Otherwise?

According to Kenya's Social Protection Policy, poverty, disease, and ignorance were identified at the time of independence in 1963 as the critical challenges facing the new nation of Kenya. While some degree of success has been achieved in the area of education, progress in reducing poverty and providing healthcare has barely been made. 56 years after independence, "poverty and vulnerability remain major challenges, with almost one in every two Kenyans trapped in a long-term, chronic and inter-generational cycle of poverty."

Our Constitution in Article 43 guarantees all Kenyans their economic, social, and cultural rights. It asserts the "right for every person...to social security and binds the state to provide appropriate social security to persons who are unable to support themselves and their dependents." This right is closely linked to other social protection rights, including the right to healthcare, human dignity, reasonable working conditions, and access to justice. Article 21 establishes the progressive realization of social and economic rights and obligates the state to "observe, respect, protect, promote, and fulfill the rights and fundamental freedoms in the Bill of Rights."

We're joined by Pauline Vata, Executive Director of Hakijamii Trust, to discuss social protection in Kenya.

Resources

Kenya National Social Protection Policy (2012)

Article 43, Constitution of Kenya (2010)

National Social Security Fund Act (2013)

National Hospital Insurance Fund Act (2013)

Social Assistance Act (2013)

Analytical Review of the Pension System in Kenya

Social security reforms in Kenya: Towards a workerist or a citizenship-based system?

Policy Brief on National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF)

NHIF Strategic Plan 2014 - 2018: Sustainable Financing Towards Universal Health Coverage in Kenya

HEALTHY AMBITIONS? KENYA'S NATIONAL HOSPITAL INSURANCE FUND (NHIF) MUST BECOME MORE TRANSPARENT IF IT IS TO ANCHOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE

Extending Social Security and Fighting Poverty: Two reform proposals to extend social security in Kenya

The Right to Social Security in Kenya: The gap between international human rights and domestic law and policy

PARTICIPATION OF VULNERABLE POPULATIONS IN THEIR OWN PROGRAMMES: THE CASH TRANSFERS IN KENYA

Political Economy of Cash Transfers In Kenya

Kenya's Social Cash Transfer Program

From Evidence to Action: The Story of Cash Transfers and Impact Evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Short-term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the Poor: Experimental Evidence from Kenya

The Long-Term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers: Experimental Evidence from Kenya.

Income Changes and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Unconditional Cash Transfers in Kenya

Scaling up Cash Transfer Programmes in Kenya

The Evolution of the Government of Kenya Cash Transfer Programme for Vulnerable Children between 2002 to 2006 and prospects for nationwide scale-up

Episode 44: The State of Kenya's Healthcare

Episode 21: #LipaKamaTender

Image Credit: Business Insider

In June 2019, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announced that it would be phasing out the current generation KES 1,000 note by 1st October 2019. On that date, it will cease to be legal tender. This is in an effort to curb illicit financial transactions, including money laundering; address the problem of counterfeit notes; and fight corruption. They also announced new generation notes alongside the new KES 1,000 note (KES 50, 100, 200 and 500), but these do not have a deadline for exchange.

According to the CBK, we currently have in circulation 217.6 million pieces of KES 1,000, 30.8 million pieces of KES 500, 54.8 million pieces of KES 200, 126.4 million pieces of KES 100, 100.5 million pieces of KES 50 and 9.9 million pieces of KES 20. We're joined by Ken Gichinga, the Chief Economist at Mentoria Economics, to discuss the demonetization process as it is planned in Kenya.

Resources

Kenya is introducing new banknotes in a bid to fight corruption

For demonetization to be successful, adequate remonetization necessary

Behind Central Bank move to change notes

Ensure roll-out of new currency does not hurt weak economy

There is more than meets the eye in demonetisation

Tedious journey to new currency that kicked off in 2010

Demonetization Of Currency Notes: Significance And Challenges

Demonetisation: The end of Zimbabwean dollar

What can you buy for $100 trillion in Zimbabwe? Not even a candy bar

Here's The Full Text Of Modi's Speech On The Discontinuation Of ₹500 And ₹1,000 Bank Notes

Demonetisation: What India gained, and lost

Two years of demonetisation: What did the fight against black money achieve?

Demonetization Anniversary: Decoding the Effects of Indian Currency Notes Ban

India election 2019: Did the ban on high-value banknotes work?

