Strathmore Law Journal
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Islam and Terrorism: The Blurred Boundary Between the Cosmic and this World
Get PDFToday the barbarity of crimes in the name of religion is all the more disturbing particularly when one considers the righteous religious language in which such heinous acts are cloaked. Violence perpetrated in the name of God continues to engage the world at alarming levels. It is in this regard that this study examines the general relationship between violence and religion in the specific context of Islam from the point of view of the cosmic war theory as advanced by Mark Juergensmeyer. The study observes that violent activities related to Islam are a result of the blurring of boundaries between the symbolic cosmic world of religion and this world, as a result of which the symbolic violence of religion translates into real violence. This translation is occasioned by violent groups in Islam legitimising their violence on the inherent symbolic violence of religions as they respond to ‘unfavourable’ local and global structural conditions
Chinese Foreign Direct Investment and Human Rights in Kenya: A Mutually-Affirming Relationship?
Get PDFDoes the increase in Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Kenya portend doom for human rights in the country? The prominent narrative has been that FDI undermines human rights in host states, especially those in the developing world. This narrative is countered by claims that there exists a mutually affirming relationship between FDI and human rights. Proponents of this view posit that FDI facilitates the diffusion of human rights norms and correlates with the improved rule of law in host states. They also point to emerging human rights jurisprudence in international investment arbitration as evidence of a reciprocal relationship between FDI and human rights. In light of these arguments, this paper analyses the extent to which such a reciprocal relationship bears out between Chinese FDI and human rights in Kenya. It will be demonstrated that given the lack of a framework for human rights accountability for corporations at the international level, the restrictive treatment of human rights in international investment arbitration tribunals and weak institutional capacity in host states, a positive overlap between FDI and human rights is hardly a panacea for human rights protection in Kenya. Therefore, a synergy of legal measures and non-legal measures provide a pragmatic approach to insulate human rights from violations that may be associated with Chinese FDIs
Traditional Justice System as Alternative Dispute Resolution Under Article 159(2)(C) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010
Get PDFoai:ojs2.strathmore.edu:article/1There are various forms of justice. It cannot be limited to legal justice. This paper explores the potential of traditional justice systems under the Constitution. It illustrates the need for a multidisciplinary approach in order to fully realise the right to access justice. Through a comparative analysis as well as case law, the paper demonstrates how alternative dispute resolution is not limited to civil cases, but can be applied to criminal proceedings. Challenges are pointed out and recommendations made on how to improve and effectively manage traditional justice syste
A Representative of the People: A review of Dominic Burbidge’s An Experiment in Devolution: National Unity and the Deconstruction of the Kenyan State
Get PDFThis article is dedicated to analyze Dominic Burbidge’s An experiment in devolution. Published by Strathmore University Press in 2019, the 319-page volume is a welcome addition to the growing scholarship on devolution in Kenya. This text, indeed, brings with it a much needed ‘empirical grit’ to a discourse previously saturated with historically and theoretically derived conjecture. The hallmark of the book is, therefore, this attention to the material, the meticulousness with which it relays empirical findings and finally, how the author manages to successfully marry empirical data and theory; resulting in an interesting telling of the story of devolution. Thus, Burbidge sets out to test the performance of devolution in the counties where it was most predicted to fail: the former Central Province. He investigates how devolution has actually played out in this region; taking into consideration the historically complicated relationship between Mount Kenya and Nairobi and the enduring scepticism as to the compatibility of devolution and the interests of Central Kenya
Land Reform in Kenya: The History of an Idea
Get PDFThe great legal scholar Patrick McAuslan described the 1990s as inaugurating a new era of land law reform. Land law reform has taken place on a significant scale since 1990: a total of 32 new national land laws have been enacted since 1990 in nearly 60 per cent of African states. Land issues have been the cause of both simmering discontent and violent conflict throughout Kenya’s colonial and post-colonial history. They remain a ‘key fault line’ in modern Kenya. Historians of Kenya and commentators on its politics continue to find patrimonialism, ethnic favouritism and corruption at play, nowhere more so than in the politics of land. Kenya’s problems with land defy easy description: they remain complex and multi-faceted and include massive and worsening inequalities in access to land, a propensity to land grabbing and continuing conflicts over who is and who is not entitled to occupy land. Efforts to address these problems have since before independence been erratic at best
Ending the Oppression Olympics: Promoting the Concomitant Political Participation of Marginalised Groups in Kenya
Get PDFThe 2010 Constitution of Kenya is laudable for its commitment to redressing the exclusion from political and public life experienced by marginalised groups. Articles 21 and 27 require that the state and public officials take legal and administrative measures to ensure marginalised groups’ participation in governance and other spheres of life. Moreover, Article 100 mandates the passing of a single legislation to provide for the representation in Parliament of women, youths, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities and marginalised communities. These provisions evince an intention that their inclusion be redressed simultaneously.
