How young filmmakers are protecting artistic freedom in Kenya

February 22, 2019

Rafiki was banned from cinemas by the Kenya Film Classification Board for promoting same-sex relationships. Supplied Samson Kaunga Ndanyi, Rhodes College

Artistic freedom was always tenuous in Kenya, but it’s become even less so since Uhuru Kenyatta became president in 2013. The political pendulum has swung against political dissenters, intellectuals and a handful of media institutions that still believed in objective journalism.

Progressive gains made under the previous administration of President Mwai Kibaki(2002-2013), such as the freedom of press and speech, have disintegrated. In particular, Kenyatta and the men overseeing the country’s cultural landscape, have rolled back artistic freedom by banning films that attempted to expand identity or interpreted it differently. The most prominent example is Rafiki, a recent Kenyan film that was banned for “promoting lesbianism”.

Historically, artistic freedom has always been the outcome of struggle. For example, stage actors initiated the first struggle when post-colonial administrations outlawed theatre groups because actors associated themselves with institutions such as the University of Nairobi and Kenya National Theatre (see Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Decolonising the Mind). By and large, the two institutions hosted the most vocal government critics. It became standard procedure for the government to ask theatre groups to submit play scripts for “assessment” before it could issue a performance license.

Officials paid insignificant attention to musicians and film directors as they hardly antagonised the ruling elites and produced non-controversial items. An example was the sycophantic song, Tawala Kenya Tawala (“rule Kenya rule”), composed and produced by Thomas Wasonga. The lyrics exhorted Daniel Arap Moi, Kenya’s second post-colonial president, to rule eternally. Wasonga’s conservative counterparts in the film industry avoided politics, limiting their cinematic gaze to less controversial themes.

The Moi praise song.

Recently, however, a progressive group of young filmmakers has changed the contours informing cinematic themes. Ambitious and daring, they have inspired a national dialogue of what constitutes free speech as encapsulated in the country’s new Constitution, as well as artistic freedom, and individual and societal identity.

Ambitious and daring

Unlike their forebears, young filmmakers are increasingly embracing cinema as an ideal platform on which to construct a pluralistic identity that includes the LGBTQ community. This has offended the government’s sensibility. Consequently, it has brought cinema under heightened scrutiny.

In September 2014, the Nest Collective, a production company that produced The Stories of Our Lives, applied for a license to distribute and exhibit the film. They received a rejection letter from the Kenya Film and Classification Board, a government agency that regulates film content, which claimed that the film had obscenity, explicit scenes of sexual activities and it promotes homosexuality which, is contrary to our national norms and values.

The classification board drew the producer’s attention to a piece of legislation – the Film & Plays Stage Act – that borrows heavily from the colonial government’s The Stage Plays and Cinematography Exhibitions Ordinance, 1912. During the colonial period the ordinance was used to censor Hollywood westerns to shield African audience from undesirable ideas such as kissing, sex, shooting and nudity.

Rather than evoke Kenya’s Constitution – which protects the “freedom to seek, receive or impart information or ideas”, and the “freedom of artistic creativity” – to sue the board, the Nest Collective retreated. It took its case to social media, where, as expected, it died.

Same tactic

‘Rafiri’ director Wanuri Kahiu, with actors Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. EPA/Clemens Bilan

Four years later, classification board officials banned Rafiki in May 2018 because, as they pointed out, it contained,

homosexual scenes that are against the law, the culture and moral values of the Kenyan people.

It warned that anyone found in possession of the film would be in breach of the law in Kenya, where gay sex is punishable by 14 years.

The film’s director, Wanuri Kahiu, sued the Board. She argued in court that the ban violated her constitutional right to free speech and artistic freedom of expression. Kahiu insisted that Kenya is,

made up of different types of people with different imaginations. There should be freedom to express these imaginations, because imagination doesn’t have boundaries.

The country’s high court agreed with her. They lifted the ban for seven days, allowing the film to be screened and become eligible to be submitted as Kenya’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

‘Rafiki’s’ trailer.

