Author: NLM Editor

Dr Tom Odhiambo Some years ago a politician claimed that rain comes from the heavens and thus there was no correlation between forests and rain. Well, today the drought and starvation in the Rift Valley, where the politician comes from, eastern, north-eastern and Coast regions of Kenya would tell that politician that indeed there is a significant relationship between trees, rain and food. Today Kenyans are paying for uncontrolled cutting of trees and for ignoring warnings about desertification and global warning. It won’t be long before the hunger and starvation that is reported in ‘other’ parts of Kenya morphs into…

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By Odongo Peter Debate has been raging in the recent past on whether employers, both public and private, are justified in demanding that potential employees accompany their applications with a host of statutory clearances or compliance certificates as a precondition for being shortlisted for any job opportunity. This debate has been with us for some time now. It’s more recent resuscitation was occasioned by the decision by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) to do away with the requirement that its members seeking to represent lawyers in various constitutional and statutory bodies must get clearance from such bodies as the…

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By EUNICE NG’ANG’A A judge sits dauntingly at his raised bench, in this sobering, almost foreboding high walled Court room, looking down on the mere mortals beneath. A crest fallen prisoner, hands cuffed and feet shackled walks in, a biblical grasshopper in the sight of the establishment that imprisoned him under unjust laws. It is a David versus Goliath situation: He has pebbles-provisions of law that declare he should never have been imprisoned in the first place, requiring his immediate release. His adversaries have the proverbial horses and chariots-the entire armoury of the establishment, keen to sustain the pressure on…

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Millions of students around the world are leaving school without learning the most basic skills—often referred to as a “global learning crisis.” But, just as importantly, education systems are not preparing these students for the jobs of the future. In today’s globally interconnected world—a world that is constantly and rapidly changing—21st Century skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration are more important for students now than ever before. Content knowledge is no longer sufficient; students need to be able to think creatively and critically, work collaboratively, analyse information, and solve complex problems. It is clear that students need a…

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A newly published report shows that fintech disruption continues to broaden financial services in Kenya, a credit positive for the country’s banks. Through collaborating with mobile payments services, particularly Safaricom’s M-Pesa, banks continue to offer higher value-added services. Fintech innovation is expected to continue to expand the market for banking services. Kenyan banks are currently working with M-PESA to offer saving and loan products, which is a credit positive move for the sector and country, Moody’s Investors Service says in its latest report. “Banks have piggybacked on a successful model, partnering with M-PESA to offer services, like loans and deposits, and…

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The population of urban dwellers in Kenya, just like in many parts of the world, has increased steadily over the years. Data by Worldometers (2019) shows that about 6.2 million people lived in the Kenyan urban dwellings in 2000. This was 19.8 percent of the entire population. Worldometers states that currently 14 million Kenyans live in the urban regions, with the percentage of urban dwellers standing at 27.1 percent. The rapid increase in these numbers is one of the factors that have caused exponential growth in real estate, with a bias to rental residential premises. This position is corroborated by…

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While innovation has been at the heart of many of the progressive discussions around African development over the last decade, the focus has tended to be centred on the benefits and impact of digital technology as Internet penetration rises across the continent. That type of digital innovation has often relied on the fast-growing crop of start-ups in major tech hubs in Nairobi, Cape Town, and Lagos led by young entrepreneurs with ideas and young businesses that hope to impact and change local industry sectors and even entire countries. One element of the discussion that isn’t often highlighted is the importance…

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China banks on media to dispel BRI debt risks Beijing wants to deploy international media outlets to allay fears about its trillion-dollar global trade and infrastructure initiative. President Xi Jinping called on media outlets in the countries involved in the Belt and Road plan to fashion stories about the scheme in a way that boosts public support. Xi made the comments at the first council meeting of the Belt and Road News Network (BRNN), an association consisting of 182 media outlets from 86 countries which include China Daily newspaper, French daily La Provence, Russian news agency Tass and South Africa’s Independent Media. Gold smugglers…

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By ANTONY MuTUNGA Sub-Saharan Africa has continued to produce among the fastest growing economies in the world in the last five years. Despite this achievement, the region has seen its overall economic growth take a hit, consistently recording below 3 percent since 2015. According to Africa’s Pulse report by the World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa has recorded economic growth of 3 percent, 1.6 percent and 2.7 percent between 2015 and 2017. The trend continued into 2018 when the region recorded a weighted growth of 2.3 percent. Not only was this a slowdown economically but it also trailed the region’s mean population…

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As President Uhuru Kenyatta’s final term stutters towards an increasingly closer 2022 expiry, one of his flagship legacy projects, the much touted Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program chugs along, urged on by a hopeful public keen for relief from astronomical health care costs, and an overzealous bureaucracy eager to please an increasingly flustered master at the tail end of an eventful decade in power. UHC was launched to counter the runaway costs of healthcare that have been sending poor Kenyans with treatable ailments to an early grave, and consigning thousands of families to poverty every year. More precisely, the program…

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