Author: NLM Correspondent

By Alexander Opicho On Wednesday November 1, 2017, news trickled into social media forums that Okoth Okombo, professor of Linguistics at the University of Nairobi, had passed away. The gentle giant was at home not only in the area of Linguistics but also had a knack of extending linguistics to serve other disciplines. In other words, there are professors, and then there is Prof Okombo. About two decades ago, I was a fresh at the University of Nairobi. Most students were interested in building their image while my burning desire was to be an agent of change at the university…

By Alexander Opicho Published in September, this book is only a few months old. Allan Mayne, a Professor of urban studies at the University of Leicester, and also a visiting professor to dozens of other learning institutions in the Western World, is the author of Slums: The History of Global Injustice. It is a seminal work on sociology, economics, politics and literature about the urban poor as expressed through the examination of the phenomenon of slums as a mega injustice by the political and economically mighty on the wretched humble of the earth. Mayne puts it that slum dwellers are…

By David Onjili The world is asplash with materialism, which explains mantras like “pursuit of happiness”, a sugarcoated admission of materialism. Yet, in this rat race of life, all this is like chasing the wind. A student, for example, has the option to diligently attend class and, through hard work, sit an examination, or skip classes then copy answers or buy the exams to obtain a pass. In a queue, one can choose to follow order or jump the line and be first at the expense of those who came earlier. We live in an era that condones, even glorifies…

By NLM Writer It is a refrain that Africa’s way forward has to be based to a substantial degree on Intra-African trade, and that this is a key way in which Africa will stand up. Currently this is growing, but it accounts for as little as 10- 12% of overall trade on the continent, whereas trade with non-African countries is more than 50%. In other developed economies such as the EU, intra-continental trade accounts (pre-Brexit) for over 60% of all trade, highlighting an obvious disparity. What is a realistic objective for growing intra-African trade by 2025, and how can key…

BY ELSIE OYOO As a client, you want a lawyer whose legal advice helps you to fulfill your dreams such as owning some property or taking your business to the next level. Lawyers can also assist you to mitigate crisis moments in emotive issues in the settlement of personal or commercial disputes. You probably know in general what you want from your lawyer. At times though, it is difficult to identify which traits you should look out for in a legal advisor. While the list below is by no means exhaustive, if you pick your lawyer based on the five…

By Edwin Musonye Financial literacy can be a tricky subject to understand. This comes from numerous definitions it has depending on the context. Some interest groups have defined it in a more basic way as the ability to comprehend and implement matters of personal finance, including elementary numeracy, interest compounding, inflation, and risk branching out. The focus is to encourage people to understand compound savings rates, changes in value of money as time passes, system of credit and debt, and how these economic apparatuses affect their choices. However, a more elaborate definition that extends beyond an individual level as preferred…

By Antony Mutunga In 2009, the world witnessed the emergence of a mysterious technology, at a time no one imagined the e-money would amount to much. The technology, which came to be known as Bitcoin, was the work of Satoshi Nakamoto who mined the first ever block, the genesis block, for a reward of 50 Bitcoin after many years of research and development. Bitcoin though, did not start off on the right track as in the year it was introduced to the world; it went for close to nothing and in its second year, 2010, it wasn’t even able to…

By Kosta Kioleoglou The prolonged and uncertain election period has seriously challenged Kenya’s economy and property market. The turmoil of the extended Presidential election triggered several side effects that had been developing behind the scenes. The country’s bad economic performance with several microeconomic factors showing signs of weakness and unsustainability are now monopolising the local and international analyst’s interest. Over the last few months, a number of reports have given negative signs for the Kenyan property market and the Kenyan economy. The property market has been under pressure for almost two years. Marginal price increases, which are now further slowing…

By Daniel Benson Kaaya Bancassurance is an arrangement in which a bank and an insurance company form a partnership so that the insurance company can sell its products to the bank’s client base. In this instance, a bank is the distribution channel for the insurance products. This arrangement finds its footing in the principle of incidental business that banks are allowed to engage in other than banking business. A cursory definition of incidental business would be activities functionally adjacent to the business of banking that enhance the quality and efficiency of its content and delivery, and activities that optimise the…

By Newton Arori Section 27 of the Civil Procedure Act lays down the general principle regarding the payment of costs at the conclusion of a suit thus: a) costs follow the event b) the event is that the unsuccessful party will be ordered to pay costs of the successful party c) the court has discretion as to who pays costs, the amount thereof and when they are to be paid. The discretion must be exercised judicially; it must not be exercised arbitrarily but in accordance with reason and justice. In Republic v Rosemary Wairimu Munene (Judicial Review Application No. 6…