Environment, Essays, governance, Politics

The Northern Collector Tunnel

Brenda Wambui

For lovers of drama, Kenya’s politics never seem to disappoint, and yesterday was no different. On 10th October 2016, Raila Odinga, Kenya’s former Prime Minister, held a press conference to reveal the details of a project he says the current government has been hiding from Kenyans.

Mr. Odinga said that just above the Murang’a region, in the Aberdares, there was a tunnel, known as The Northern Collector Tunnel, and that its effects would be some of the worst the country and the continent have seen. The source of many rivers is the Aberdares, and he says that this tunnel … Read More

Economy, Essays, Legal, Socio-cultural

My Land, Your Land, Our Land

Brenda Wambui

As far back as our collective memory as a species goes, land has played, and continues to play, an important role as both an economic resource and the basis on which we organize ourselves, be it in ethnic groups, nations, continents and so on. In economics, land comprises all natural occurring resources whose supply is inherently fixed – be it the land itself, mineral deposits, the atmosphere and so on.

In classical economics, it is considered one of the three factors of production, alongside labour and capital, and while we have managed to liberalize the capital and labour markets … Read More

Economy, Essays, Legal

A Pound Of Flesh

Brenda Wambui

English literature classes were one of the few things I liked about the Kenyan high school experience. In my year, we studied William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, a play about many things, but central to which was the plot about the Venetian moneylender Shylock (who was Jewish), who lends the Christian shipper Antonio money. Antonio’s friend, Bassanio, needed the money to woo Portia, a Venetian heiress. Because of Antonio’s anti-Semitism towards Shylock, the conditions of the loan are pretty steep: Antonio was to pay up in three months or Shylock would have a pound of his flesh. This … Read More

Education, Essays, Socio-cultural

Kenya is Burning

Brenda Wambui

The fight against oppression – in all its manifestations – is especially tricky because the rules of challenging the status quo are set by your oppressor. When fighting racism, sexism, classism and most importantly government, the people who stand to benefit from the maintenance of the prevailing system will state how they want you to engage them on your oppression. They will have a boot to your neck, leaving you pinned to the ground unable to move or breathe, and still ask you to “speak clearly in a non-agitated, non-threatening way.”

Using narrow definitions, “acceptable forms of protest” are emphasized … Read More

Africa, Economy, Essays, Socio-cultural

Why the World is on Fire

Brenda Wambui

“When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of growth of output and income, as it did in the nineteenth century and seems quite likely to do again in the twenty-first, capitalism automatically generates arbitrary and unsustainable inequalities that radically undermine the meritocratic values on which democratic societies are based.”

Thomas Piketty

Few books are as meticulous (and as boring, because of the great detail) as Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty First Century, from which the above quote is taken. The book studies inequality and wealth concentration, and their implications to economic growth across twenty countries, … Read More

Essays, Legal, Politics, Security, Socio-cultural

The Dangers of Speech

Brenda Wambui

In the aftermath of the 2007 general election that ended in violence and the death of over 1,000 Kenyans, we decided “never again” and set up the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), to promote ethnic harmony and investigate complaints of ethnic or racial discrimination or any issue affecting ethnic and racial relations. The National Cohesion and Integration Act (2008), which sets up the commission, in Section 13 criminalizes the use of hate speech and stops the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour in any medium if they are intended to spur ethnic hatred.

We would therefore … Read More

Africa, Economy, Essays, governance, Politics, Security

The Wrath of the Gods

Brenda Wambui

“You could hear women lamenting, children crying, men shouting. Some were calling for parents, others for children or spouses; they could only recognize them by their voices. Some bemoaned their own lot, others that of their near and dear. There were some so afraid of death that they prayed for death. Many raised their hands to the gods, and even more believed that there were no gods any longer and that this was one last unending night for the world. Nor were we without people who magnified real dangers with fictitious horrors. Some announced that one or another part of … Read More

Essays, Legal, Socio-cultural

And Then There Were None

Brenda Wambui

The evolution of man has seen us explore various ways of existing – from hunting and gathering to feudalism, to capitalism as supported by democracy, which is where we currently linger, wondering what comes next, because this no longer seems to be working. According to Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan, we are first and foremost concerned with our survival, thus making the first law of nature self-preservation. The second law is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This forms the basis of the social contract, where he concludes that it is rational for human … Read More

Africa, Education, Essays, Gender, Sexuality, Socio-cultural

What About The Girl Child?

Brenda Wambui

Two weeks ago in Bungoma County, twenty girls from Chelebei Secondary Schoolgirls in Mt Elgon were confirmed pregnant after a routine check by the school when they returned from the December holidays.

Their deputy principal, David Emachar, blamed the girls’ parents for not closely monitoring their children’s activities and whereabouts during the holidays, saying “we have tried our best through guidance and counselling sessions and it is unfortunate that such still occur. We ask the parents to come and support our efforts by monitoring the children’s movements.”

Parents, on the other hand, blamed the school for letting the girls down. … Read More

Economy, Essays, Politics, Socio-cultural

What is 1.66 Billion?

Brenda Wambui

It has emerged that the amount of money lost in the NYS scandal (according to a report seen by The Nation) could be as much as KES 1.66 billion, up from the previously reported KES 791 million. The extra amount, as much as KES 869,000,000, is thought to have been paid to an additional 15 companies, and is currently under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), though we all know how that will probably go.

According to an affidavit sworn by one of the accused, Ms. Josephine Kabura, the Banking Fraud Investigations Unit (BFIU) of the … Read More