Despite hype, demonetization missed all goals

Few Hits and Many Misses From India's Cash Ban After 2 Years

Payments are a-changin' but cash still rules

Image Credit: Nairobi Wire

In our second live recording, we're joined by Njeri Gateru, Lorna Dias and Pastor David Ochar to discuss LGBTQI+ organizing in Kenya in light of the High Court ruling on the decriminalization of same sex conduct.

On May 24th 2019, the High Court ruled against two petitions filed against the Attorney General of Kenya in his capacity as the government's legal advisor: Petition 150 of 2016, and Petition 234 of 2016, which had been consolidated by the court due to their similarity. The petitions sought to repeal Sections 162 (a) and (c) and 165 of the Penal Code because they are unconstitutional on grounds of vagueness and uncertainty. The petitioners also stated that the sections violated Articles 27, 28, 29, 31, 32 and 43 of the Constitution of Kenya.

What is the environment/background in terms of organizing that brought us to this point? Why this, and why now? Why is it that the greatest strides the community has made towards equal rights and freedoms have been in the courts? Given the court ruling, and the fact that the judicial process in Kenya tends to take many years, how can we augment judicial action with organizing within the society/various communities? How is this currently happening? How do we respond to people who claim that same sex conduct or relationships are against religion? How about those who say they are unAfrican? What are the ways in which allies in Kenya, and around the world, can support LGBTQI+ organizing here? And, what will LGBTQI+ organizing in Kenya look like in the future? Press play to find out!

Resources

Petition 150 & 234 of 2016 (Consolidated)

The Constitution of Kenya (2010)

The Penal Code (CAP 63)

Petition 266 of 2013

Petition 440 of 2013

Judicial Review 147 of 2013

Petition 51 of 2015

Civil Appeal 56 of 2016

India's Ruling on the Repeal of Section 377 of their Penal Code

The Wolfenden Report - Summary

The Wolfenden Report - Conclusion

Letter from Birmingham City Jail

Boy-Wives and Female Husbands: Studies of African Homosexualities

Episode 64: Repeal 162

Episode 59: Rafiki

Episode 83: Separation of Church and State

Before Straight and Gay

A Theory of Scandal: Victorians, Homosexuality, and the Fall of Oscar Wilde

Image Credit: Kanga Love TRTL

Kenya's maternal mortality rate is 362 deaths per 100,000 live births according to the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Article 43(1)(a) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 states that: Every person has the right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care.

Kenya adopted the Millennium Development Goals, which had set a target of reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to 147 per 100,000 by 2015. We have also adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, whose target is to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births between 2016 and 2030.

Today, we're joined by Caroline Wainaina, a research officer working on maternal and child well-being at APHRC, to discuss maternal healthcare in Kenya.

Resources

2014 Kenya Demographic And Health Survey

Women and Men in Kenya Facts and Figures 2017

Reducing Maternal Deaths in Kenya

Tackling High Maternal Deaths in Kenya

The effect of Kenya's free maternal health care policy on the utilization of health facility delivery services and maternal and neonatal mortality in public health facilities

Ministry of Health implements free maternity services nationwide

Are There Really 1.2 Million Mothers on the Free Maternity Programme?

Which way for mothers after five years of free maternal care

Has Access To Free Maternity Care In Kenya Doubled Since 2013?

Implementing Free Maternal Health Care in Kenya: Challenges, Strategies, and Recommendations

Examining the Implementation of the Free Maternity Services Policy in Kenya: A Mixed Methods Process Evaluation

Implementation of the free maternity services policy and its implications for health system governance in Kenya

Reproductive Health and Family Planning Financing in Kenya: A mapping of the resource flows

Maternal Education and Immunization Status Among Children in Kenya

From Paper to Practice: Sexuality Education Policies and Their Implementation in Kenya

Reality check: Why it's time to introduce sex education in schools

The #LipaKamaTender Movement

UNFPA Kenya Annual Report 2017

The Reproductive Health Care Bill (2014)

Image Credit: COMO Foundation

We celebrate Labour Day/International Worker's Day each year on the 1st of May. Celebrations are organized by trade unions and their members, and they take time to highlight the labour environment in the country, and how it can be improved. Trade unions in Kenya are inextricably linked with our struggle for independence.

Makhan Singh is considered the father of the labour movement, having formed the Labour Trade Union of Kenya in 1935, and the East African Trade Union Congress in 1949. To mark this year's occasion belatedly, we're joined by Dr. Emily Odhong, a lecturer at Kiriri Women's University of Science and Technology, and a labour relations consultant, to discuss the importance of the labour movement in Kenya. Press play!

