Otherwise?

Kenya is currently in the middle of a heavy debate about the proposed 1050 megawatt coal power plant in Lamu. This plant will cost us 2 billion dollars, which is about 202 billion Kenya Shillings. We also seek to start the mining of coal at the Mui Basin in Kitui, where Africa's largest coal reserves are located. This has been met with much protest, due to the harmful effects of coal to people and the environment.

We are joined by Omar Elmawi, a coordinator of the #deCOALonize movement, to talk about why we must resist the setup of this power plant, as well as the green energy alternatives available to Kenya. Press play!

Resources

#deCOALonize on Twitter

Blow for residents, activists in bid to stop Sh200bn coal plant

GE buys Sh40bn stake in Lamu coal plant

Why the Lamu coal plant doesn't make sense. Kenya has better energy options

Kenya plans to cut Lamu coal power plant capacity by half

Geothermal Energy in Kenya

Geothermal Energy Grows in Kenya

Lake Turkana Wind Power

Kenya is building Africa's biggest wind energy farm to generate a fifth of its power

The case for renewable energy

Kenya To Build East & Central Africa's Largest Solar-Power Plant In Garissa

Image Credit: Quartz Africa

The last few weeks have been jarring for Kenyans as we found out that we'd had yet another maize scandal, and this time we lost KES 2 billion at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to 21 people. We also found out that we lost KES 9 billion to 10 companies that were irregularly awarded National Youth Service (NYS) tenders. That's a total of KES 11 billion. A few days ago, it also came to light that we had lost between KES 70 - 95 billion at the Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC). This scandal is still unfolding.

Today, were joined by Anzetse Were (@Anzetse), a development economist, to talk about the cost of corruption on our economy. What does this looting do to our country? Press play!

Resources

Detectives dig up dirt in Sh95bn pipeline of scams

Detectives probe possible loss of Sh70 billion at Kenya Pipeline

Treasury auditor on the run as 20 are charged with NYS looting

Revealed: Firms that gained from Sh9bn NYS scandal

NYS did business with ghost firms in Sh9bn tender scam

MPs summon Kiunjuri over Sh1.9bn NCPB scandal

Inside story of the NCPB maize scam

Gov't reveals names of 21 maize scandal beneficiaries

Corruption Perceptions Index 2016

Corruption Perceptions Index 2017

Welcome back to Season 2 of Otherwise?! We're so happy to be back. Today, we're going to be looking at some of the legal issues that may be pertinent in Kenya in 2018, including freedom of expression, press freedom, fake news, data protection, cyberterrorism, the two-thirds gender principle, and the #Repeal162 movement. We're joined by Jeptum Bullut, a lawyer and partner at BMN Advocates, to discuss them.

Press play!

Resources

Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018

Court suspends Cybercrime Act pending bloggers' case

High Court suspends portions of cybercrime law

Prevention of Terrorism Act

ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN: Uhuru Kenyatta's proposed Cabinet raises serious constitutional and legal questions

The Unacknowledged Constitutional Crisis in Kenya

Lobby asks court to disband Uhuru's cabinet over two-thirds gender rule

2 NGOs move to court on the two-thirds gender rule

Kenya ranked low in women representation in parliament

MPs make fresh attempt at Gender Bill Tuesday

#Repeal162

Decriminalisation Of Consensual Same Sex Sexual Conduct In Kenya

Kenya: Landmark Decriminalise Same Sex Case #Repeal162

Petition to repeal law against same sex relationships is timely

Image Credit: Capital FM Kenya

Music Credit: Ha He by Just a Band

It's been a year of podcasting here at Otherwise?, and to mark this occasion we have Owaahh of Owaahh.com with us this week to discuss what we call the Kenyan experiment. In what order did the communities currently settled in Kenya arrive? How did they interact? What impact did colonialism have on tribe/ethnicity in Kenya? How did this change or remain the same at independence? Why have we entrenched ethnocentrism as a means of organization in our successive governments? What do we know about secessionist movements in Kenya? Has the Kenyan experiment failed? Do we have any hope of ever making it work? Press play!

Resources

The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) Report

The Kroll Investigative Report on Wealth of President Moi and Associates

Kroll Report Wiki

The 2017 general election is now behind us, and we are still asking ourselves questions and processing how it went. This week, we are joined by Mark Kaigwa of Nendo and Odanga Madung of OdipoDev to discuss how the election season played out online. How many Kenyans are there on social media? How does the diaspora feature in conversation? Is fake news new to the Kenyan scene? What role did Cambridge Analytica play in this election? What can we learn from the April Primaries? Were there any missed opportunities in the vice-presidential and presidential debates? What did a robot learn when it watched Raila Odinga's debate performance? How did online media drive conversation before the election? How did the election play out on social media? Who is #GitheriMan? What is Sarahah, and why is it suddenly so popular? Now that the election is over, where are we now, and what can we expect moving forward? Press play to find out!

