africa has seemed rarely to get the kind of in-depth treatment – and I would add healing it has deserved – and needs more than ever right now. The current and still unpredictable course of change in Ethiopia makes in-depth policy and scholarly understanding of the region’s requirements urgent, for they inescapably impact each of her neighbours, notably the thousands of Ethiopians who have fled across the border at Moyale into Kenya, sparked initially by a…

BY Ahmednasir Abdullahi It is easy to associate the ongoing Executive-Judiciary war with Uhuru Kenyatta’s promise to “revisit”, upon his contested re-election. The truth, however, is that the standoff is merely symptomatic of a great malady. More than anything, it brings into question the efficacy of Liberal Democracy as a system of government. That politicians are suddenly alive to their diminished roles is also testament of a country that did not internalise the Constitution it overwhelmingly voted for. It may seem a harsh indictment, but how else does one explain Wanjiku’s lethargy in punishing errant politicians? Similarly, what would be…

The Luo have a saying – “waiting for rain that has refused to fall” – to caution against waiting in vain. Raila Odinga has become the rain that builds up heavy clouds, forces people to return everything into the house in anticipation of a heavy downpour then a strong winds come and send the clouds away.  The man who has a larger than life stature in Kenyan politics has become a case of “too close yet too far” in his quest to capture the presidency. One thing that has been Raila’s biggest undoing is his poor man-management. The fact that…

Arkan Uddin Yasin March 9, 2018. We all sat there, in disbelief and consternation. Could anyone be so cold? So unfeeling? So without compunction? “No man, for any considerable period of time can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true” – Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter Sitting there watching, listening to the speeches, there was a buzz in my head that could not let me make out what they were saying. It did not matter. It was the return of the prodigal dhampir; it was watching…

By Ahmednasir Abdullahi What a gesture it was! Out of the blue, and to the bewilderment of citizens, President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, on March 9, calmly announced that they had reached a political truce and shook hands. Of course, they were technically not at war! Neither, were the two leaders locked in a zero-sum legal dispute in any sense of the term. Indeed, they had not informed the country that there were ongoing negotiations between the two with a view to reaching a settlement. In fact, Raila has subsequently taken so much pride in the…