Author: NLM Correspondent

Reading Robert Bates, on begins to understand why the Tropical Equatorial Africa, despite being one of the most watered places on earth, remains food insufficient. One can also see why Vision 2030 economic blueprint is not the best idea. That less than 17% of Kenya consists of arable land should not be cited as an excuse for the perennial food shortages we have become accustomed to. After all, typical deserts in a number of Middle East states are food sufficient; some are even renowned exporters of fresh fruit and vegetables. With massive populations in cold, windy and stony environments, Far…

That government has only halfheartedly reacted to the doctors and nurses’ strike paints a not so rosy picture of its sensitivity to the health of Kenyans. The ramifications have been severe, with patients loosing their lives to treatable conditions. It’s easy to blame these deaths on the doctors but a rational assessment of the dire state of affairs in the public health sector against the history of their plight actually points to their victimisation. The bone of the bone of contention is the implementation of a collective bargaining agreement between the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union, and the Ministry…

By Kenyatta Otieno It is election season in Kenya. The spin-doctors are up and about and the master, Mutahi Ngunyi, has come up with a sequel to his power-clinching treatise, Tyranny of Numbers. Mutahi opined in a local daily that tyranny of numbers, which is simply the numerical strength of Kikuyu and Kalenjin votes, does not hold water anymore. He minced his words, however, and he had to avoid bones so that the product was rich in breadth but lacking in depth. It is these bones that I have picked in my quest to question the validity of this tyranny…

By Newton Arori In an ideal world, all citizens have equal chance to vie for political office and be elected as leaders. Unfortunately, that world does not exist. And nowhere are the odds more heavily tilted against the disadvantaged ascending to power than in Kenya. These dynamics are what must have informed former president Moi’s famous declaration that Kanu would rule for 100 years. As far as anyone can tell, President Moi was right. Advantage in the Kenyan political field depends, to a large extent, on a number of interrelated variables, including political patronage, financial strength and ethnicity. To put…

In 2017, it has become apparent that the future of democracy – not just in Africa but worldwide – is increasingly in question. The question at hand is the health of democracy in the industrialised world as well as in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. In the United States and some countries in Europe, long upheld as exemplars of what it means to be a democracy, faith in the working viability of democratic institutions has appeared to be shaken and challenged in ways not seen since World War II. This challenge has arisen not only within countries but perhaps, equally serious,…

By Kevin Motaroki Archbishop (Retired) Eliud Wabukala finally has the pleasure and pressure of sitting at the helm of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). The institution has not had a chairperson for about five months since the resignation of Philip Kinisu owing to public pressure for alleged conflict of interest in relation to the NYS. It certainly is a different ball game for the man of cloth who formerly headed the Anglican Church, and it is interesting to see how things will all play out. Corruption, we all agree, is at catastrophic levels, and it can only be hoped…

By Kenyatta Otieno Over Christmas, I found myself watching a debut video of a musician from Bomet. Although I cannot remember her name, something in the video led me to this article. Like all debut videos this side of the equator, it lacked depth in creativity. What caught my eye was the presence of a police officer in full uniform in several songs in the album. It reminded me of Emmy Kosgey’s song Ategisin (I salute you). The Kalenjin community has a high regard for the disciplined forces – so much so that they have a word for salute. I…

By Kadima Cedric As known and defined by Larry Diamond, electoral democracy is a civilian constitutional system in which the legislative and chief executive offices are filled through regular, competitive and multiparty elections based on universal suffrage. Democracy, having wide-ranging and different facets, is often misused – by people who pick a plane and consider it as unabridged. However, for an electoral democracy to exist and thrive in a society, all members must have an interest affected by a shared decision. A one vote-one man system, and an “of equal value” principle must be established to mirror the concept of…

By Kevin Motaroki Look through any lens you like, employ any measurement, and you will come to the inevitable conclusion that it has been a tough time for media. Social media is feeding people information faster than one can say, “What is going on?” Advertisers now prefer more online platforms; government revenue is no longer guaranteed, almost always owing to the politics of public versus commercial interests, as well as the transition to Day Two journalism – analysing and corroborating as opposed to reporting – has not got into some. But the object of being in business is to make…

By Olukoye Anjili Michael Having read the article by Daniel Benson Kaaya and Kevin Motaroki, “Blame the people; they do the choosing”, I put the question they sought to answer to thought. Who is to blame for State’s failures and woes? In the aforementioned article, the writers contend that blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the electorate. The reasons they give are that voters allow their decisions to be informed by things that do not matter. They say that voter ignorance leads them to install unscrupulous and morally deviant leaders from their ethnic blocs, and with each electoral cycle,…