Author: NLM Correspondent

By Simon Roberts and Jason Bell The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown measures have had a huge negative impact on producers and consumers. Food production has been disrupted, and incomes have been lost. But a far more devastating welfare consequence of the pandemic could be reduced access to food. A potential rise in food insecurity is a key policy point for many countries. The World Economic Forum has stated this pandemic is set to “radically exacerbate food insecurity in Africa”. This, and other supplier shocks, such as locust swarms in East Africa, have made many African economies more dependent on…

Military officers overthrew Mali’s government in a coup d’état in August 2020. Among the more worrying aspects of the coup is the fact that a number of the officers involved had received foreign training, most notably the US. In fact, this was the second time in eight years that US-trained officers in Mali had launched a coup. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to lose one civilian government to a coup launched by foreign-trained officers is a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. But does US foreign military training provoke coups d’état? The short answer is we don’t know. Until we…

It’s easy to make people like you in a normal office. But how can you charm colleagues and clients via video link? You’re on a work call, telling some colleagues the story of that time you accidentally blew up the kitchen. You know, the one where you were carrying a worktop from another room, and you bashed a wire… Anyway, it’s going well; you’re starting to see smiles flicker across their faces. This really is a classic. Then, out of the blue, your connection fails. By the time you re-join the meeting, the conversation has moved on – now your…

Kenyans have been urged to be on their guard against Covid-19-related scams at a time when criminals are taking advantage of the increased number of people looking for information about the disease to defraud them or steal their personal details. Cybercriminals are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic as a screen for their activities, sending emails and text messages from seemingly legitimate organisations with information about COVID-19. Once people click on the links in emails or text messages, they unknowingly download software which allows cybercriminals to take control of their devices and access their personal information and financial data, which could lead…

By Antony Mutunga Billions of people are flocking the Internet and social media as more information becomes available and easily accessible to them. This has resulted in many, especially the youth, spending hours of their lives glued to their phones and devices. The more hours people spend online, the more information they are exposed to. After all, information or data is the new oil, the most valuable asset. Data is extremely profitable, and that is all there is to it, really. Natural resources are almost depleted in the world, but a new kind of stock is on the cards: the…

Social media have opened up spaces for political candidates to engage with voters in more direct ways compared to traditional forms of campaigns such as rallies, billboard advertising, and the legacy media. Social media enhance the flow of information between candidates and voters. Traditional media in contrast are expensive; the feedback is constrained and they privilege elite candidates. Political campaigns are all about informing, mobilising, involving and connecting with voters. Social media amplify this and build a community of advocates for a candidate running for office. They allow politicians to run permanent campaigns and to address a more complete range of policy…

Rights with respect to executory contracts— contracts under which the corporation and the counterparty still have material obligations to each other By Michael H. Strub The economic impact of the pandemic has been catastrophic. As of the end of August, bankruptcy filings by companies with at least a half-billion dollars in liabilities had surged 120% year-over-year, according to the investment bank Jefferies. For many of these companies, their intellectual property, including patents and trademarks, are significant assets, and counsel for these businesses, as well as counsel for their creditors, licensees and licensors, will need to understand these issues that arise…

By Jonathan Steffanoni Superannuation law wears the robes of equity and trusts but is a child of the age of statutes. The ever-growing body of law which relates to superannuation funds is mostly found in legislation… not in case law. Making good sense of the regulatory obligations on superannuation funds is primarily a matter of understanding how to interpret legislation. The relative importance of the superannuation system to society means that the industry is faced with a torrent of regulatory consultations, exposure drafts, legislation, regulations, legislative instruments, class orders, prudential standards, tax rulings, regulatory guides and so on. It is…

By Gilbert Muyumbu During the 15 years of Jomo Kenyatta’s regime, the LSK was served by a total of 14 chairs, one more than the number of LSK chairpersons who served under the succeeding Moi regime. They included Justice Harris (1963-1964), B.T. Modi (1964-1965), S.M.C. Thomson (1965-1966), G.S. Sandhu (1966-1967), K.B. Keith (1967-1968), E.P. Nowrojee (1968-1969), P. Le Pelley (1969-1970), Samuel N. Waruhiu (1970-1972), M.Z.A. Malik (1972-1973), J.A. Couldrey (1973-1974), Ramnik Shah (1974-1975), S. Sangale (1975-1976), P.J. Ransley (1976-1977) and Krishan C. Gautama (1977-1979). These were men (all LSK chairs were men until the election of Rachel Omamo in 2001)…

By Kabando wa Kabando  Former fierce rivals, detractors, and enemies of President Uhuru now mischievously promote the false narrative that he can continue in office after 2022. None of them wants to speak truth to power. In my view, such busybodies are being clever to a fault. Through their allies, they are cunningly giving Uhuru false comforts that he can and should pursue that idea, or at least donate the “deep state” to them. It gets trickier for his deputy Dr William Ruto, who cannot make the mistake of being seen to wish his boss a speedy retirement. Uhuru wants…