By Kenyatta Otieno I woke up scared by the news that Peter Kenneth was trailing Mike Sonko in the Jubilee Party nominations for Nairobi Governor. I knew Sonko had the numbers but I expected the party to “guide” the democratic process and award the ticket to Peter Kenneth; I was disappointed. Sonko will fly the JP flag against ODM’s Dr Evans Kidero. A Pharmacist-turned-business executive will face off with a man without any meaningful prefix to his name other than “Hon” from the elective seats he has held. Hate him or like him, Mike Sonko is in a class where…
Author: NLM Editor
Kenyan folk stories celebrate women as strong, fierce heroines of the distant past. Women in some communities in western and central Kenya are said to have enjoyed considerable power directly or indirectly as chiefs, queens, queen mothers and advisors. One of these communities even started off as being matrilineal. Women led and fought fearlessly to extend their territory. Although this community has since become patrilineal, its nine clans are still named after the daughters of its legendary descendants. In more recent times, women endured the same hardships as their male counterparts in the political struggle to free the country from…
By Isaac Swila With less than 70 days to the elections, all indications are that the battle for the Nairobi Gubernatorial seat with be a neck-and-neck race between the incumbent Dr Evans Kidero and Nairobi Senator Mike Mbuvi Sonko. Kidero, flying the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) flag under the National Super Alliance (NASA) banner, boasts a massive financial war-chest, the power of incumbency, which to a greater extent matters a lot in local politics, while his erstwhile rival, Sonko, also has a lot of resources. Besides the duo, there is the affable, Canadian-educated Miguna Miguna, who is vying for the…
By Muyesu Shadrack “…You can transplant an English Olive in Africa but you must never expect it to thrive with the same foliage and green as it does somewhere in Manchester or England…” – Denning LJ It’s largely uncontested that the Presidency as an institution has so far been an abject failure. The democratic experiment has delivered very little of the good governance it promised on the advent of multipartysm and later, the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010. Political commentators blame the current state on the average citizen who they say, “keeps electing bad leaders.” And if a…
By Job Shipululo Amupanda The third generation of African freedom fighters is growing impatient with the contradictions of ongoing colonialism in the Motherland. Europe and its allies continue their imperialist subjugation and plunder with the support of puppet leaders as Africans suffer. A new anti-imperialist wave is gathering momentum across Africa to complete the continent’s unfinished liberation. For Dr Admore Kambudzi, the acting Director for Peace and Security at the AU, Africa-EU partnership has assisted the AU in attaining the milestone of functional coherence in the African Peace and Security Architecture particularly the work in Burundi, South Sudan and Somalia.…
The future of personal healthcare goes something like this. An asthma patient wakes up and looks at their smartphone. “Good morning,” it says, “how is your breathing?” The patient logs a few answers that are sent to their doctor and stored on a server, which then analyses trends and triggers an alert if something is abnormal. Doctors can provide more personalised service bydrilling down into specific information to find causes and triggers, and provide an accurate diagnosis. They also don’t need to physically wade through tons of research, test results and patient records. Now, I’m not a doctor, but I…
Friday afternoon and the light is low across the waves breaking on the long shore. Behind the pocked and pitted seafront promenade, hundreds of children play football among their shattered homes. This, the ruins of the old port area of Somalia’s Mogadishu, is the war-torn city of the news stories, books and films. Less than a 10 minute drive away down a newly rebuilt double highway, the scene is very different: hundreds of young men and women stroll along the narrow band of sand left by the high tide; they paddle, swim and drink coffee or soft drinks in cafes.…
While foreign currency shortages in Sub-Saharan Africa stemming from lower oil and commodity prices are easing, it will take time for sovereigns, banks and non-financial companies to restore their financial health, Moody’s Investors Service reported last month. “Falling oil and commodity prices over the past two years have led to foreign currency shortages in numerous Sub-Saharan African countries, with oil exporters hit particularly hard,” said Lucie Villa, a Moody’s Vice President – Senior Analyst and co-author of the report. “The stabilisation in oil and commodity prices over recent months will help to ease the pressure, but any recovery will depend on continued…
The Supreme Court has directed that the Advisory Opinion on Chapter Six of the Constitution sought by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) be heard on the 21st of this month, after applications by MMC Africa Law. In an application filed on April 20, KNCHR argued taxpayers have expressed concerns that they may elect into public office persons with questionable integrity. “KNCHR would like the Supreme Court to make a specific finding as to whether Chapter Six of the Constitution sets up a fit and proper test for leadership for both elective and appointive offices,” the petition filed…
By Alfred Mosoti On August 2010, Kenyans were a very happy and optimistic lot, having finally promulgated a new constitution they believed offered a new dawn It will be remembered they had a similar joy when the newly elected NARC regime took over power from Moi’s government in early 2003. Then Kenyans sang the contemptuous illusionary chorus yote yawezekana bila Moi- literally, everything is possible without Moi in power! It was a great milestone in Kenyan political history, replete with countless episodes of public disillusionment, occasioned by poor governance and abuse of power by her leaders – believed to have…