Resources

The Employment Act (2007)

The Labour Relations Act (2007)

Industrial Relations Charter (1984)

Assessment Of The State Of Trade Unions in Kenya

Trade Unions in Transformation - Developing and Utilizing Power Resources: The Case of Kenya National Private Security Workers' Union

Re-thinking Industrial Relations for Enhanced Organizational Performance in Kenya

Trade union movement leads the way in Kenya

KNUT joins COTU in drive for stronger labour union

Image credit: Africa Times

The Constitution of Kenya (2010) was promulgated almost nine years ago, on 27th August 2010. This was after it was presented to the Attorney General on 7th April 2010, officially published on 6th May 2010, subjected to a referendum on 4th August 2010, and approved by 68.55% of the people who participated in the referendum.

We're joined by Atsango Chesoni, former Deputy Chairperson of the Committee of Experts on Constitutional Review, to discuss how this constitution has changed Kenya almost nine years later.

Resources

The Constitution of Kenya (2010) [Web Version]

The Constitution of Kenya (2010) [PDF Version]

The Repealed Constitution [first passed in 1969]

The 1963 Constitution

1962 Lancaster House Conference

About the 2010 Constitution

About the Committee of Experts Process

About the Constitution Drafts

About the 2005 Referendum

Constitutional Transitions and Territorial Cleavages: The Kenyan Case

Kenya: 36 reasons why we needed a new constitution

All you need to know about independent commissions, offices

The Rationale for the Existence of Independent Constitutional Commissions

It is the politics, stupid: (Not) Kenya Style

Prof. Yash Pal Ghai's Submission to the Building Bridges Initiative Task Force Committee

Ethnicity and the Kenyan System of Governance

Why we cannot change the Constitution without violating it

Episode 80: The Two-Thirds Gender Principle

Episode 70: Financing the Kenyan Government

Episode 68: Women and the 2017 Elections

Episode 60: Nai Ni Who?

Episode 18: Daima Kenya

The Big 4 Agenda, unveiled on 12th December 2017, has identified manufacturing as one of its pillars (alongside universal healthcare, food security and affordable housing), with the goal of increasing its contribution to Kenya's economy to 15% by 2022. The agenda has identified 8 priority sectors under its manufacturing pillar: agro-processing, textile, leather, construction, materials, oil and mining, iron and steel, and ICT.

In recent years, according to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), Kenya has experienced deindustrialization as evidenced by the reduction in manufacturing's contribution to our GDP. We are joined by Navalayo Osembo, CEO and co-founder of Enda Sportswear, to discuss this pillar further.

Resources

KAM - Manufacturing in Kenya Under the 'Big 4 Agenda' A Sector Deep-dive Report

KAM - Manufacturing Priority Agenda 2019

Manufacturing in Kenya: Features, Challenges and Opportunities

Special Economic Zones Act (2015)

Export Processing Zones Act (1990)

Export Processing Zones Act - Subsidiary Legislation

Want Big Four to work? Bring down cost of doing business

Manufacturing can be the engine for Uhuru's Big Four pillars need

What manufacturers need to drive Kenya's Big Four growth agenda

Image Credit: Brookings

At the Paris Peace Forum in November 2018, Uhuru Kenyatta committed to Kenya's transition to 100% green energy by 2020, noting that green energy made up 70% of Kenya's installed electric capacity at the time. According to the Ministry of Energy, as at December 2018, Kenya had achieved 75% household access to electricity, through both on-grid and off-grid solutions, and we plan to achieve universal access to electricity by 2022.

We're joined by Anne Wambugu, an electrical engineer working in the renewable energy sector, to discuss Kenya's current state electricity-wise, what it means for Kenya to go green, and the possibilities that lie ahead. Press play!

NOTE:

• The targeted installed capacity by the year 2030 is 7,213.88 MW, not 26,000 MW.
• Where Anne says people who have low usage of electricity averaging about KES 300 per day, she meant to say KES 300 per month.

Resources

[Updated] Least Cost Power Development Plan

Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project [All Downloads]

Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project: Vulnerable & Marginalized Groups Framework

Kenya Electricity System Improvement Project: Environmental & Social Management Framework

Kenya Electricity Modernization Project

Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report: Semi-Annual Sales and Impact Data

