Author: NLM Correspondent

Wilfred Mutubwa In a re-enactment of the epic Greek mythology, the Trojan War, celebrated Hollywood actor Brad Pitt stars as Achilles, the nemesis of the Trojan prince, Hector.  In the movie Troy, Achilles, seething with a mixture of both anger and grief following the brutal killing of his cousin by Hector in the mistaken belief that he had slayed Achilles, rides his chariot to the gates of Troy and calls out Hector to a one-on-one duel. Before the fight begins, Achilles and Hector, belligerents with immense respect for each other, enter into a pact. Hector proposes to Achilles, which proposal…

Kenya’s next election happens in about 17 months and, many have begun to fret regarding the credibility of the yet-to-be-conducted poll, understandably so, considering our election history. The peaceful transition of power after elections last year in Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Burkina Faso gave Africans all over the continent hope that democracy still exists. On the other hand, Burundi and Ethiopia were at hand to remind us that “democracy” is relative – Pierre Nkurunziza’s forced a third term and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn retained power with almost 100 per cent of the vote. And, just as the world predicted,…

“A written Constitution is the legislation or compact which establishes the State itself…it is a document of immense dimensions, portraying, as it does, the vision of the peoples’ future. The makers of a Constitution do not intend that it is amended as often as other legislation; indeed, it is not unusual for provisions of the Constitution to be made amendable only by special procedures, imposing more difficult forms and heavier majorities of the members of the legislature’ – Amissah P in “Attorney-General v Dow (1992) B.L.R 199 at 129” If politicians had their way with the Constitution, we would barely…

Tijan Jens Ugandan strongman Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been “elected” for a new term in office after beating his fierce, long time rival, Dr Kizza Besigye, the Opposition candidate who ran on the ticket of the Forum for Democratic Change. The country’s electoral body declared the veteran leader the winner of the country’s bungled presidential election with 60 percent of the vote to the 35 per cent polled by Besigye. And in the aftermath of the “victory”, the Ugandan strongman chose to celebrate his new mandate with his beloved cows. Yes! His beloved cows! In a picture released by his…

Dr Charles A. Khamala Despite 200 years of European capitalism, serious violent crime declined. That was attributable to three factors. First, because real threat of state criminal punishments deterred both repeat and potential deviants. Second, wealth redistribution by welfare states cushioned the “discontented majority”. Third, informal reciprocity maintained social controls. Similar relatively lower violent crime rates characterised post-independent countries than today. However, post-Cold War World Bank and IMF Structural Adjustment Programmes heralded globalisation. Donor conditionalities forced developing countries’ governments to downsize, and embrace economic liberalisation and privatisation. In 2002, WHO reported that only 10 percent of all homicide-related deaths occurred…

Jane Wachira Human rights are as old as human civilisation; however their use and relevance has been well-defined during the recent years. They were first defined by the Scottish philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) as “absolute moral claims or entitlements to life liberty and property”. The best known expression of human rights is in the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, which proclaims that “all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights which, when they enter a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their prosperity.” Philosophers, theologians, social scientists and…

Jared Juma Salient features of the explosive Affidavit sworn by Geoffrey Kiplagat, the accuser of Supreme Court Judge Philip Tunoi in the Sh200 million bribery saga, brings back memories of the con game in the corridors of justice popular in the old Judiciary. The same could still be going on despite the many reforms Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has tried to infuse in the systems management of the institution. Considering the rampant claims of bribery and justice brokerage claims that had become common with the Kenyan courts in the pre-new Constitution era, one of the following narratives came out; that parties could come and…

Lanji Ouko A few years ago, when the World Health Organisation Global Status Report was released, within the list of most alcoholic African nations, very few were shocked to see Kenya as one of the top five in the list of heavy drinking nations. Among Africa’s drinking nations, Nigeria topped the list and was dubbed as “the giant of alcoholism”. Of course Nigeria would top the list, based on the key fact that they produce natural wine from the raffia palm, popularly known as palm wine. The chief of East African locally brewed alcohol, Uganda, emerged second, followed by Rwanda…

TNLM writer In a move that shocked the legal fraternity, the Court of Appeal last year sanctioned the award of a controversial Sh45 billion contract to Safaricom. In doing so the Court brought forward its judgment by more than a month in order to fit the judgment date into a time frame critical to Safaricom.  The action of the Court of Appeal has completely ruined the credibility of the Court and the entire judicial system of Kenya. The Chief justice has ordered investigations into the circumstances leading to this brazen act of interference with the independence of judiciary after one…

Kenyatta Otieno Raila Amollo Odinga is a man who elicits love and hate from friend and foe in levels that can bewilder a visitor to Kenya. Raila the man is a study of everything Kenyan politics. I bet he has seen the good, the bad and the ugly side of our political games. That he has survived all these and still get the energy to enthusiastically cover the Kenyan landscape after each setback confirms why he is an enigma to his fans and a stigma to his foes. So today I ask the real Raila Odinga to stand up. Raila…