Mohammed VI, Paul Kagame, Patrice Talon: Three distinct leadership styles. The king of Morocco and the presidents of Benin and Rwanda have each put their own personal stamp on what proven leadership looks like in Africa. These are their three distinct leadership philosophies. By François Soudan, Matthieu Millecamps, Mehdi Ba Mohammed VI, the king who trains imams Morocco’s model of governance is one of the most singular in the world due to its system of monarchy in which the king derives his original legitimacy as “Commander of the Faithful”. In response to the extremely dangerous trend of radical Islam, King Mohammed VI…
Author: NLM writer
The Nguruman Escarpment is one of global tourism’s secrets. Rising from the arid and salty wastes of Lake Magadi as the Rift Valley heads south out of Kenya is a steeply rising expanse of yellow-fever acacia thickets and vast savannah meadows. At its northern edge, it overlooks the Serengeti plains from a height of 2,000m. It feels as if God installed a private balcony to gaze over creation. Visits are by invitation. Bill Gates has been here; Kofi Annan stayed here while mediating the Kenya crisis in 2008; and Kenya’s prime minister Raila Odinga has used it as a retreat.…
By Tofe Ayeni Some politicians on the continent can seem eternal. But from the #EndSARS movement, to the Arab Spring, to Bobi Wine, there is an endless drive for change, too. Africa has a long history of protests and activism in support of better governance, fairer economic systems and development. Tunisia kicked off a decade of revolutions in Africa in December 2010, with its ‘Jasmine Revolution’ that resulted in the end of the regime of President Zine al-Abidine at the beginning of 2011. Events in Tunisia were a catalyst for the Arab Spring. Ten years later, ordinary African citizens, particularly the…
By Mercy Muendo Kenya ordered the closure of courtrooms to the public in April in keeping with government measures to limit gatherings and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Chief Justice David Maraga highlighted the risk posed by heavy human traffic. He also pleaded the case that most judicial officers are older, and therefore fall into a more vulnerable category. With judicial services scaled down, priority was given to applications that the courts deemed to be urgent. The immediate result was that those who couldn’t demonstrate urgency could not access the court system. Access to justice was also impeded by rolling curfews…
By Shadrack Muyesu In November 2012, six petitioners went to court to challenge the nomination of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto as the Jubilee party flag bearers in the 2013 Presidential elections. At the time, the two were facing criminal charges at The Hague. According to the petitioners, the confirmation of charges against the two by the Pre-trial Chamber disqualified them under Chapter Six of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012, and as such the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission was wrong in accepting their candidature. Inter alia, the High Court…
By Ndung’u Wainaina Two years ago this month in this magazine, I wrote on the second anniversary of devolution and drew lessons, challenges and possible solutions/next steps. In this article I attempt to give practical policy steps to take after four years of experimenting with devolution. This policy brief recommends drastic measures to rationalise and restructure national MDAs, to cut costs and remove governance duplication, strengthen the devolved system of governance, support county-based economic and private sector investments, and improve quality social/public service delivery in the counties. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 will in August this year turn seven. Coincidentally, the…
By Enoch Tonui (enochtonui@gmail.com) The Kenyan general election is slightly over a year away and I won’t sound irrational if I say that the campaigns have started in earnest. What is interesting to note are the subtle persuasive techniques the political elite employ to gather masses on their side. Indeed media being pervasive is the tool of choice used to disseminate skillfully crafted messages commonly known as propaganda. Public relations (PR) exercises play a big role rolling out propaganda in order to build or repair damaged reputations. Knowingly or unknowingly, media play right into these politicians’ schemes by availing time…
TNLM Writer In an interview with K24 TV, just after his appointment, Information Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru said his first order of business was to streamline the country’s ICT services. Because streamlining in this context had to include the telecommunications sector, the interviewer asked him what he intended to do about dominance, particularly in regard to Safaricom, which controls at least 70 per cent of the market. The CS replied that the market, any market, is about competition, and that dominance is a non-issue at the moment – not in those same words. “If you look at the scale of…
By Alpha Femi Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission boss Mumo Matemu is a man under siege. And the question on everyone’s mind is how he will redeem himself and the fast fading image of the once-hunting institution turned hunted. A petition to the National Assembly seeking his removal from office alongside his deputy Irene Keino was the latest in a series of hurdles the anti-graft agency chief must contain and, at the same time, satisfy public thirst for the prosecution of individuals responsible for plundering taxpayers’ money. To say that Matemu’s every move and action is being monitored by the Executive,…
By David Wanjala The first business of the National Assembly after a General Election, and pursuant to the President’s proclamation of the list of elected members, is the election of the Speaker. This is followed by the swearing-in of members. The dynamics of our politics have changed, and with those are the chances that we are unlikely to see many of the familiar faces in Parliament today after the 2017 elections. But unlike in the past when new faces have sprung up following the unpopularity of incumbents on account of non-performance, what is likely to happen in 2017 will be…
