Author: NLM Correspondent

By Luke Mulunda Pity, if you will, Kenya’s media houses. On one side, they have to be independent, reporting things as they are and even digging out scandals and filth in government, private sector and the civil society. Rarely do they audit themselves, though. On the other, they need to make money – and lots of it. Often they have to polish their faces and put on a smile to talk to the same parties they hit out at and expose, to get advertising, which is their main source of revenue. That’s the love-hate relationship that media has maintained with…

By Nadrat Mazrui Kenya’s economic development has been followed with keen interest after independence. For, unlike neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda, Kenya, under the leadership of Kenyatta, settled on a liberal economic growth as outlined in “Sessional Paper No. 10” of 1965, which spelt out Kenya’s long-term economic development – a paper that, despite outlining a blueprint for export-oriented capitalist growth, was given a socialist label (“Sessional Paper No. 10 on African socialism”) to appeal to the post-colonial rhetorical stance of breaking with colonialism. Liberation from colonial rule had been predicated on undoing the economic structure on which colonialism rested, and…

Dr Charles Khamala Corruption is a multi-faceted phenomenon. Its subject matter is wide, varied and elusive in scope. Further, because “corruption research is a taboo – a corrupt process in itself,” Keith Rosenn (1971) explains, this is why it has, until recently, been shunned. Therefore, diverse disciplines improvise different definitions to delimit the relevant bribery data. At its simplest, for Rick Stapenhurst and Shahrzah Sedigh (1999), corruption is “the abuse of power, most often for personal gain or for benefit of a group to which one owes allegiance.” Moreover, “no country is today immune from corruption’s corrosive influence.” Syed Alatas…

By Paul Ogemba Fresh questions have emerged regarding privatisation of a number of state corporations in the past few years with, claims that top government officials and well-connected individuals are behind the purchase of those corporations. Although the Privatisation Commission has denied dealing with companies associated with top government officials, sources within the commission aware of the processes of privatising the state corporations say it is open knowledge that several state officials have bought some of the privatised corporations through their proxies. “The lobbying for buying of shares in the state corporations is at times very unusual, when some people…

By Shadrack Muyesu “…The country has been borrowing about Sh40 million per hour that adds up to about Sh1 billion every day or Sh30 billion per month… (The Standard) “Government has been borrowing about Sh355 billion every year, an amount that is enough to construct about 10 Thika superhighways every year… this borrowing that has pushed up Kenya’s outstanding debt by Sh1.065 trillion in the last three years to hit Sh3.4 trillion… (The Standard) “…Uhuru oversees signing of Sh15 billion loan from China at State House… A Sh4.8 billion grant was for the construction of the Foreign Affairs ministry’s headquarters…

By Jane Wachira “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act” – George Orwell During the Nairobi International Trade Fair 2014, President Uhuru Kenyatta honoured as Farmer No. 1 a small-scale farmer from Kirinyaga County, Falaciah Kinyua, in the women’s category. Falaciah was over herself with joy having received recognition from the highest office in the land. During her interview with Nation Media Group’s Saturday Nation, she could not hide her excitement. Falaciah said she could not believe that it was the President who was telling her “congratulations”. Ever since, Inooro FM, a vernacular radio…

By Kenyatta Otieno When Cord announced it would hold demonstrations every Monday to push the Jubilee government to agree on an extra-legislative process to reform the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), one man was noticeably missing in action. The once-vibrant Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) youthful secretary-general Ababu Tawfic Namwamba was nowhere to be seen. Nicknamed generali (the General) for his oratory and mobilisation skills, Ababu’s political story may be coming to an end even before it fully begins. In early 2008, as Kenya smouldered in the fire of post-election violence, Ababu caught the eye of nation. The swearing-in of…

By Vincent Chahale After the Judiciary drama two months ago, the climax of which was the retirement of Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, the nation is back to its “national sport” – politics. In less than fifteen months, the country will be conducting a general election. In the long walk to this election, several Kenyans will present themselves for candidacy to occupy the Office of the President. The intention and reasons for running will be varied. Some candidates will be seeking to realise a long-nursed passion. Some will seek momentary glory, which will be discarded as soon as serious candidates make…

By Kenyatta Otieno There is always the nagging feeling that an unravelling saga will be tragic but our conditioning to hope even against hope itself pushes the thought out of our minds. When human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri disappeared after attending court in Mavoko on June 23, I hoped for the best; but knowing Kenya, I also expected the worst. Two days later, their bodies were found stuffed in gunny bags and dumped in Athi River in Oldonyo Sabuk on the border of Machakos and Kiambu Counties near Thika. Kenyans, especially…

South Sudan’s civil war is supposed to be over. In April, after more than two years of conflict that killed tens of thousands of people, the opposition leader, Riek Machar, returned to Juba with nearly 1,400 troops to resume his post as the vice president to his wartime rival, President Salva Kiir. To steady South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, Kiir and Machar formed a transitional government, and for months soldiers from both sides of the conflict endured a tense coexistence in Juba. Then, on July 7, a checkpoint shoot out between the rival sides ended in the deaths of…