Author: NLM Correspondent

By Antony Mutunga The Law Society of Kenya (Nairobi Branch) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) aimed at addressing the mutual challenges and gaps that plague the legal and banking sectors. The partnership will see the two parties collaborate to initiate initiatives towards financial inclusion and capacity-building that will, in turn, promote best practices in proposed laws, regulations, and policies that affect the stakeholders and the public in whole. According to KBA chief executive, Habil Olaka, the collaboration will enhance the delivery of efficient banking services in Kenya through knowledge-sharing programs and initiatives…

By Kaci Kennedy McDade, Kenneth Munge, Gilbert Kokwaro, and Osondu Ogbuoji Health systems in most low- and middle-income countries face two major obstacles: insufficient domestic funding and inefficient use of available resources. While the problem of insufficient domestic funding has partly been mitigated by foreign aid, these arrangements are changing quickly. As countries move from low- to middle-income status, they are perceived as capable of financing their health systems. Some donors have begun to transition out of such middle-income countries. While graduation from foreign aid is a positive milestone for any country, this transition, if poorly managed, may lead to a reversal of health gains.…

By Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen The direct involvement of women and girls in terrorism has attracted increased interest as the nature of recruitment tactics has evolved. In Kenya, their involvement in terrorist networks, such as the Al-Shabaab, is an emerging trend. The recruitment of female members is most evident in Kenya’s coastal and North Eastern counties but has also been reported in many other counties. Women and girls have been identified as recruiters for the terrorist group, logistics planners, financial conduits, spies for terrorist activities and in some cases, masterminds behind terrorist attacks or conveners of terror cells. The Al-Shabaab, or “the youth”, emerged…

By Addisu Lashitew and Majune K. Socrates The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned an unprecedented level of social and economic crisis worldwide. The pandemic is projected to reduce global GDP by at least 4.9 percent and international trade by 13 percent. This would make it the most potent health and economic crisis since the Second World War. In an effort to contain the spread of the virus, governments around the world imposed lockdown policies that restricted the mobility of people and goods, which impeded trade flows at local, regional and international levels. One of the outcomes of these lockdown policies is…

FIFA protecting “not just football and its institutions, but also the very people that practise the sport” – Infantino FIFA President Gianni Infantino has featured at the 14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to discuss the main threats to football and how the sport’s global governing body is tackling them. Invited to speak as part of a special event on safeguarding sport from corruption and crime, President Infantino said that, with a rock-solid commitment to good governance, the new FIFA has laid solid foundations to eliminate corruption from football “Through the FIFA Forward Programme, we provide…

Aspiration 6 of Agenda 2063 specifically focuses on African women and children The theme for this year’s International women’s Day is geared to look at women in leadership and the role of equality when recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. While governments and international organisations worldwide called for concerted efforts by all to stop the spread of the pandemic, it is also important to include the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society in the response mechanisms and protect their rights, in the spirit of social justice. The AU’s agenda 2063 is calling for an Africa that is people-driven and relies on…

By Antony Mutunga A year after COVID arrived, the impact of the pandemic continues to be felt, especially on the business and employment fronts. In particular, it has greatly affected trade between Kenya and her biggest trading partner, China. As the pandemic bites, the volume of import goods arriving from China has significantly climbed down. As the number of empty shipping containers has risen, so has the cost of shipping. For Kenya, the cost of importing from China has risen by 66%, with traders have to pay a premium. In December 2020, the cost of shipping a 40-foot container from…

By David Onjili The government is preparing to oust representatives of teachers, doctors and churches from the board of National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), in a move that will give it greater control over the crucial body. A review of the NHIF Act by a government-backed Statute Law (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2021 will see the removal of three directors that represent teachers unions, the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) and faith-based organizations. In line with the Bill, the Attorney-General will become an automatic board member in the cash-rich Fund, which collects more than Sh58 billion from workers annually. The Bill also…

By Victor Adar To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, which was celebrated on March 8th, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) urged more governments to adopt the use of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) to ensure that women and men benefit equally from the economic recovery out of Covid- 19, and to guarantee equity. A recent report published by McKinsey shows that although women account for 39% of global employment, they also account for 54% of total job losses as a result of the pandemic. “Women have suffered disproportionately as a result of the pandemic and GRB can help…

With new waves and strains of the virus being reported globally, the pandemic will continue to impact global credit and economies as a whole for the near future. Following rising fiscal and external pressures on the Kenyan economy, the American credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings, has downgraded the country’s sovereign rating from B+ to B. Explaining the performance indicator, which comes at a time when the country has entered into fiscal advisory partnerships with both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), S&P explained that despite the country’s diversified economic base, it is still…