Author: NLM Correspondent

With the 2017 General Election nearing, many young people have taken an interest in democracy and governance as aspiring political leaders. While this is a positive resolution, it is imperative that they be well informed on constitutionalism and civic liberties. While I believe youth are well versed in civic liberties, they still have to satisfactorily answer the following before they can take that plunge. Do they have a sense of what it means to be a leader? Some maybe be motivated by the desire to benefit their communities but most get into politics for fame, power and control, with little…

ALI ABDI “We must make up our minds to look for our protection not to legal terrors but to careful administration of justice” – Thucydides Government has always been the subject of intense discussion, and this has resulted   to a new wake, full of concrete proposals for reform in the legal and institutional framework undergirding the rule of law, the justice system, the Executive, the Legislature, the criminal justice system and the bar. Some of these reform measures have resulted in positive changes in the entrenchment of the rule of law in Kenya. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 included within…

Jolly Lanji and Kevin Motaroki Kenya’s Supreme Court is established under Article 163 of the Constitution. It has exclusive and original jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes related to the elections to the office of the president [Article 162 (3)], appellate jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from the Court of Appeal and any other court or tribunal as prescribed by national legislation, and to give advisory opinion at the request of the national government, any State organ or county government with respect to matters concerning county governments. Further, the Constitution is clear that decisions made by the court are…

MAORE ITHULA Kenya’s Judiciary is a victim of corruption, lethargy and incompetence that is threatening to cripple the other two arms of Government, an official says. In an exclusive interview with the Nairobi Law Monthly last month, Kennedy Bidali, the Judiciary Ombudsperson, says because of these ills, courts across the country are becoming a clogged, ineffective lot. Bidali’s office is mandated to receive complains and compliments on the administration of justice in the Judiciary. “My office is mandated to investigate and address complaints of maladministration or a violation of rights. This helps us make recommendations for the Chief Justice on…

KEVIN MOTAROKI For some time now, a tug of war has been ongoing between governors and national government on the latter’s decision to lease medical equipment on behalf of the counties, with the county chiefs citing covert graft in the scheme. And though the majority of the county bosses are not satisfied with the pact as currently drawn, some have gone ahead to sign the deal out of the fear that the alternative – declining to be party to it – would have serious political ramifications. When the plan was first introduced, the Council of Governors made a decision to…

By Kenyatta Otieno In this second instalment of the “Hearts of our Leaders’ run, I look at the two principals in Jubilee Alliance, President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and his deputy William Samoei Ruto. I use “heart” here only as a euphemism for what a leader is passionate about, to symbolise what is close to his heart. Combined with one’s abilities and past experiences, it can determine the delivery and output of a leader. Jubilee Alliance is a marriage of convenience between Uhuru and Ruto more than it is about Kenya as a country or The National Alliance (TNA) and United…

Ahmednasir Abdullahi Radicalisation of Muslim youth in Kenya has been popularised in Kenya’s security and political discourse by the rankest security organs to refer to the superficial and casual handling of a very complex political, social and security phenomenon. The term “Muslim Radicalisation” is thus used by Kenyan security organs in a context that refers to a situation where innocent and law-abiding citizens, mostly Muslim youth, are converted to Islamic radicalism and terrorism, to kill and destroy all in their wake. True, some Muslims, in complete deviation from the true teachings of Islam, have engaged in terrorist activities in…

David Hoile Imagine if there were a criminal court in Britain which only ever tried black people, which ignored crimes committed by whites and Asians and only took an interest in crimes committed by blacks. We would consider that racist, right? And yet there is an International Criminal Court which only ever tries black people, African black people to be precise, and it is treated as perfectly normal. In fact the court is lauded by many radical activists as a good and decent institution, despite the fact that no non-black person has ever been brought before it to answer…

Joshua Kembero Ogega Is Kenya Airways “too big to fail”? Was Mumias Sugar Company “too big to fail”? These are the questions that have inundated Kenyans since President Uhuru Kenyatta presented a billion-shilling cheque to bail out Mumias Sugar and bring it into operation and since Kenya Airways announced its record Sh25.7 billion loss, and the proposed Sh60 billion bail-out. This seems to be old news to most Kenyans, especially those who witnessed the fall of major corporations during President Moi’s regime. It must be remembered that most of the corporations that collapsed during this time were the type that…

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) chief executive wants political activist Mutahi Ngunyi charged with incitement. Mboya wrote to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) over inciteful social media hate speeches made by Ngunyi against a specific community. Mboya submits that the words uttered by Ngunyi are intended to incite feelings of contempt, hostility and violence against a community on the basis of ethnicity – an offence under Section 62 of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Act. ‘Mentally enslaved’ “My attention has been drawn to the contents of the Twitter account of one Mutahi Ngunyi…” writes Mboya.…