However, the equality debate appears to have become synonymous with gender equality or the implementation of the ‘two-thirds gender rule’ as it is popularly known. This rule requires that not more than two-thirds of any elective or appointive position be occupied by one gender. Women’s underrepresentation has dominated litigation on inclusion, academic writing and proposals for electoral reforms.
This unitary approach to inclusion, which privileges one category of difference, makes other marginalised groups doubly invisible. Moreover, statistics demonstrate that despite privileging gender over other factors of exclusion, women’s participation remains marginal. Further, it causes the groups at the bottom to compete rather than cooperate, while still falling short of addressing the informal patterns of prejudice and discrimination that keep the majority of the marginalised on the fringes of public life.
This research proposes the intersectionality approach to policy design to simultaneously promote political participation of the various groups. Intersectionality recognises the role of the various categories of difference as equally important yet conceptually different, examines the relationship between the various categories, and emphasises the interaction between individual and institutional factors in achieving equality. Intersectionality, therefore, provides the most effective approach to diagnosing the factors fuelling exclusion and ultimately providing an effective prescription
COVID-19 Pandemic: Awakening the Call for Paradigm Shifting in the Teaching, Learning, Research and Professional Development: In Human and Peoples’ Rights, Freedoms and Responsibilities in Africa
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has awoken the entire world from its slumber – the highly-industrialised and the less-industrialised, those regarded to be developed and the less developed or underdeveloped in sciences and technologies, the rich/wealthy and the poor-but-rich-in-resources alike. It has shown that it has no respect for the few who belong to the ruling class and political elites – the virus’ attack on the heir-to-the-throne in Britain, Prince Charles, and the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, are good examples. International conferences and summits of heads of state and governments are being conducted virtually. Educators and students from primary school to university and college levels are forced to re-skill to teach and learn online and not mainly through contact learning as was the established norm. Contextually, limited electrification hinders access to the internet and digitisation. The emerging norm is no longer going to be the traditional separation of the sciences, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM) from humanities and social sciences. The interface and interrelatedness of disciplines is a requirement in managing and manoeuvring human life through this pandemic, and beyond. There should be more use of multi-discipline and inter-discipline perspectives and approaches of knowledge development and application. This is not a call for the death of mono-disciplines. They remain essential fields of specialisation within broader contexts
An Examination of the Lomé Charter
Get PDFDescribed as the common heritage of humanity by Arvid Pardo in 1967, the sea has always been unanimously recognised as a source of life. Hosting most of the world’s living and non-living resources, the sea has always attracted human’s attention. From organised expeditions in search of new land to fishing, the sea has contributed to the economic, social and cultural development of many nations. Despite extensive developments made in the road and air transportation systems to facilitate trade, the sea still plays an active part in international trade. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 80% of goods traded worldwide are carried by sea and as per the UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport 2020, the volume of seaborne trade for 2019 reached 11.08 billion tons. Currently, many countries and regional blocs are converging towards this concept of maritime security in order to restore peace and stability at sea. In Africa, for instance, maritime security is expressly defined in Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050 (2050 AIM Strategy). This article is devoted to examine the status questionis of the treaties and legislation application