Random act

The censorship of cultural productions doesn’t happen in a vacuum, nor is it a random act designed to secure imagined norms and values. It is a calculated and premediated act of subjugation and an act of authoritarianism. In the cultural sphere this begins when the ruling class imagines and constructs a national identity that encompasses nonexistent and undefined principles — such as moral values and norms. It then moves to create competing categories of people, “us” versus “them”. Once this is complete, the chips are expected to fall in place.

However, young filmmakers are resisting this path. Resisting it is the only way in which artists can ensure they retain a freer artistic spaces. But that requires acts of courage. As Martin Luther King Jr reminded the world in 1963 from a Birmingham jail:

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.

This, exactly, is what Rafiki‘s Kahiu did when she sued the government. It’s what the Nest Collective failed to do. Local artists seeking artistic freedom must follow in Kahiu’s footsteps and peel back the veneer that legitimises censorship.

Samson Kaunga Ndanyi, Assistant Professor of African History, Rhodes College

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Shutting down the internet doesn’t work — but governments keep doing it

Dan Ojumah

February 22, 2019

The Zimbabwean government recently shutdown the internet by ordering mobile companies to withhold mobile data. EPA-EFE/STF George Ogola, University of Central Lancashire

As the internet continues to gain considerable power and agency around the world, many governments have moved to regulate it. And where regulation fails, some states resort to internet shutdowns or deliberate disruptions.

The statistics are staggering. In India alone, there were 154 internet shutdowns between January 2016 and May 2018. This is the most of any country in the world.

But similar shutdowns are becoming common on the African continent. Already in 2019 there have been shutdowns in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Chad, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Last year there were 21 such shutdowns on the continent. This was the case in Togo, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Ethiopia, among others.

The justifications for such shutdowns are usually relatively predictable. Governments often claim that internet access is blocked in the interest of public security and order. In some instances, however, their reasoning borders on the curious if not downright absurd, like the case of Ethiopia in 2017 and Algeria in 2018 when the internet was shut down apparently to curb cheating in national examinations.

Whatever their reasons, governments have three general approaches to controlling citzens’ access to the web.

How they do it

Internet shutdowns or disruptions usually take three forms. The first and probably the most serious is where the state completely blocks access to the internet on all platforms. It’s arguably the most punitive, with significant social, economic and political costs.

The financial costs can run into millions of dollars for each day the internet is blocked. A Deloitte report on the issue estimates that a country with average connectivity could lose at least 1.9% of its daily GDP for each day all internet services are shut down.

For countries with average to medium level connectivity the loss is 1% of daily GDP, and for countries with average to low connectivity it’s 0.4%. It’s estimated that Ethiopia, for example, could lose up to US$500,000 a day whenever there is a shutdown. These shutdowns, then, damage businesses, discourage investments, and hinder economic growth.

The second way that governments restrict internet access is by applying content blocking techniques. They restrict access to particular sites or applications. This is the most common strategy and it’s usually targeted at social media platforms. The idea is to stop or limit conversations on these platforms.

Online spaces have become the platform for various forms of political expression that many states especially those with authoritarian leanings consider subversive. Governments argue, for example, that social media platforms encourage the spread of rumours which can trigger public unrest.

This was the case in 2016 in Uganda during the country’s presidential elections. The government restricted access to social media, describing the shutdown as a “security measure to avert lies … intended to incite violence and illegal declaration of election results”.

In Zimbabwe, the government blocked social media following demonstrations over an increase in fuel prices. It argued that the January 2019 ban was because the platforms were being “used to coordinate the violence”.

The third strategy, done almost by stealth, is the use of what is generally known as “bandwidth throttling”. In this case telecom operators or internet service providers are forced to lower the quality of their cell signals or internet speed. This makes the internet too slow to use. “Throttling” can also target particular online destinations such as social media sites.

What drives governments

In most cases the desire to control the internet is rooted in governments’ determination to control the political narrative. Many see the internet as an existential threat that must be contained, no matter what consequences it will have on other sectors.

