Author: NLM Correspondent

By Ahmed Hassan There have been many articles written on the fate of tourism in Kenya.  Despite its perceived recent comeback, some experts contend that the industry is on its knees and ailing. Others even go further to say that the industry died long time ago and needs a miracle of biblical proportions to revive it. The picture is bleaker in the coastal area, particularly in the County of Kilifi, where more than 25 hotels have been closed and thousands have been laid off. From being one of the most preferred destinations in Africa to the state in which we…

Dr Charles Khamala On one hand, given modern technological advances, mass consumers lack sufficient information and knowledge to evaluate the quality, not only of mass-produced goods and services but also of improvements to land. On the other hand, producers wield considerable resources which they abuse to dictate terms of trade. Under the social contract, the state therefore extinguishes the Hobbesian “war of everyone against everyone” to preserve life, liberties and the pursuit of happiness, under government. How can producers be prevented from maximising their profits upon the altar of sacrificial consumers? Can “fair trade” spontaneously emerge from an unregulated market…

By Peter Wanyonyi Nature seems to have quietly conspired to make Africa a very difficult continent to develop. Looking at the continent from a satellite photo, one is struck by two features: the vastness of the Sahara at the top of the continent, the world’s largest desert, which effectively cuts Africa off from Europe and Asia; and the narrowness of continent below the Sahara. These seem like mere geographical happenstances, but in them lie the seeds of the difficulty in Africa’s development quest. Zoom in and you are confronted by a combination of natural features that make Africa a nightmare…

TNLM team That quintessential Kenyan product with immense international recognition is now turning out to be a bitter pill for Kenyan investors in Safaricom, and a flagrant case of Kenyan directors at Safaricom being guilty of violating the professional standards established under the Companies Act, 2015. The “thieving” of M-Pesa mirrors the colonial plunder of Kenya’s resources. It is more than transfer pricing; it is a blatant manipulation of what was invented right here in Kenya and is, therefore, archetypal Kenyan but appropriated by a rapacious overseas multinational. Let us set aside the debate on what happened to the inventor…

By Sunday Memba Julie Calidino Schmid in his manuscript, “Advisory Opinions on Human Rights: Moving beyond a Pyrrhic victory” defines the phrase advisory opinion as the authoritative interpretation or exposition of the legal or constitutional status quo in the absence of actual disputes. In “Re the Matter of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission”, (2011) eKLR), the Supreme Court indicated that, the purpose of the advisory procedure is “to clarify a doubt” and to enable the organ of the state to “act in accordance with the law,” and not necessarily to resolve an active dispute. This type of jurisdiction intends to…

By Kelvin Njuguna Mugwe Calls to disband the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) have never been this strident and ubiquitous. It is not surprising that the chief proponents of the disbandment are the principals of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) who have had a litany of complaints against the commission since the 2013 elections. The Kenyan clergy has recently joined this bandwagon stating that free and fair elections would be unattainable if all stakeholders do not engage in a sober discussion on the future of the IEBC. The integrity and independence of the commission as is currently…

By Shadrack Muyesu “A provision of the Constitution cannot be declared unconstitutional for the simple reason that there would be no other constitution against which this constitutionality may be assessed. A provision of a constitution may however be construed ambiguous and therefore subject to the interpretation of the court. Even then, though court decisions are legally binding, they may not be conceptually correct” ‒ Unknown As 2016 ushers in the year of woman, being in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the 36th anniversary of the Coalition on Elimination of all…

By vincent chahale Does the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission have the constitutional mandate to fight corruption? That is debatable, as surprising as it may sound. In a recent discourse, I sought to play the devil’s advocate to argue that the constitutional mandate to prevent corruption is centred elsewhere and not with the EACC. At first it sounded far-fetched even to me but as the argument developed, it horrified all of us when those on the other side of the fence slowly crossed over. Let us take a moment to examine this. The EACC is a commission established under Article 79…

By Ali Abdi In considering whether or not to grant an interlocutory injunction in defamation cases, courts of law have generally upheld the view that where a defendant pleads justification, fair comment or privilege and states that he or she will be able to support this plea with evidence at the trial, the injunction will be refused. This caution is borne of judicial recognition that “free and general discussion of public matters is fundamental to a democratic society”, and is excused in part because, in all but the most extraordinary cases, compensatory damages will be an adequate remedy. However, in…

By Leonard Wanyama Embarrassing. This is the only description of the incident in which Kenyan cabinet secretary for Energy Charles Keter was prevented from accessing the port of Tanga. Obviously, this has left a bad aftertaste in relation to the extent to which Tanzania wants to play hardball with its neighbours in pursuing regional relations. Dar-Es-Salaam has felt increasingly isolated since the formation of the 2013 Coalition of the Willing (CoW) in which they were not invited to several trilateral summits by Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Somewhat dismissive responses from Kenyan officials were given as to why this was the…