Author: NLM Correspondent

By Ndung’u Wainaina Since attaining independence in 1963, Kenya has undergone a constitutional crisis that has lasted over five decades. The rule of law has been sabotaged, subverted, incapacitated, undermined and alienated at every turn. Kenya’s post-colonial history was an era – it can be argued that it still is – of dictatorship and pervasive, rampant, malevolent, endemic corruption. The colonial administration reflected orders from Britain rather than consensus obtained from the local community leaders. This form of indirect rule kept governance at a distance, thereby centralizing, racializing and ethnicizing power. The British administrative system was adopted, along with copy-pasted laws,…

In the largest mobilization of private resources to protect Africa’s frontline health workers from COVID-19, a new 30-member coalition last month announced it has begun delivering nearly 60 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to countries across sub-Saharan Africa in the initiative’s first round. The COVID-19 Action Fund for Africa (CAFA) is working in partnership with Ministries of Health to meet the essential PPE needs (including surgical masks, gloves, eye protection and more) of up to one million community health workers serving over 400 million people during the COVID-19 pandemic.  CAFA is anchored by a $10 million (Sh1 billion) commitment from…

One in three schoolchildren across the world have been unable to access remote learning during coronavirus school closures, the UN children’s agency said in August, warning of a “global education emergency”. Nearly 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures as countries locked down to prevent the disease from spreading, UNICEF said in a report. Yet at least one in three students have had no way of continuing their education at home. “For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to COVID-19, there was no such a thing as remote learning,” said UNICEF’s Executive Director Henrietta Fore in…

Lesgislators want the elusive two-thirds gender requirement on elective posts deleted through a referendum, arguing it is impossible to attain. The lawmakers argue that it is not possible to force Kenyans to vote a woman candidate in a democratic exercise, and that the requirement should be deleted and only observed in appointive positions. Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee Chairman Jeremiah Kioni said the two-thirds gender rule was only agreed by politicians during the drafting of the 2010 Constitution to stabilise the country and cool tempers. “There is none of the formulas that have a solution to the implementation of this rule…

By Prof John Harbeson For the last fifteen years, democracy has been in decline worldwide in the opinion of most close observers of democratic practice. With the end of the Cold War until about 2005, there occurred a rising arc of democratic progress, most notably in the Global South countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, eastern Europe and elsewhere, dictators were no longer as coddled and propped up by the principal Cold War adversaries, the United States and the Soviet Union. A younger generation, frustrated by corruption and economic malaise in their countries created groundswells of support for political democracy with active…

It is possible for Kenya to move forward, but citizens must exercise their constitutional rights and the right to self-determination to enforce a free and equal society. Stories of democracy and sustainability can be told in many other ways too; ones that connect much more deeply with human values. Consider this tale from India: Ten years ago, sought to change their social and political fortunes when they promulgated a new Constitution. In their new governance contract, they recalibrated governance, to restore the power of the people, ensure dignity for all through a comprehensive human rights Bill, and to hold governments…

Bearing in mind that in all counties over 70 per cent of the people can be categorized as poor, it is not easy to justify a retention of the existing revenue sharing formula

By Misheck Mutize Adebt service relief package has been approved by some of the world’s biggest lenders for more than 25 African countries. The arrangement includes the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the G20, the African Development Bank, and all Paris Club creditors. The goal was to free up more than $20 billion governments could use to buttress their health services. Some have called for outright debt cancellation to lessen the debt burden on African countries as they emerge from the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most African states will have high public debt as they use all available…

By Michelle Mielly Memes may be all the rage in these heady days of digital trending, but they’re not a new thing. Ever since Richard Dawkins coined the term in his popular 1976 book ‘The Selfish Gene’, scientists have been putting memes under the microscope. For Dawkins, memes were discrete units of cultural inheritance (gossip, images, fashion fads, catchphrases) that, by virtue of their rapid dissemination and adoption, drive cultural evolution, just as genes propel forth our biology. In other words, memes can change the world with “likes” and “shares”. There’s even a field dedicated to their study: memetics considers…

By Chris Baker In Egypt, teenager Menna Abdel Aziz used social media to ask for protection after a sexual assault. She was arrested on a variety of charges, including misusing social media and corrupting family values. Two young women, Haneen Hossam, with 915,000 TikTok followers, and Mawada Eladhm, with 3.1 million TikTok followers) were also arrested for their social influencing videos. Renad Imad, another social media influencer, was arrested after allegations of posting indecent content and prostitution. In late June, belly dancer Sama El-Masry was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for posts to TikTok and other social media. These and…