The internet is seen as a threat because it disrupts older forms of government political control, particularly the control of information. The stranglehold on the production and dissemination of information has always been an invaluable political tool for many African governments.

The loss of this control, at a time when the media has brought politics closer to the people, presents governments with a distinctly unsettling reality. Social media, for example, inherently encourages political indiscipline and engenders the production and circulation of alternative political narratives.

In addition, because it is a networked platform, users are simultaneously and instantaneously local and international and are engaged in an information carnival that is difficult to police. Quite often the narratives therein are at variance with the self-preserving and carefully constructed ideologies of the state.

The shutdown trend

The irony, however, is that as these shutdowns continue, even proliferate, there is scant evidence they actually work. Instead, they seem to animate dissent and encourage precisely the kind of responses considered subversive by many governments This has been the case in Burkina Faso and Uganda, for example, where such bans have simply increased the profile of the causes being agitated.

Internet shutdowns don’t stop demonstrations. Nor do they hinder the production and circulation of rumours: they encourage them instead. Many people are also circumventing the shutdowns through the use of virtual private networks (VPNs). These are networks that redirect internet activity to a computer in a different geographical location thus enabling access to sites blocked in one’s own country. VPNS are now par for the course in countries like Zimbabwe.

The future of unfettered internet access in Africa looks precarious should governments continue on this trajectory. The absence in many African countries of enforceable constitutional guarantees that protect the public’s right to information means there are few opportunities for legal redress. This makes the development of legislative regimes that recognise and protect access to the internet both urgent and necessary.

George Ogola, Reader in Journalism, University of Central Lancashire

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Kenya Big Four Agenda: Stakeholders Information Pack

Dan Ojumah

February 22, 2019

At the 54th Jamhuri Day celebrations on the 12th of December 2017, His Excellency the President announced that his final term in office will focus its time and resources on a targeted transformative agenda based on four socio-economic pillars:

– Increase manufacturing share of GDP from 8.4% to 15%
– Ensure 100% Food and Nutrition Security
– Provide 500,000 Affordable Houses to the low income segment
– Provide 100% Universal Health Coverage

Key focus areas for the Big Four Enablers

Infrastructure

Targeted infrastructure investments by expanding the:

Feeder roads network (linked to trunk roads) and the rehabilitation of 10,000km of roads
Passenger handling capacity and construction of new runways at airports
Port infrastructure and facilities
Rail infrastructure to link Kenya with the wider East Africa region

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Youth in jobs through vocational training and education:

Re-positioning and strengthening the TVET Education System to support the Big Four pillars
Implementing the STEM Education Programme
Developing a Labour Market Information System (LMIS) to support labour market actors and stakeholders
Establishment of new industrial training centres and implementing the National Internship Program

Power

Stable and competitive cost of power:

Increase Kenya electricity generation capacity from 2,699 MW to 5,221 MW
Reduce commercial & industrial electricity tariffs
Modernize electricity dispatch optimization, favoring low cost plants

Technology and Innovation

Digitise land titles and expand e-Government services system
Expand the National Fibre Optic infrastructure to cover the entire country
Establish National Science Technology & Innovation parks

Security

Embark on a ‘Citizen-centric’ police reforms program that supports a 24-hr economy
Enhance security infrastructure modernisation and improve staff welfare
Improve data management through the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) and National Identity Management System (NiM)

Governance

Policy measures to address capital flight and government procurement reforms
Political & legislative measures to plug revenue leaks at National and County levels
Administrative measures to drive transparency and accountability in the public service
Fiscal measures to streamline tax breaks and plug revenue leakages in the fiscus
Law enforcement measures to strengthen the current anti-corruption campaign

Why invest in Kenya: Kenya’s Strategic Comparative Advantages

Kenya falls within the Top-3 Sub-Saharan Africa countries in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business global ranking
Kenya is the largest and most advanced economy in East & Central Africa
Kenya is strategically located as a gateway to the East and Central Africa
Kenya acts as a regional gateway to the wider Africa, Asia and Europe regions
Kenya provides political stability & a supportive legal environment
Kenya has a large English speaking and well educated labour pool
Kenya has a relatively well developed physical infrastructure

