Author: NLM Correspondent

Alpha Femi The Judiciary has taken centre stage in the gruelling contest that will be the August 8 General Election, with key decisions that could help realise a credible process hinged on the crucial institution. Not to be left behind is the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB), which has also been in the frontline in ensuring that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission procures election materials in a manner that conforms to law, and meets the required standard. From cancelling tenders, issuing guidelines in the election timetable and giving directions on transmission of results, the Judiciary has not left…

By DAVID WANJALA AND KEVIN MOTAROKI If there is one profound lesson from the just ended party nominations, it is that voters are getting reawakened. After all the noise and venting and campaigning on social media – against bad leadership, not for or against candidates – the electorate seems to have finally decided, to some appreciable extent, to exercise free will. In any democratic spectrum, that is always a plus. One other lesson has been the bursting of perceptions that as long as your party leader wants you, you are home and dry. There has been open rebellion against all…

A new US-backed military offensive against Islamist militants in Somalia could undermine the massive international effort to help millions of people threatened by the worst drought there in more than 40 years, aid officials in the unstable east African state fear. Individual donors in the UK have raised more than £50m (Sh6.6 billion) and the British government has contributed another £110m  (Sh14.6 billion) to help avert hundreds of thousands of deaths in Somalia. More than six million people there are in need of immediate assistance, with half of them facing famine. British officials in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, say the effort…

By Isaac Swila When South African pay television channel SuperSport recently announced that they were terminating their contract with the Kenyan Premier League, which has been in existence since 2007 and which gave them the exclusive rights to broadcast matches of the Kenyan top-tier league, shock and disbelief greeted the football industry. This is so because after investing in the Kenyan league for ten years, pumping in colossal sums to the tune of billions, no one foresaw their coming exit. With their untimely departure, adverse financial effects will no doubt be felt on the nascent league, which had hitherto relied…

By David Matende In the past, it was State media organs that were used by the ruling party to spread anti-Opposition propaganda while denying them fair coverage. Today, private media are the ones playing this unenviable role. As the country prepares itself for an obviously tempestuous election, some media corporations, particularly the Nation Media Group, have chosen to throw professionalism out of the window and elected to do laundry work for the ruling party. Did anyone imagine that the Nation, a paper that has, over the years, created a good reputation to join the ranks of Africa’s best newspapers, could…

By NLM Writer A few days before President Barrack Obama visited the country in 2015, security personnel and officers from the National Youth Service were poured on the streets of Nairobi with instructions to rid them of undesirables. Street families, hawkers, prostitutes, beggars, name them, ended up on the back seats of land cruisers and county inspectorate vans. For a small fee of anything between Sh3,000 and Sh7,000 the lucky ones would be released, but with a warning… “We catch you again and…” The not so lucky ones found themselves in crowded police cells somewhere in industrial area and elsewhere.…

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…