Author: NLM Correspondent

By Tioko Ekiru Emmanuel The murder of Chris Msando, who was, until his death, Head of ICT at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for his stand on electoral integrity, a week before the 2017 General Election, was a clear bouncing back to the dark Nyayo era. The autopsy report established he was severely tortured and then strangled to death. His death is a replica of past cases, including the political assassinations of JM Kariuki, Pio Gama Pinto, Thomas Mboya, Father John Anthony Kaiser, Robert Ouko and Odhiambo Mbai. A consideration of Kenya’s political history reminds us of the…

By NLM Writer The sick daughter of Africa With the world’s largest reserves of cobalt and significant portions of the world’s diamonds, gold and copper haul, the Democratic Republic of Congo is potentially the richest country in the world. Yet she remains among the poorest and most underdeveloped. The story of the DRC is a depressing one. In the convoluted history of independent Africa, the giant central African state has long been an attraction for swindlers and mercenaries, and a centre of bloodstained intrigue. Historians, no less than Martin Meredith, describe her as, but for the short period between June…

By Calvine Paul Oredi The phenomenon of witness protection may sound alien to those with little fidelity to the criminal justice system. Its effectiveness has more often than not been doubted, and its impact in terms of reforms in the criminal justice system termed cosmetic. Witness protection is recognised as a fundamental human right by various instruments of both international and national law in the administration of justice. 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 in the interests of fair hearing before…

By NLM Writer In commemoration of the National Coalition on Human Rights Defenders 10th anniversary, the Nairobi Law Monthly spoke with its National Coordinator, Kamau Ngugi. The following is an excerpt of that interview. Perhaps we should begin by you telling us what the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders is, and how is it relevant to Kenya today. The National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders was established in 2007 with the objective of taking care of the welfare of and supporting the work of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs). As the name suggests, HRDs are persons or organisations that are…

By Rukaya Mohamed Since independence in 1963, although a democratic state, two tribes have run Kenya: the Kalenjin and Kikuyu. It is this phenomenon that is now causing uproar and political discontent. This is because democracy, being based on the voice of the vast majority with free and fair election, has not fairly reflected on the ethnic and social diversity of the country’s composition. Kenyan politics, like with most African countries, is a matter of power and resource allocation. For instance, during the Moi regime, regions that had a majority of Kalenjin tribes benefitted from development in health care, education…

By Kenyatta Otieno When David Ndii put forward his treatise about Kenya being a cruel marriage, some thought he had landed from space with mad aliens’ disease. Less than two years later, Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma has filed a draft Bill with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission seeking the secession of 40 counties from Kenya into a new state. Then, Jubilee Party activist Washington Makodingo has also drafted a bill seeking the expulsion of four Luo Nyanza counties from Kenya. First, I do not know another country that has made it easy for a section of its…

Catalan leader cozy in Belgium, lieutenants walk ‘free’ Ousted Catalonia president Charles Puigdemont is officially in exile in Brussels. And while initially defiant, he now says that he will cooperate with Madrid’s justice system but from overseas. Charges range from rebellion, sedation and embezzlement of public funds in conducting an illegal referendum and could see him, alongside other sanctioned members of the deposed regional government, face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty Meanwhile, in separate proceedings, members of the dissolved parliament who had been among those charged were allowed to walk away free after proceedings were adjourned…

By Prof. John Harbeson In the midst of all the controversy, conflict, injury and likely significant damage to Kenya’s reputation as an island of relative democratic stability and economic strength occasioned by the October 26 re-run of its August 8 elections, the key question emerges of how best to restore democratic legitimacy to governance in Kenya. The choices come down to how best to allocate energies and deploy residual political capital as between pursuing longer term macro level measures to enhance Kenya’s democracy versus more limited but urgently needed measures that, unless efficaciously addressed, could foreclose even the possibility of…

The Constitution was meant to cure a past mischief or provide solution to past social problems.  That it was overwhelmingly passed at a referendum gives it legitimacy, while Chapter 16 ensures that it is sufficiently flexible yet rigid so as guard against amendments contemplated in bad faith. Ultimately, it puts all power on the people to be exercised in accordance with itself. On face value, ours is a progressive constitution. Yet, as recent events reveal, there are massive problems both in construction and actualisation. It is not true to say, as many have, that the law is innocent, that ours…

By Dr Ng’ang’a Gĩcũmbi It was the great philosopher David Hume who penned these memorable words: “If you are upset by abstract arguments, then you should get out a bit more and engage with ‘common life’ …” And engagement with common life is what exactly Wanjohi’s 2017 publication of Philosophy and Liberation of Africa has done. Wanjohi’s book raises more questions than answers on whether or not African philosophy can actually liberate Africa. How can one discern the presence of African philosophy? His answer is specific: via its rich repertoire of sayings and proverbs. As an academic philosopher, Wanjohi (chairman…