By Victor Adar A couple of months ago, Al Shabaab militants attacked Garissa’s Rural Border Patrol Unit police post in Yumbis. Apart from shooting randomly, the terror gang also razed the camp and brought down a Safaricom mast, cutting off communication. In a separate case, seven police officers died in an Improvised Explosive Device attack at Khorof Harar, in Wajir East sub-county. The same militants are also believed to be behind the abduction of two Cuban doctors – Herrera Correa and Landhi Rodriguez – in Mandera town. Militants might be the biggest enemies of development. With all the tears and mess…
Author: NLM Editor
BY Antony Mutunga Continued advancement of technology has shown that the rise of the digital era has no plans of slowing down. Although still nascent, the fourth industrial revolution is already underway. According to Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, and also the one who coined the term, Industry 4.0 is characterized by different new technologies that are combining the different physical, biological and digital innovations as well as impacting sectors and economies. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and augmented reality are changing the way industries operate. The fourth industrial revolution has also brought about automation…
BY Shadrack Muyesu The world is sprinting towards authoritarianism and it is the people who are going to demand it. Going back a few years when liberalism enjoyed a status as the pinnacle of government, it seemed improbable that people would give up the gains they had made in the arena of human rights to lead the clamour for strong government. Rights were sacred – a truth best exemplified by Louis Henkin’s observation that (human rights) enjoyed a prima facie presumptive inviolability which elevates them over public goods. Social stability and economics couldn’t be used as excuse for dictatorships. Slowly…
By Newton Arori Following last month’s attacks by terrorist gangs in Bamburi, Mombasa, which left 13 people dead, Interior CS Dr Fred Matiang’i met with politicians and top security bosses at the coast in a high level meeting from which he emerged with the edict, ‘We are commencing an unprecedented effort to deal with this issue of drug peddling. It is believed that there is a connection between drug use and criminal activities, so to stem the latter, you must deal with the former. ‘It is going to be a painful exercise, but we are prepared to start the journey.” …
By Wilfred Mutubwa Two significant moments for African economic regionalism happened in August. First was the signing of the AfCFTA Agreement by Africa’s largest Economy, and most populous nation – Nigeria. Second, was the decision by the AU member states to seat the AfCFTA secretariat in Ghana. As a Kenyan, I must admit that I was at first conflicted when news of selection of Ghana as the seat for the headquarters of the continental economic Free Trade Area was announced. On the one hand, I mourned the loss of Kenya’s bid to host the secretariat, while on the other hand…
By Maggie Dwyer & Thomas Molony In mid-July Chad lifted its 16-month social media ban. This ended the longest social media blockage seen in any African country. The government argued that the lengthy ban was necessary for security reasons. The Chadian case highlights the way social media has increasingly been framed as a threat, especially by authoritarian leaders. Since the beginning of 2019 at least nine other African countries have also experienced government ordered internet shutdowns. A recently published volume jointly edited by these authors digs deeper into this pattern. We explored the various ways social media has been entangled with politics and security. Social…
By Dennis Ndiritu Kenya has experienced a full-circle constitutional journey. From the series of conferences in Lancaster House in 1960 to 1963 when Kenya’s governance framework was negotiated, the promise of a stable progressive administrative charter that would foster equal enjoyment of the fruits of independence and open democratic space have long been elusive. Many of Kenya’s shortcomings have been attributed to the systematic erosion of the independence constitution orchestrated by a powerful State House cabal that ensured concentration of power in an imperial presidency. In 1976, the Gikuyu Meru Embu Association(GEMA) stalwarts sought to amend the constitution to prevent…
The Jubaland elections attracted a lot of regional and international interest, including from the United Nations, the US and Qatar. The United Nations Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan personally met with Sheikh Madobe for talks on an inclusive election, which made Jubaland Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (JIBEC) extend registration time by 72 hours. Prof Hassan Keynan, a retired senior UN official who worked in South Asia, Africa and Europe, said that the UN has often failed to uphold the cardinal principles of neutrality and consensus in Somalia. Kenya which supported Sheikh Madobe protested against the interference by the…
The vicious battle between Kenya and Ethiopia has played out in the open, and also brought to the fore the high stakes that foreign countries have in the just-concluded Jubaland elections. The allies-turned foes have high stakes in Jubaland because they both have troops in the United Nations backed African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), the former based in Kismayu sector and the later in Gedo. Kenya also sees Jubaland as a buffer zone in the war against terror. There are talks that should Jubaland go the Somalialand way, then it would be a strong ally especially looking at the…
A staggering Sh1.8 billion was allocated in the 2018/2019 financial year for renovation and infrastructural development of 24 airports and airstrips across the country despite minimal activity going on in the majority of them. In the current financial year, the National Treasury has once again set aside Sh1.4 billion for renovation of 10 airstrips. Questions however abound over the economic value of these airstrips, with details emerging during one of the parliamentary meetings that some of them do not receive even a single flight, hence no reason why taxpayers should continue to be burdened with financing non-viable projects. The National…