Author: NLM Correspondent

By Kenyatta Otieno There is something the late Benga maestro Okatch Biggy’s music did to my heartstrings. There is something in his music that brings out the Luo from the depth of his heart – of romance, politics, hot air, good life, grandeur and sweet nothings. Okatch’s scintillating music, with sublime, liberating vulgar lyrics, pulled Luo men into a convoy every Friday to Kisumu. If anyone wanted the way to the core of Luo psyche, Okatch represented that. Since his death in late seventies, no Benga musician has managed to take the Luo hostage like he did. I had two…

The succession politics of who will replace Commissioner-General John Njiraini at the Kenya Revenue Authority is not about to end. The matter is already is being litigated in the Labour and Industrial Relations Court where activist Okiya Omtata is seeking to stop any extension to the commissioner’s term. Omtata contends that Njiraini has attained the mandatory retirement age of 60 years and has already served two terms, and should therefore retire. In court papers, Njiraini claims that he has no interest in having a new term as head of the Kenya Revenue Authority, but without disclosing it to court, the…

By Payton Mathau The aftershocks of the August 8, 2017 election are still reverberating in certain quarters, months after the inauguration of President Kenyatta for a second term. If for nothing else, Kenyans are still waiting to see whether former Prime Minister Raila Odinga will swear himself in what would be a textbook copy-paste of Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye. The country is still unsettled. But it’s in the corridors of justice that the after-effects are strongest. For instance, the difference between the majority decision of the Supreme Court and the dissenting judgment of Justice Njoki Ndung’u on the…

By Prof. John Harbeson With this essay, I am making an unprecedented exception to my strict policy of not writing about American politics in this column, but always about Kenya, or Kenya related matters. Today, if I were privileged to be a US ambassador to Kenya, another developing country, or indeed any country, I would resign. Indeed, I cannot imagine how I could have a found way to remain in country had anything remotely like the present situation emerged, during any of my three tours; teaching in Kenya, teaching in Ethiopia, and serving in Kenya as USAID’s Regional Democracy and…

By Yasin ArkAN What is corruption? Is it the young girl in Machakos praying that the Officer in-Charge of Station will finally deploy her brother, a Police Constable, to a route sufficiently rich in extortion to fund her second semester at the University of Nairobi? She has already lost one year. Is corruption the kickbacks the State employee extracts from suppliers to supplement his income which has been stretched to breaking point by a clan of dependants? What about paying extra to bump your loved one up a public hospital surgery waiting list? Or is corruption the transfer of taxes…

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,…