Citizens, elected leaders must support community policing
May. 22 | DANN MWANGI Over the last one month, the state of security in the country has been quite disturbing. There has been rampant insecurity in counties like Mandera, Bungoma, Busia and Nairobi. Of great concern is insecurity situations in Busia and Bungoma counties where organised marauding gangs have being killing innocent people and appear to be targeting specific individuals. In these two counties, the perpetrators of such heinous crimes do not steal any property from the people but only kill or maim. These incidences have left some sections of citizens in these counties to take law into their own hands by killing anybody whom they suspect to belong to these gangs that are killing them. Nevertheless, the insecurity cases in these counties have caught the eyes of the government as the deputy president has already met security bosses in theses...
Quick-fix solutions will not end crime wave
May. 20 | MACHEL WAIKENDA For the past few weeks, civilians in Mandera, Bungoma, and Busia regions have been treated to terror unleashed by killer gangs and militia groups. Urban crime levels particularly in Nairobi appear to be sustained by the day. Saturday’s overnight standoff pitting police against hardened, heavily-armed thugs in Nairobi’s densely populated Githurai that left six police officers injured as they pursued and killed a suspected terrorist and his wife, is testimony to the severity of the nightmare at hand. In Wajir, the execution of a lone police officer by attackers in a taxi was chilling and in Mandera, where out of the eight killed by militiamen in Rhamu village, three were women, shows they are no longer discriminating on gender and are taking their terror to non-combatants alike. Severity of this matter is that these crimes...
We don’t take public support for the Judiciary for granted
May. 19 | WILLY MUTUNGA Ever since I took my oath of office on June 20, 2011, I have never been under any illusion that winning public confidence is a destination – rather I believe that it is a continuous journey. Even at those moments when surveys have found that the Judiciary enjoyed some of the highest public approval ratings for a public institution, we have been keen to seek ways of winning the confidence of those who still found our services and attitudes unsatisfactory. I was, therefore, surprised to read the online report in the Daily Nation (Wednesday, May 15, 2013) attributing to me remarks to the effect that the proof of Kenyans’ confidence in the court system could be found in the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court in the recent presidential petition. Nothing could have been further from what I said. It is possible that since...
Anyang’ Nyong’o: My highly exaggerated death
May. 19 | BY ANYANG’ NYONG’O My death while I was away in the United States for a few weeks was, unfortunately, very highly exaggerated. As a matter of fact, no such thing happened, and I thought those who were calling me to find out what had happened were confused by some new calendar which might have then been circulating in Kenya since April Fools’ Day had long come and gone. Be that as it may, I thank God I am still alive and kicking, and may be doing so by His grace for quite some time to come. But in politics one never knows how many enemies are harvested along the tortuous path we tread, and when they rear their ugly heads. Worrying about them, however, can render you ineffective politically and consign you to the corner of political inertia. But ignoring them altogether may also be foolhardy. The balance is not easy to keep,...
Why Joint Admissions Board is Illegal
May. 18 | BY DANN MWANGI The Joint Admission Board recently made public its selection for entrants to the public universities in the next academic year. In this respect, various issues arises, both legal and policy and it would be important for education and economic policies makers and the public at large to interrogate the role of JAB, both current and past. To begin with, the right to education in Kenya is enshrined in Article 43 (f) of the Constitution and is classified as an economic and social right. This right is so fundamental and protected as it has been enshrined in Chapter Four of the Constitution and it should therefore not be treated casually. It now belongs to first generations of human rights that all nations that has ratified or observes the International Covenant on Economic and Social Cultural Rights, Kenya included, must adhere...
A lot more needed to get counties up and running
May. 16 | MWENDE MWENDWA On the 5th of March 2013, Kenya ushered in the establishment of her new county governments, complete with political leadership and representation. Kenya’s devolution is one of the highlights and biggest systematic changes embodied in the new Constitution and one of the greatest hopes for its citizens. The expectation of improved standards of living at the local level by every Kenya is blatant, with the county governments anticipated to be the key driving force behind development at the county level. The Constitution requires county governments to provide key services such as healthcare, agriculture, transport, trade development and community participation. With all the legislation that has been passed to support devolution, there is a clear intention by the government to implement decentralization successfully. In spite of...
Africa a beneficiary of Chinese cooperation
May. 14 | SHIFAN WU China’s engagement with Africa is the most momentous phenomena in the continent over the last decade. The two-way economic relations have improved exponentially. This has not only been attributed to China’s remarkable development but also Africa’s fast economic growth. Many Africans view China’s engagement in Africa as a golden opportunity to finally rise up and be counted among great nations and shed the unflattering tag of the continent. African leaders, scholars and businessmen recognize that China’s engagement has a developmental impact to the continent. China and Africa need each other to realize common development, to maintain peace and stability, and speak for developing countries in the international arena. Since China entered in Africa’s development agenda to establish a new type of strategic...
