Author: NLM Correspondent

By Antony Mutunga “Information flow is what the Internet is about. Information sharing is power. If you don’t share your ideas, smart people can’t do anything about them, and you’ll remain anonymous and powerless” – Vinton Gray Cerf The Internet has helped a lot of people, especially in developing countries, to get out of poverty. Because information is readily available, when people access the Internet, they are able to better their lives in one way or the other. However, the big question has been how to increase the penetration of the Internet into rural and remote areas. This is where…

By Jaafar S. Abdulkadir Corporate governance continues to be a relevant subject of discussion globally owing to the deregulation of markets, the rise of institutional investors and the continuing integration of world economies. There has never been stronger emphasis on promoting the collective interests of stakeholders, and not just the narrow interests of shareholders, than there is now. The economic and financial crisis that plagues the markets from time to time may be attributed to loose governance, which blurs the separation of roles between those who own the business entities and those who manage these entities. Good corporate governance helps…

By Barnabas Onyonka The guy from Central Bank will tell you it is bad. The expert and the economist will tell you that, as a country, we are “walking on a slippery slope”. The politician will tell you if the trend continues, “the country is headed for the dogs”. The general consensus among wananchi is that it is not good. This is the prevailing opinion, but the President borrows anyway. Why, you may ask? I will tell you why. Public opinion is shaped by what the politicians are saying; politicians merely echo aloud what the experts say; experts are listening…

By Calvine Oredi A State’s ability to protect victims and witnesses is a fundamental issue for effective investigation and prosecution of crime. It is particularly salient in the context of prosecutions of organised criminal, gang and terrorist groups, who have the means and the motivation to intimidate and harm potential witnesses in order to prevent them from cooperating with law enforcement and judicial authorities. The protection of victims and witnesses is important too, in regard to prosecutions of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. The Witness Protection Act, Cap 79 Laws of Kenya, provides for the protection…

By Jane Wachira In 2016 during the interviews for Chief justice, one of the applicants, Prof Makau Mutua, was hard pressed to explain a tweet from 2013 in which he vowed never to recognise Uhuru Kenyatta as president. The tweet, which was made in 2013, read, “I CAN’T and WON’T recognize Uhuru Kenyatta as President…” Evidence of the said tweet was pulled from his twitter account and was a key subject of his interview. Political figures, celebrities and ordinary persons have had their skeletons from ages ago unearthed from the depths of the Internet. Secrets and misdeeds of the past…

By Dennis Ndiritu The Miller-Keane Encyclopaedia of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health 7th Edition 2003, describes conscientious objection as an appeal to conscience in refusing to do or seeking exemption from acts that threaten a person’s sense of integrity. Luisa Cabal, Monica Arango et al, in Striking a balance: Conscientious Objection and the Reproductive Health Care from the Columbian perspective, (2015) conceive it as the refusal to participate in an activity that an individual considers incompatible with his/her religious, moral, philosophical, or ethical beliefs. The right to conscientious objection is founded on human rights, to act according to individuals’ religious…

By Alexander Opicho Franco Modigliani and Merton Miller introduced the concept of economic cannibalisation in management studies. They used the word cannibalisation to describe how some securities in a portfolio cause others to loose market value so that the portfolio or capital structure of the firm can achieve the highest overall value. As a result, the financial system of a firm experiences a degree of commercial autophagy – one investment eating another investment – so that an entire system is enabled to survive to a higher value. This can look strange but it happens. It happens biologically and is now…

By Daniel Benson Kaaya There is a time for the whip and a time for the feather. This is, most definitely, a time for the whip! The ban on the use, manufacture and importation plastic bags used for commercial and household packaging in Kenya, though long overdue, is a plausible path towards environmental conservation. In most developing countries, plastic is one of the prevalent environmental pollutants. Consequently, if unbridled, the environment is infinitely ruined. Naked ambition and ruthless determination is important in ensuring the environment is protected for now and the future. There are arguments that plastic-making factories employ many…

By Kenyatta Otieno Early this year, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) announced that it would not receive the 1% of total project cost as assessment fees for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). It was song to EIA/EA experts, as this will mean more money and ease of doing business. Then, a few weeks ago, there was a report in the newspapers that the government will rescind the decision and go back to collecting about Sh800 million per year through Nema. This led me to another gazette notice by CS for Environment, through Nema, that beginning September 2017, after a six-month…

BY NLM WRITER The Nairobi Outreach Services is a community-based outreach programme that responds to HIV among drug users – especially indigent injecting drug users in Nairobi – by reducing the bio-medical, psychological and social harms from their drug use. NOSET employs controversial yet successful methods such the distribution of syringes to drug users. This has seen them targeted by law enforcement agents and biased reporters who misunderstand their efforts. Despite concerted efforts by organisations the State and other concerned agencies, drug abuse persists as a destructive phenomenon. The Nairobi Law Monthly spoke to NOSET’s Caleb Angira to find out…