Resources

Track, Capture, Kill: Inside Communications Surveillance and Counterterrorism in Kenya

Kenyatta Wins Big in Kenya–But U.S.-Style Election Skullduggery Taints the Results

Voter profiling in the 2017 Kenyan election

Kenya's elections show how the media has sold its soul

Trump's Big-Data Gurus Worked On The Kenyan Election, Amid Concerns Over Fake News And Hacking Allegations

3 Things We Discovered From 3 Months of Investigating Fake News in Kenya

A Robot Watched Raila's Debate Performance, Here's What It Found

Mark's Thread on #GitheriMan

Mark's Thread on Sarahah

Photo credit: Ian Kinuthia

Tomorrow is D-day – we will have our second election since we got the 2010 constitution, and our sixth as a multi-party democracy. What do you need to be aware of as you head to the ballot? We've got you covered, press play!

Resources

FACTSHEET: What you need to know about Kenya's 2017 general election

Women gear up for elections in Kenya

Why Are Kenyan Elections So Expensive?

UchaguziBot

PigaKura.com

How to be a citizen Observer without hanging around the polling station all day

Patrick Gathara's Twitter thread

NOTE: the figures quoted for the number of women running were from UN women and UNDP. According to Africa Check, however, we have 9 women running for Governor, 131 women running for Member of National Assembly, 21 running for Senator, 299 running for County Woman Representative, and 900 running for Member of County Assembly. That comes to a total of 1,360, out of a total of 14,523 candidates, coming to 9.36%.

We are now four days away from the 2017 general election. This week, we are joined by Nerima Wako, Executive Director of Siasa Place, to discuss the role of women and youth in Kenyan politics, and their place in society as a whole. These two groups of make up majority of Kenya's population but somehow receive few, if any, of the benefits. This government came in on a promise to increase their representation and improve their status. Have they fulfilled their promises? Why have they failed to pass the Gender Two-Thirds Bill? What are the challenges that women and youth face in public and political life in Kenya? How can solve them? Press play!

Resources

My Day at Industrial Area Police Station

Women Contributions in Parliament

Jipeshughuli Report (regarding funds for youth)

We are only 11 days away from the 2017 general election, and this week, we are joined by Dr. Njoki Ngumi of The Nest Collective and HEVA Fund to discuss sports, arts and culture, and what it means to be Kenyan. Has the Jubilee Coalition delivered on its promises that were focused on bolstering sports, arts and culture? Why is Kenya so hostile to its artists? What can we learn from the closure of Phoenix Theatre? What challenges does our sports sector face that prevent it from being as vibrant as we'd want it to be? What role does culture play in Kenya? Do we have a national identity? How can we build one? Press play!

Resources

Episode 3: Olympics Shame

Global Corruption Report: Sport

Stories of Our Lives

We are 18 days away from Kenya's 2017 general election, and this week, we are joined by Nanjira Sambuli, Digital Equality Advocacy Manager at the Web Foundation and awesome digital citizen to talk about ICT (Information and Communications Technology) in Kenya, which is billed as the Silicon Savannah. Has the Jubilee Coalition delivered on its 2013 manifesto promises? Will we have an internet shutdown during/after this election? How is Kenya's tech ecosystem doing? How does it compare to the rest of Africa? Is the KFCB overstepping its mandate? Is what Ezekiel Mutua is doing censorship? How about the NCIC and its work on "ending" hate speech? Is this approach the right approach? How do ICTs change what it means to be a Kenyan citizen? How do they affect our present and future? Press play to fins out! :)

Resources

National Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Policy (2006)

Track, Capture, Kill: Inside Communications Surveillance and Counterterrorism in Kenya

Serianu Kenya Cybersecurity Report 2016

The Information Communication Technology Practitioners Bill, 2016

Episode 11: Censored

Episode 7: Do Not Feed The Facebook

What is Free Basics?

NOTE: The Isiolo International Airport has since been completed and is operational.

We are now 25 days away from the general election, scheduled for 8th August 2017. This week, we talk about Kenya's economy with Kwame Owino, the CEO of the Institute of Economic Affairs. Has the Jubilee Coalition delivered on the promises in its 2013 manifesto? Is our approach to infrastructure such as roads and rail the correct one? Have we managed to make Kenya a manufacturing hub as we envisioned? Do Kenyans have access to decent and affordable housing? If not, why is that? Why don't we have food security, and does our approach to agriculture make sense? Press play to find out!

Resources

Housing Policy as an Agenda for Elections 2017

Episode 24: Drought Begins With You