Renewables 2018: Global Status Report

Development of Kenya's power sector: 2015-2020

Kenya Power Sh4.8bn diesel order signals long wait for cheap electricity

Eyes on ERC as wind surpasses diesel electricity

Ending 3 thermal power plants to cost Sh 9 billion

Kenya Launches Ambitious Plan to Provide Electricity to All Citizens by 2022

Off-grid solar power comes of age in Kenya

Market for the integration of smaller wind turbines in minigrids in Kenya

Off-grid solutions cure for power deficit in Kenya

Kenya is aiming to be powered entirely by green energy by 2020

Kenya targets green energy sufficiency by 2020, Uhuru says

Image Credit: Vox.com

In January 1991, Mohammed Siad Barre's government was toppled when rebels from the United Somali Congress toppled the Red Berets, in a culmination of a struggle that began in 1986. Since then, Somalia has been in a state of civil war. It has displaced over 1 million people within the country, and over 1 million more are living abroad in the Somali diaspora, either as registered refugees or undocumented migrants. We're joined by Fadumo Dayib, a social justice activist, Somali politician and the first woman to vie for president of Somalia (in November 2016) to discuss being Somali in Somalia, as well as the diaspora.

What was the cause of the civil war, and what factors have allowed it to continue for almost 30 years? What has the effect of having international intervention been? What factors make it possible for Al Shabaab to exist within Somalia and East Africa, and recruit from throughout the region? What has this conflict meant for the rights of Somali women and girls? How has it affected their rights, freedoms and access to opportunities? And, what is the way forward when it comes to resolving this conflict? Press play to find out!

Resources

Siad Barre's Fall Blamed for Somalia's Collapse into Civil War

Understanding Civil Militia Groups in Somalia

Somalia: a history of events from 1950 to the present - in pictures

Somalia: The Forgotten Story

The 4.5 Formula

Somalia's Clan Politics

The Rotation Convention: the real scandal of Somalia's 4.5 power sharing system

The Business of Fear in Boomtown Mogadishu

Ethiopian Invasion of Somalia

Ethiopia ends Somalia occupation

WikiLeaks Reveals U.S. Twisted Ethiopia's Arm to Invade Somalia

Ethiopian troop withdrawal from Somalia exposes peacekeeping problems

Explaining the differences in Al-Shabaab expansion into Ethiopia and Kenya

Al-Shabab [an explainer]

Understanding Drivers of Violent Extremism: The Case of al-Shabab and Somali Youth

Explaining Transborder Terrorist Attacks: The Cases of Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab

History of Al-Shabaab and its link with Kenya

The Unseen War

The Unseen War - Part 2

Somali militants al-Shabab threaten Kenya retaliation

Somalia: Why is Al-Shabaab Still A Potent Threat?

Why is Al Shabab making inroads into Kenya?

Why is Kenya an al-Shabab target?

Somalia's Al Shabaab: Clans vs Islamist nationalism

What Kenya has to show for sending troops into Somalia seven years ago

PROXY WARS: The intrigues leading to Kenya's invasion of Somalia

What's Wrong With Kenya's Invasion of Somalia

Kenya and Somalia: landscape of tension

The Road to Garissa

Corruption and Terror: Somali Community in Kenya Caught in the Crossfire

Women's Rights in Somalia: Women's Role in Conflict Resolution

Human Rights Brief: Women in Somalia

GIRLS AND GIRLHOOD INTERRUPTED: TWO DECADES OF STATELESSNESS AND MILITARIZED VIOLENCE IN WAR-TORN SOMALIA

Somalia: A state of male power, insecurity and inequality

Women Needs in Somalia after Civil War

Image Credit: VQR Online

Mobile lending in Kenya has experienced a boom in recent years. Customers are able to apply for and receive loans through their mobile phones, and this has drastically changed Kenya's financial landscape. Mobile lending is made possible through mobile money transfer technology, which was introduced in Kenya by Safaricom in 2007 via MPesa. There are three primary ways that it works: The first is bank backed, the second is mobile lending by non-bank finance institutions such as microfinance institutions and SACCOs, and the third is mobile lending by financial technology firms which do it through their mobile apps.

We're joined by Geraldine Lukania, Project Manager of FSD Kenya's Market Information Project to discuss mobile lending/credit, what makes it so popular, and whether it needs to be regulated. Press play!

Resources

Kenya moves to regulate fintech-fuelled lending craze

M-Shwari leads Mobile lending industry

The Draft Financial Markets Conduct Bill, 2018

The 2019 FinAccess household survey

The 2016 FinAccess household survey

Digital Market Overview: Kenya

The digital credit revolution in Kenya: an assessment of market demand, 5 years on

A Digital Credit Revolution: Insights from Borrowers in Kenya and Tanzania

Kenya's Digital Credit Revolution Five Years On

How Regulators Can Foster More Responsible Digital Credit

It's Time to Slow Digital Credit's Growth in East Africa

Image Credit: Mambo Zuri