Author: NLM Correspondent

Exciting potential of new technologies is making progress in the face of defective government, policy inertia and risk-averse big business By David Thomas In the westernmost reaches of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Congo River’s 96-metre plunge over the thundering cataracts of the Inga Falls drives two decades-old hydro-electric power plants. Completed in the 1970s and 80s, the Inga Dams have provided most of the nation’s sporadic electricity supply through decades of political upheaval, even while proving resistant to multiple attempts at sustainable rehabilitation. Given the state of the facilities – defective turbines and intake blockages have repeatedly decimated generating…

It is game over for the barons who rule KTDA, as new regulations signal big wins for small tea farmers By VICTOR ADAR For a long time, low tea prices and poor bonus payment have been a mainstay grievance for smallholder farmers. It has been hard to thrive in a sector where brokers reportedly pocket about Sh50 per kilo of tea sold leaving the actual farmers about a quarter of brokers’ fees. President Uhuru Kenyatta in December 2019 directed the Cabinet Secretary, Agriculture, and Competition Authority of Kenya to oversee radical policy and structural reforms to the tea sector to…

Harnessing the power of AI can create synergies for improved workforces. While much of the public discourse surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) focusses on dire predictions about robots stealing jobs, a growing number of future-minded business leaders are embracing an altogether more optimistic and empowering narrative. “Visionary leaders realise our future is not about people versus machines at all, but about how human collaboration and decision-making can be enhanced through the use of machines and AI,” says Wessel Oosthuizen, AI Leader, Deloitte Analytics. He cites research by Gartner which predicted that AI, far from “stealing” jobs, would be a net creator…

Setting standards for prosecution and investigation By Ndung’u Wainaina and Soyinka Lempaa The constitutional architecture of Kenya has set clear principles on separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, with appropriate checks and balances to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness. Under the constitution of Kenya 2010, the traditional Montesquieuian principles of separation of powers was enhanced. Each arm of the state had countervailing powers to check on the other as pure separation of powers remains legal fiction. The doctrine of separation of powers is thus, by implication, a basic principle of Kenya’s constitutional order. The doctrine…

Sacked InformAction CEO accuses founder and veteran activist of refusing to hand over office, authorising or forcing irregular payments and inciting staff against him By Payton Mathau In a classic case of the hunter becoming the hunted, two famous human rights defenders have their backs against the wall as they face accusations of doing the opposite of what they have been preaching – violating the rights of another in an employment and labour case currently before a court of law. Well-known rights activists Maina Kiai and Lucy Hannan, have been accused of orchestrating the premature sacking of Joseph Simekha, the former executive…

BY Ana Revenga and Meagan Dooley At a time when much of the world, is in lockdown, the often invisible and underappreciated work that women do all the time—at home, caring for children and families, caring for others (women make up three-quarters of health care workers), and in the classroom (women are the majority of teachers)—is becoming very visible. And its value is being recognised. Jokes abound by exhausted parents about how teachers should be paid a million dollars a day and videos of men showing off their baking skills abound in social media. Yet in ordinary times, much of “women’s work” is not…

“An equal world is an enabled world.” This bold statement forms part of 2020’s International Women’s Day theme. Now more than ever, with COVID-19 running rampant, nations across the globe require an enabled world. According to the John Hopkins University, Africa has reported more than 30,000 positive cases (all 54 countries now bearing confirmed cases) and more than 1,400 deaths. During a crisis such as this one, argues Shannon Henning, Director of Status Reputation Management Consultancy, Africa needs immediate measures and clear direction to keep those uninfected safe. Provide life-saving medical assistance to those have been contaminated by the coronavirus,…

How will COVID-19 transform global health and development? By Michael Igoe and Vince Chadwick The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented disruption for the global health and development community. Organizations fighting infectious disease, supporting health workers, delivering social services, and protecting livelihoods have moved to the very centre of the world’s attention. But they find their work complicated by challenges of access, safety, supply chain logistics, and financial stress like never before. The short-term implications of this global challenge are evident everywhere, but the long-term consequences of the pandemic — how it will reshape health and development institutions, occupations, and priorities — are still difficult…

By Peter Wanyonyi For a while, a long while, the world seemed to at least be coming right. The Western world had abandoned its colonial, protectionist mindset. Europe was coming together, the 27-member European Union had knocked down its borders, travel was as free as it was during the Roman Empire. Even the British, with their insular island isolationism, realised the need to maintain some freedom of movement with the rest of the world post-Brexit. In America, Donald Trump forced a new NAFTA agreement on Mexico and Canada and, once they signed up, relaxed his ultra-nationalism and trade flowed again…

Conflict landscape By Vanda Felbab-Brown For the past three decades, militia groups have been a defining feature of Somalia’s conflict landscape. Communities create or join such groups to respond to conditions of insecurity and vulnerability. Somali powerbrokers, sub-federal authorities, the national government, and external interveners also turn to armed groups as a tool for pursuing their own interests. Some observers argue the militias offset the weakness of Somalia’s official security forces, produce greater motivation and better intelligence, and enhance bonds with local communities, perhaps even suppressing crime and intra-clan violence. But as I detail in a new United Nations University report —…