Author: NLM Correspondent

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,…

By Dr Charles  Khamala On January 9, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the controversial Election Laws (Amendment) Act No. 36 of 2016 (ELAA). Under that law, in event of failure in electronic voter identification at polling stations or in results transmission, Wafula Chebukati’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission may use manual methods. On January 11, in lieu of street protests, Raila Odinga launched the National Super Alliance (NASA). He said that the opposition would “make it impossible for anyone to try to steal the elections. But we are also sending word to Jubilee again that the cost of stealing this election…

By Kevin Mugwe Njuguna Discussions relating to collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) have boldly, yet not surprisingly, rivalled political debates in capturing media attention over the recent months in Kenya. The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), which has been the Achilles Heel to successive governments over the years, proclaimed in October 2016 that they had signed a CBA with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). The CBA was hailed as one that would bring an end to the unending menace of teacher’s strikes and, importantly for government, enable them to focus on 2017 elections without being distracted or derailed by the…

By Antony Mutunga Imagine living in a world where air is sold. Now stop imagining because we already live in such a world. Some parts of China now buy bottled air from “cleaner” countries, such as Australia and Wales, as a commodity in their markets. And it is lucrative business! A can of fresh air goes for between $50 and $200 (Sh5,000 and Sh20,000), sometimes more, due to the increasing demand. One may wonder why anyone would buy bottled air when there is free air all around us. The answer is air pollution. It has become quite the problem in…