Author: NLM Correspondent

In the current environment, with clan-based selection processes, institutionalized quotas are the only way to ensure women’s inclusion in the political process By Samiya Gaid As the global community marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, it affords nations like Somalia the opportunity to take stock of progress against the critical commitments of women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in politics and peacebuilding as well as the protection of women and girls in times of peace and war. Increased reports of incidents of violence against women and girls in recent months highlight why this resolution…

Can Somalia harmonize its clan identity and politics – which have grown into a legitimate political culture – with a multiparty system to mature the country’s democratic model? By Mohamed Salah Ahmed Mid this year, Somalia President Mohamed Farmaajo signed an electoral law that was expected to move the country from a clan-based political system to a multiparty system. This move sparked hope of ending the clan-based power-sharing model of the 4.5 formula, which gives equal seats in Parliament to the four major clans and lays the groundwork for the long-awaited multiparty system. In other words, the move meant that…

Although the effects of COVID-19 will continue to wreak havoc on the online population, it is clear just how important cyber-security is, both to individuals and organizations. By Antony Mutunga The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been massive. Most people took to working from home, which has had a huge impact on economies. The shift resulted in a renewed reliance on technology, compelling people to become more connected, and shift to online practices and transactions. Although the shift of daily life to online places has managed to reduce the spread of the virus, it has also been a…

By Kelsey Landau, Robin J. Lewis, and Carter Squires E xpansion of transparency in the extractive industries, which began in the 1990s and has become mainstreamed in the decades since, has yielded tremendous results. $2.63 trillion in revenues has been disclosed by 54 countries through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), 77 datasets in open data format are maintained by the Natural Resource Governance Institute, and contracts between governments and extractive companies have been published in more than 40 countries—to name just a few examples. However, there is much further to go. Disclosure of information, such as contracts between governments and companies, the amount of taxes paid to governments…

By Douglas Lucas Kivoi Kenya has a long history of policing with excessive force, often resulting in unnecessary deaths. Recently at least six people died from police violence during the first 10 days of a dusk-to-dawn curfew. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked Douglas Kivoi, an expert on police reform and policy, to shed light on the situation. What can account for the use of violence by Kenya’s police force? The brutality exhibited by Kenya’s police force is a result of a number of factors. These include its beginnings under British colonial rule, poor recruitment policies, corruption and poor accountability for…

By Edwine Barasa and Evelyn Kabia K enya has made several reforms in recent years intended to expand health coverage to a wider population, and with a specific focus on the poor, and to reduce financial hardship due to healthcare costs. The first of these reforms, in 2013, was the abolition of user fees at public primary healthcare facilities. The second, announced the same year, made maternity services free at all public facilities. This was upgraded in 2017 to a public funded health scheme for pregnant women and infants managed by the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). Third was the introduction of a health insurance subsidy for…

No-one has ever beaten Raila Odinga except Raila Odinga alone By Yasin ArkANuddin I read Kwendo Opanga’s article in the Sunday Nation of October, 18th, 2020 with interest. I found it to be a well-intentioned and highly diplomatic piece, but ultimately fundamentally flawed in terms of its political philosophy. Democracy being premised on purely consolidating the majority in a chamber that is devoid of a message but is underpinned by the divisive values of individualism and the materialism of Capitalism, inevitably makes it about what current Deputy President William Samoei Ruto once perfectly described as “…creating coalitions of hatred” according to…

By Gabriele Steinhauser A sequence of elections throughout Africa threaten to roll back democracy on the continent and destabilize some of the few economies around the world still projected to grow this year. Within the mineral-rich West African nation of Guinea, the military has been deployed towards opposition supporters who accuse the federal government of having rigged an Oct. 18 election that handed President Alpha Condé a controversial third term. Before the year ends, voters in six extra nations in sub-Saharan Africa will head to the polls, testing establishments in regional powerhouses, including Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger and the Central African Republic.…

By Rob Griffin, William H. Frey, and Ruy Teixeira Demographics are not destiny, but steady and predictable changes to the electorate play an important role in defining the landscape of American politics. Just as the country’s population has changed substantially over the last several decades—growing older, more educated, and more racially diverse—we expect those changes to continue over the next several decades. At its heart, the States of Change project takes these changes seriously and tries to understand how they might influence American politics. In our 2018 report, we examined an array of future presidential election scenarios— from 2020 through…

Kenya’s constitutional duels are all about power struggles among the elite By Prof Macharia Munene Kenya is in the throes of another agonised constitutional debate. Proponents of the new push for amendments argue that the time is right to cure deficiencies in the 2010 constitution. Yet that document is only a little over 10 years old, and followed a referendum that ushered in the most comprehensive constitutional reforms since independence in 1963. A look back in history helps us understand Kenya’s perennial quest for constitutional change. In the colonial era, constitutional demands were led by white settlers who ruled over the African population.…