Airbus A380: from high-tech marvel to commercial flop

Dan Ojumah

February 21, 2019

Airbus A380: from high-tech marvel to commercial flop

The final deliveries of the A380 are anticipated for 2021. Mike Fuchslocher/Shutterstock Oihab Allal-Chérif, Neoma Business School

This time it really is over. Airbus chief executive, Tom Enders, recently announced the end of the A380, the largest commercial aircraft ever built. Despite reported investments of more than €14 billion, this iconic European project has not been as successful as was originally hoped. With only 234 units delivered out of 313 ordered over 13 years, it is far from the break-even point – originally estimated at 1,200 aircraft over 20 years. With orders drying up and production already running at a minimum, it was time for Airbus to stop the damage.

Long before its launch date, the A380 appeared to represent the future of Airbus, which anticipated that air traffic would double in the next 20 years. That’s why it is both big – it can carry anywhere from 550 to more than 800 passengers on two full decks – and luxurious, with options such as private rooms, restaurants and bars – even an in-flight casino. Its engines are on average 30% more powerful than those of the Boeing 747 and are worth €13 million each – the value of a ton of gold for all four.

National Geographic dedicated an episode of its series ‘Megastructures’ to the A380.

To keep the overall weight down, the A380’s designers used groundbreaking composite structure, including carbon ribs within aluminium wings. Equipped with the most advanced navigation system in commercial aviation, it can operate for more than 13 hours and fly more than 9,000 miles.

The aircraft is built on a continental scale: the wings are made in Wales, engines are made in England (Rolls Royce) or the US (Engine Alliance), the fuselage and the vertical stabiliser is built in Germany and the horizontal stabiliser in Spain. Final assembly is carried out in France. Each wing weighs 6.5 tons and is composed of tens of thousands of components, carrying the fuel, supporting the fuselage and channelling the power of the engines.

Niche market

If the A380 is undeniably one of the most impressive aircraft of all time, its unique design and distributed production system created numerous technical and coordination problems. The initial launch was delayed 18 months by a range of difficulties, and the ability of airlines to customise the aircraft proved to be an additional source of delays.

While the A380’s first flight – on April 7 2005 – was a success, the market was already changing. Airlines that initially favoured big hubs such as Singapore and Dubai began to offer more direct flights from a significant number of middle-sized airports. The rise of low-cost airlines brought in influential new players and weakening the long-time leaders that had been seen as big prospects for the A380.

Most importantly, the 2008 economic crisis seriously cut into the growth in air traffic. While growth has returned, the market is smaller than expected, making it harder to fill a wide-body aircraft, much less a double-deck one. It is simply not profitable for an airline to have flights with less than 80% of the seats filled. Emirates, which owns half of all operating A380s, has the financial resources to take on this risk, but not other carriers.

It was Airbus’ mimicry of its historic competitor, Boeing, that led to the gap between supply and a considerably evolved demand. While some experts claimed that the A380 was 10 to 20 years ahead of the market, Airbus executives now admit that the plane was 10 years too late. As Enders said when announcing the A380’s demise: “What we are seeing here is the end of the large four-engine aircraft.”

Airbus CEO Tom Enders on the decision to end the A380’s production (AeronewsTV).

With A380 sales lagging, Airbus launched its new mid-size flagship, the A350, in 2014. It and Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, both of which have only two engines yet can fly great distances, were preferred because they had lower costs and fewer constraints than the A380.

A380 orders started to dry up in 2015 and persistent rumours suggested that the end was near. There were no orders from US carriers, few in Asia and even Air France halved its anticipated A380 fleet. On January 15 2018, John Leahy, Airbus’ chief commercial officer, declared that if Emirates didn’t order at least 30 more A380s, it wouldn’t be possible to keep the program alive. British Airways, which owns a dozen A380s, has suggested that it could acquire others, but only if Airbus was “aggressive on the pricing”. Whatever the result of those discussions, they are unlikely to alter the company’s decision.

