Author: NLM Correspondent

By Elijah Munyi The US and Kenya formally launched negotiations for a free trade agreement on July 8, 2020. With the US gearing up for presidential elections in a few months, these talks may not draw much global attention. But as a prototype for evaluating the substance of future US-Africa trade relations, a lot rides on Washington using this deal to make a bold statement of its commitment to effective North-South free trade agreements. The US is the third most important destination for Kenyan exports after Uganda and Pakistan, accounting for 8% of its total exports. Kenya exported goods worth $527 million (Sh530…

While premature deindustrialisation is a global phenomenon, the process will be more consequential for the continent. By Brahima S Coulibaly For decades, economic growth and structural transformation was equated with manufacturing-led development. This applied to most of today’s advanced and many emerging economies. With a global trend of premature deindustrialisation, an entirely different pathway could now open up for Africa, as examples from several countries show. Economists have long regarded economic transformation – the movement of workers from lower to higher productivity employment – as essential to successful economic development. Traditionally, the development of export-oriented industries, notably manufacturing, has been…

The case of the marauding Executive and a whimpering Parliament BY KEVIN MOTAROKI In the seven years Jubilee has been in power, it is countable the number of times that Parliament has stood up to the Executive. The two instances that quickly come to mind are the current standoff over the third basis of revenue sharing among counties, and secondly, in 2018 when Parliament rejected the Executive’s plan to implement a 16 per cent value added tax (VAT) on fuel. But even the two instances have to be put in their proper context: The standoff over the new formula for…

By Peter Wanyonyi The social evolution of agricultural versus pastoralist societies has long been the subject of fascinating research in African anthropology. One theory attributes the relative ethnic characters of African societies to their traditional economies. To wit: Agricultural societies relied mostly on crops for survival. When a farmer has planted crops, they take time to grow and be ready for harvesting. In the intervening period, any sort of tumult that results in the farmer being uprooted represents an existential threat, since the crops cannot simply be uprooted and moved elsewhere: the interloper takes them over, the farmer loses and…

By Antony Mutunga In recent times, the number of governments depending on Internet shutdowns to control protests or violence between communities has been on the rise. According to the #KeepItOn report on Internet shutdowns in 2019 published by AccessNow, the number of internet shutdowns across the world have increased from a total of 75 cases in 2016 to 213 in 2019. Internet shutdowns are basically intentional disruptions on the internet and mobile applications making them inaccessible or effectively unusable for a particular group of people or region. With the increase expected to continue, Asia and Africa remain the most affected…

By Mark MacCarthy Recounting her experiences working with Barack Obama as a candidate and as president, Alyssa Mastromonaco says he would often challenge his staff with the question, “Uh, who thought this was a good idea?” It was an attempt to ensure his advisers took personal responsibility for the recommendations they made, especially when things went wrong. It’s about time someone asked that question about facial recognition software. It would oblige the developers and users of the technology to explain exactly why they think it’s a good idea to create something with that level of power. Asking that question of facial recognition…

Without significant intervention some of Africa’s most important heritage will be lost as a result of the impacts of climate change over coming decades. By Joanne Clarke, Elizabeth Edna Wangui, Grace W. Ngaruiya and Nick Brooks Very few academics or policy makers are talking about the impact of climate change on heritage. Yet heritage is essential for social wellbeing, for identity creation, for safeguarding traditional knowledge and livelihoods and for sustainable development. The conversations taking place are mainly on the effects of climate change in wealthier countries. One recent study estimates that only 1% of research on the impacts of climate change on heritage is related to Africa.…

By Dan Banik and Nikolai Hegertun There are growing signs that the aid relationship between the Global South and the Global North is changing fast. Many traditional Western donors are re-evaluating the role of aid while keeping a close eye on their own national interests. These changes may not be all bad. Since the turn of the century, aid policies have become both complex and fragmented. Four major international development policies and goal-setting projects were launched in 2015 alone. These are the Paris Agreement, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The global…

By Kathleen Klaus Conversations in Kenya have started around the upcoming 2022 presidential elections. Elections in Kenya tend to be highly contentious and there is often concern that, in some places, violence may erupt. Political violence has a long history in Kenya. It extends back to the British colonial state’s use of violence to control people, expropriate land, and suppress dissent. In independent Kenya, the regimes of Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi continued to use violence as a way to control land and intimidate political rivals. With the reintroduction of multi-party elections in 1992, politicians used violence to shape electoral outcomes. In the 1992 presidential elections, around 1,200…

By Kibe Mungai The Constitution 2010, for which nearly 70 percent of Kenyans voted to adopt on August 4, 2010, did not come on a silver platter but after a long struggle, during which thousands of people lost lives, limb, property and suffered State terror and humiliation. And so in the wake of the promulgation of the Constitution on 27th August, 2010 President Mwai Kibaki rightly observed:- “Many Kenyans have invested heavily over the years towards the realization of this constitution. Some paid the ultimate price as they sought freedom for their compatriots. Every Kenyan who contributed their views to…