Author: NLM Correspondent

By Alice Ondieki Witness protection is recognised as a fundamental human right, by various instruments of both international and national law, in the administration of justice. For instance, Article 50 of the Constitution of Kenya, under the Bill of Rights, not only provides for the protection of identity of witnesses and vulnerable persons, but also for enactment of legislation providing for the protection, rights and welfare of victims of offences. In view of the critical role of witness protection, the Witness Protection Act, 2006 (as amended by Act No.2 of 2010) established the Witness Protection Agency and outlined its mandate,…

By David Onjili In the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy, Cameroon made history by being the first African country to reach the Cup quarter finals. It was then that Roger Miller made his hip shake dance goal celebration an iconic feature at the same tournament. 12 years later, in 2002, Senegal shocked then defending world champions France by beating them one goal to nil courtesy of a Papa Bouba Diop goal and eventually reaching the quarter finals before being eliminated by Turkey. Since then, no other African team has fared well at the continental soccer showpiece, with teams regularly…

Automation is coming to put us out of work—or so we’re told. But what if automation is actually the key to unlocking human productivity at work? Instead of warily viewing automation as an existential threat to our jobs, what if we embraced it as a tool that helps us better collaborate with each other? As workplace communications gradually shift towards messaging platforms, mirroring the rise of personal messaging apps, there is perhaps no emerging technology better suited for changing the paradigm of communication than bots—the automated assistants of the future. The days of strolling over to a coworker’s desk to ask…

BY BARNABAS ONYONKA New years are notorious for stirring up utopian hopes and optimisms in people. It is the time that people set goals that barely last the first month of the year. It is also the time when people adopt resolutions they have been having year in year out but have never achieved anyway. Be that as it may, new years are still favorites to many because they symbolize the start of something new, a chance to start anew on a clean slate. Even as a country we will be looking forward to turn a new leaf on many…

By Antony Mutunga There was one issue on which there seemed to be almost unanimity: The Internet should not be managed by any government, national or multinational – Jon Postel Remember the days when communication through handwritten letters was the norm? When the only option was to visit a brick and mortar store when you needed goods or services? When physical books were the main source of information and were not easily accessible? Well, to many, these are the good old days that are now turning to nothing but fading memories. This is all as a result of the Internet,…

By NLM Writer Anew Bank Outlook report by credit rating agency Moody’s shows that although banks will maintain solid capital and liquidity buffers, macro conditions will remain difficult in the majority of African countries. According to the report which was released on 12th December 2017 , despite showing improvement, economic growth will remain below historical levels, while political uncertainty will dampen confidence and governments’ capacity for fiscal stimulus will be limited. The report identifies several high risk contagion channels for banks such as large holdings of government securities, which link their credit profiles to that of their respective sovereign authorities’…

By Newton Arori and Caroline Cheptoo Contempt of court manifests in various forms. These range from wilful disobedience of court orders to witness tampering, disruption of court proceedings, and so forth. Generally, contempt of court is behaviour that interferes with, or defies the authority of, a court of law. The doctrine of contempt of court has its roots in English Common Law. In Kenya, the law on contempt is to be found primarily in the Contempt of Court Act, 2016. Of the several types of contempt law, two – the sub judice rule and the rule against ‘scandalising the court’…

In regard to the prevailing political temperatures and ‘rumours’ of Raila Odinga having plans to swear himself in as a the President of Kenya,  I agree  with the stand of  the US Bureau-cum-Department of African affairs, especially and specifically for its rejecting Raila Odinga’s  plan to take oath of office as President. I endorse the stand by this department to the political leadership in Kenya, and join them in calling for priority to be given to dialogue and compensation of the families of those people that lost lives during the election demonstrations. Indeed, it is a timely call and constructive…

My visit to the Coast this year coincided with two significant political as well as social eventualities – the first was the election of the new Council of Governors leadership at Diani Reef Hotel in Kwale County, and the second the recent people’s assembly events of governors Ali Hassan Joho of Mombasa County and Amason Kingi of Kilifi. The two held a conference at Kilifi where they discussed Swearing in of Raila Odinga and also touched on secession as an ideal solution to the ills of Kenya’s electoral politics. The key visitor was Raila Odinga. Their main idea is for…

By Shadrack Muyesu One of the great changes of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 was to ensure that the State was founded on popular sovereignty. By demanding that a president be not only popularly elected but also enjoy popularity in the majority of the regions, Article 138 guaranteed a president that was acceptable to most of the citizens. The law would have been good. Unfortunately, the drafters failed to specify the minimum percentage of votes to be cast against which the standard cited in Article 138 would be assessed. They also failed to base popular sovereignty against citizenship (instead they…