New awareness of climate change and litigation associated with it, has dramatically changed the perception of over 20 judges who attended a training course on environmental law and climate change law under the auspices of Jifa in August. Almost all of them started out unsure of what climate change law actually is and doubted whether they would ever be involved in litigation concerning climate change. But after a week’s training with a University of Cape Town expert, including two days intensively focused on climate change, they now have a very different perspective. As the judges put it, ‘Our eyes have…
Author: NLM writer
By Felix O. Okanga Central to the Supreme Court’s reprimand of counsel on 5th September 2022 as it delivered its judgment in the consolidated election petitions resulting from what has been termed as a hotly contested election was the law of evidence. Law of Evidence through the Evidence Act, CAP 80 Laws of Kenya, places the burden of proving facts upon the person alleging them. This is done by way of adducing evidence in support of the facts. At the heart of evidence law is the competence of the person producing the evidence. Competence refers to a witness’s ability, capacity,…
The continent’s response to a fundamental shift in the international food and energy landscape will produce a wide range of investment opportunities Africa’s GDP grew by an estimated 6.9% in 2021, revealing positive forward momentum. However, the continent will continue to face uncertainty, according to the seventh edition of their Africa Risk-Reward Index today: “Opportunity through uncertainty.” The after-effects of the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war are projected to impact the African continent’s economic outlook for many years. In 2021, about 22 million jobs (https://bit.ly/2Z1dRwt) were lost due to the pandemic, with 30 million people being pushed into extreme poverty.…
Investing in relevant skills is even more critical at a time when technology is accelerating so fast that jobs can quickly become redundant. Africa’s young people are undoubtedly one of the continent’s greatest resources. As other regions battle with aging populations and declining birth rates, Sub-Saharan Africa can lay claim to median age of 19.7, with around 70% of the population under 30. Those young people are increasingly well-educated and connected. But all that potential means nothing if they aren’t getting the opportunities needed to fulfill it. And in many countries, it’s clear that they aren’t. In South Africa, the…
By Antony Mutunga Technology has finally been integrated further into the electricity sector in Kenya as the Government of Kenya, together with the Government of Japan, and in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen), as well as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), launched its “strengthening capacity for operation and maintenance with the internet of things (IoT) technologies for Olkaria geothermal power station in Kenya” project. The project aims to integrate IoT technology into the power station by installing and proving the importance and effectiveness of the technology in electricity generation…
The multiplicity of trade agreements and policies in Africa can best be described as a spider’s web, says Daryl Dingley, who heads the Competition, Trade and Investment (CTI) practice at Webber Wentzel. Dingley noted that one of the shortcomings of having numerous regional and institutional bodies is the inability of African countries to identify the parties in their trade policies. Webber Wentzel can advise governments on these, and how to deal with the overlapping nature of the various agreements, he said. Other areas in which they can offer their expertise are inter-regional trade, customs, regimes, procedures, insufficient infrastructure, and the…
By Kester Kenn Klomegah To accelerate large-scale trade and business development, several African countries have been chosen to begin exchanging goods and services under the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Continental free trade is planned to operate within the African Union Agenda 2063. The AfCFTA makes trade between African countries easier by providing new export opportunities for African countries’ products and services to trade with each other without tariffs or other hindrances, thus driving improved access to the biggest market space and ultimately leading to sustainable economic growth. Now continental trading is about to operate as a platform…
The Uhuru Kenyatta is when the Society made huge strides toward reclaiming its lost glory as a public defender. By Gilbert Muyumbu By the time the Uhuru Kenyatta administration ascended into power, the terrain of organised Society in Kenya was widely variegated, having grown exponentially during the preceding Kibaki era. Although the three earlier traditional vertical accountability players, namely the faith-affiliated groups, the media, and the labour movement, still existed, they had been transformed by internal and external changes. Internally, the three entities had seen further atomisation, which dispersed power further away from them. For instance, the media saw the…
By Prof John Harbeson As Kenyans went to the polls on August 9, in at least one important respect, they appeared to have already issued a verdict on their democracy even before the actual results of the voting had begun to be tallied. The percentage of eligible Kenyan voters who voted appeared to be the second lowest of the seven in the country’s democratic era, possibly no higher than 60 percent when all votes were counted. The Stockholm-based International Institute for Democratic Electoral Assistance (I.D.E.A) maintains a database of election turnout and other measures of democracy among the world’s countries.…
Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced on 15 August 2022 that Deputy President William Ruto had won the 2022 presidential election following a close, tense race. The commission gave the count as 50.49% for Ruto against rival Raila Odinga’s 48.85%. This was immediately disputed by Odinga’s campaign and four of the seven electoral commissioners, who described the final tallying process as “opaque”. As he had done in 2013 and 2017, Odinga petitioned the Supreme Court. He alleged several irregularities, including fraud, voter suppression and impunity by the commission’s chair, Wafula Chebukati. He claimed that Chebukati had breached the constitution and acted unilaterally. A unanimous ruling, read out by Chief…