Author: NLM Correspondent

By NLM Writer As debate on the future of national main power grid verses off-grid solar energy has heated up in Kenya after electricity distributor, Kenya Power, reported a decline in revenue due to growing shift to solar power systems by heavy-consuming industrialists. The simmering debate has attracted the general public and energy experts across the country on online platforms with solar champions arguing that time is nigh for a solar revolution in the country. In its latest annual report, Kenya Power reveals that some of its industrial customers are progressively shifting to own-generated solar power, eating further into its…

By Ali Abdi “For today, in the name of freedom, we take the battle to them” – Optimus Prime We all sometimes admire a politician who admits to being a puppet. But just as all those who call themselves developers are practically thugs, admitting to being a puppet does not mean cutting the string from the puppet master and when it comes to the rule of law and politics, just like a puppet, well, to cut the story short, who cares about the rule of law? It is trite that one of the fundamental laws of logic is the law…

By NLM Writer Fuel retailers have been absorbing huge losses as a result of unexplained fuel under-deliveries from a major oil marketing company (OMC). To make matters worse, dealers narrated to the Nairobi Law Monthly (NLM) how Total Kenya has regularly refused to take responsibility for the theft of fuel during delivery, and ignored their complaints. In one of the complaints dated January 2019, the Kenya National Petroleum Dealers Association (KENAPEDE) in ‘A Summary of the Main Issues Facing Total Kenya Dealers’ and addressed to Edward Kinyua of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (formerly known as Energy Regulatory Commission)…

By NLM Writer In late June 2020, a consultative meeting between Tanzania’s oil marketing companies (OMCs) and the country’s Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) was scuttled by police who stormed the venue with specific orders and names. They had the names of people they wanted to accompany them: Total Tanzania’s MD Jean-Francois Schoepp, Puma Supply Manager Adam Eliewinga and Oryx’s representative August Dominick. The reason for their dramatic arrest, the Tanzanian authorities said, was because the oil firms represented by those arrested had allegedly been hoarding fuel products and thereby causing artificial shortages in anticipation of significant price increases…

By Priyanka deSouza According to the State of the Global Air 2020 report, ambient air pollution was responsible for around 5,000 premature deaths in Kenya in 2019 alone. It is the fourth most important risk factor in driving death and disability combined in Kenya. Indeed, the 2017 national economic survey estimated that 19.9 million Kenyans suffer from respiratory ailments that are exacerbated by poor air quality. Kenya’s national environmental management agency imposed regulations in 2014 for national ambient air quality standards. These set out the maximum permissible concentrations of different widespread pollutants for residential and industrial areas. The regulations also laid out steps to be taken for “prevention, control…

Africa summit with EU an opportunity to assert that the relationship is mutually beneficial only if Africa produces what it consumes By Kako Nubukpo Africa’s summit meeting with the European Union (EU) in 2021 is a critical opportunity to assert that the relationship is mutually beneficial only if Africa produces what it consumes. Europe should in turn practice the solidarity it preaches in principle, by supporting capacity building in Africa for self-sufficiency. Africa needs to stand firm, with a clear, long-term vision, in order to forge with the EU a common and equitable path to prosperity. The COVID-19 pandemic and the climate…

By Elisabeth King, Dana Burde, Daphna Harel and Jennifer Hill Reflecting on the divisions and conflict that arose during Kenya’s contested 2017 elections, President Uhuru Kenyatta recently said that he and his main opponent in that election, Raila Odinga, closed ranks after the contest with a symbolic handshake and a pledge to reform the political landscape. And so was born the Building Bridges Initiative and a taskforce charged with examining the key challenges facing Kenya. Just recently released, the taskforce’s recommendations for constitutional change are being hotly debated. Among the issues somewhat buried in the 204-page report is a section on “inclusivity”. It…

By Antony Mutunga “Taxes are how we pool our money for public health and safety, infrastructure, research, and services–from the development of vaccines and the Internet to public schools and universities, transportation, courts, police, parks, and safe drinking water” – Holly Skylar Ideally, taxes are meant to be used to offer services to citizens. And in some countries, especially developed ones, this is the case. In many developing countries, governments often fail to utilize the taxes they collect to better the lives and economies of the citizens. Corruption and mismanagement have seen huge margins of public revenue squandered. In general,…

Why is there a lack of parliamentary participation in African double taxation agreements? By Everlyn Muendo and Leonard Wanyama The recent nullification of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) by several African governments has been a ground-breaking moment in tax justice advocacy, revenue debates and pursuits of economic justice in general. DTAs are pacts which divide taxing rights between two or more states on cross border income and are sometimes interchangeably referred to as Double Taxation Treaties (DTTs). Kenya, Senegal and Zambia each cancelled their respective DTAs with Mauritius. This was based on the realization that in one way or another their…

What CJ Maraga lacks in color he more than makes up for in mental fortitude and a great sense of leadership By Shadrack Muyesu It is, frankly, not true – or fair – to say that David Kenani Maraga was a judge without a philosophy as has often been said about him. Throughout his two decades as a superior court judge, and more so in his last years of service at the Supreme Court, the good judge has distinguished himself as a naturalist to the core, in moral terms, a conservative, and, most importantly, in constitutional context, an activist –…