Author: NLM Correspondent

By Salome Nthenya Nzuki In my childhood, I always fought with my mother over household chores. I did not understand her strict insistence that I should be the one to carry them out, and not my brother. Cooking, cleaning dishes, clothes and the house and were duties that I heavily resented. But I had no option. As a result, I performed the chores with a heavy heart and of course a frown. These chores ate into my time. Consequently, I had less time to study, watch television and even interact with friends. Household chores limit girls’ potential to fully exploit…

By Chrispine Aguko The University of Nairobi expelled 33 students after the hotly contested SONU in April this year. Those expelled were accused of leading the violence that erupted after the student elections, following which police were called in to restore order. This intervention was not without its tales of horror, with reports that female students were sexually assaulted, and male one locked up in lecture halls and clobbered senseless. At issue here, however, is not the manner of handling of students by police; that has been written about countless times. The focus of this article is on the expelled…

By Antony Mutunga “A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many people want in” – Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Agriculture may be the backbone of the country, but without tourism, the Kenyan economy would probably not be where it is right now. Because it has a lot of beautiful sights to offer, Kenya has become a hotspot that is visited by a large number of tourists, making the tourism sector the second largest source of foreign revenue after agriculture. The Kenyan Coast has regularly been voted one of…

By Emmanuel Yegon While grilling Dr Smokin Wanjala for the position of the Chief Justice of Kenya on September 3, Attorney-General Githu Muigai asked him whether it was time to limit audience in the Supreme Court to only advocates who have practiced for a certain number of years. On receiving a negative response to his question, the AG prodded on in an attempt to elicit a different response from Dr Wanjala by citing the fact that other jurisdictions such as the United States limit audience to the apex court to only lawyers with a certain number of years of experience…

By Daniel Benson Kaaya Insolvency is measured by two common tests, namely: cash flow and balance sheet insolvency. A cash flow test is concerned with the financial inability of an individual or a company to meet financial obligations when they fall due. On the other hand, balance sheet insolvency refers to a financial condition where liabilities exceed assets, considering both prospective and contingent liabilities. Distinctively, bankruptcy refers to a legal proceeding against a person or business that is unable to repay outstanding debts. Traditionally, the remedy that creditors had against the debtor during insolvency was liquidation, such that the debtor…

By Sunday Memba ‘’Viewing the erect penis as a per se signifier for consent and sexual pleasure subscribes to the notion that a man’s sexual desires are rooted in his penis and that rape is the result of desires which, once aroused in a man, cannot be controlled and for which women are to blame” – Victoria J. Dettman Historical references to male rape date back to Biblical times. The Judeo-Christian bible tells the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. Joseph is seduced by Potiphar’s wife but rejects the request. Miffed, Potiphar’s wife accuses Joseph of attempted rape, and the…

By Ivan Kivumbi The right to bail/bond is anchored in the Constitution of Kenya 2010. Article 49(1) h States that an arrested person has the right to be released on bond or bail, on reasonable conditions, pending a charge or trial, unless there are compelling reasons not to be released. Article 49(2) further States that person shall not be remanded in custody if the offence is punishable by a fine only or by imprisonment for not more than six months. Our criminal justice system, whose practice and procedure is anchored in the Criminal Procedure Code, underlines the provisions for bail/bond…

By Kevin Motaroki ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru is as cool as they come. I had called him earlier in the day, and when he called back in the evening, he explained he’d been in TICAD. I was in traffic, and just then it got moving. I profusely apologised that I had to hang up, and could I please call back when I got home, half expecting a curt ‘don’t bother’ and a disconnection tone. Half an hour later, I rang him. He picked on the second ring, as cheerful as the first time. He must have been home because I…

By Patrick Mutinda “Death cannot be a reward that a society gives to those who devote their time towards upholding the rule of law and human rights” – Okubasu Dancun Munabi What is rather saddening is that while the police bear with themselves the duty to protect the dignity of every person, including the arrested, it is the same police that are, at present, in the thick of things, regularly accused of killing those in their custody. Perhaps we should call this murder in the first degree…And why not? Society is a characteristic of different norms which maybe ethical in…

By Newton Arori Extrajudicial killings are a direct violation of the right to life – enshrined in both the Constitution of Kenya and various treaties that Kenya has ratified. Article 26(3) of the Constitution is explicit that “A person shall not be deprived of life intentionally, except to the extent authorised by this Constitution or other written law”. Such killings breed impunity by creating the impression that one can break the law and get away with it. The judiciary has been mentioned adversely as being as culpable at the police in the fanning of this trend. This article suggests some…