An inevitable disaster?

Today, the very design of the A380 is being questioned – that it was in many ways a delusion of grandeur by Airbus, which wanted at all costs to beat the Boeing 747. But its four engines consumed too much fuel, and being able to carry more passengers wasn’t enough to make up the difference. The A380’s immense size and double-deck layout also require airport investments not needed for other airliners.

Without the support of Emirates, which has made the A380 its flagship and is probably the only company that will regret its end, the decision to cease production would have been made a long time ago. Emirates has agreed to convert part of its latest order to A330neo and A350 aircraft, remaining faithful to Airbus. The last delivery is scheduled for 2021 and there will be no new versions brought into service. Meanwhile, the Boeing 747 celebrates 50 years of service – though it too is ending production, marking the end of an era for airline behemoths.

The end of the A380 is not necessarily good news for Boeing: it releases Airbus from a weight that has long prevented it from delivering its full potential. Resources and skills can be better allocated and thousands of workers may be offered jobs on other production lines. If the end of the A380 is a hard blow, the end of the story has yet to be written for Airbus.

Oihab Allal-Chérif, Full Professor, Information Systems and Purchasing Management, Neoma Business School

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

President Uhuru mourns Thayu Kamau, prominent Muranga businessman

Dan Ojumah

February 21, 2019

President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a message of condolence and encouragement to the family, relatives and friends of Mr. Thayu Kamau Kabugi, a prominent Murang’a businessman who passed on last night.

In his message, the President said the late Kabugi was a strong-willed person who believed in hard work and growing the economy for the benefit of all Kenyans.

He described the late Kabugi as a true patriot and a nationalist who created job opportunities for many Kenyans through his businesses.

“Indeed, he was a nationalist who believed in hard work and building strong bonds of friendship,” said the President.

The President said Mzee Kabugi, who died aged 94, has left an enduring legacy to all those who were fortunate to interact with him both socially and in business.

“He was exceptional in his commitment to both business and community development as demonstrated by his contribution to several community projects,” said the President.

The Head of State said through his real estate ventures, Mzee Kabugi built several houses giving opportunities to several Kenyans to own homes.

Uhuru: I will continue working with Raila on national reconciliation

Dan Ojumah

February 20, 2019

President Uhuru Kenyatta today said he will continue working with opposition leader Raila Odinga in ensuring that the country achieves sustainable national reconciliation, unity and peace.

He said there is no greater legacy for him than to leave a peaceful, healed and united nation where all Kenyans feel included in matters of socio-economic development.

“I will continue working with Raila Odinga. We need to be inclusive on how we manage our affairs. We must be inclusive to foster peace, development and prosperity,” said President Kenyatta at Kisii High School where he met leaders from Kisii and Nyamira counties.

“We must move together as a nation where no Kenyan feels being left out,” he added.

President Kenyatta who was accompanied by DP William Ruto and Raila Odinga said only inclusivity that encompasses equality and equitable sharing of resources will take the nation to the next level of development.

He said the Building Bridges Initiative which was crafted after the historic 9th March 2018 handshake with Raila aims at bringing all Kenyans together by working on the inclusivity agenda.

Through the handshake, said the President,“ We agreed to bring Kenyans together by rejecting politics of division.”

At the meeting, Kisii and Nyamira leaders led by Governor James Ongwae engaged the Head of State on various development issues before he proceeded to the upgraded Kisii Teaching and Referral hospital where he unveiled several new facilities.

Despite prodding by local leaders to declare his position on the ongoing debate on a referendum to amend the constitution, President Kenyatta refused to be dragged into the matter saying his agenda for Kenya was development, completing ongoing programs, improving national security and winning the war on corruption.

“I will continue fighting corruption until we win the war. We shall not be moved or shaken by forces against this war,” he said as he commended Chief Justice David Maraga (who was present) for leading a judiciary which has now become bolder in fighting the vice.

The President expressed his appreciation that the judiciary is now showing a strong will to fight graft and the courts are demonstrating a strong commitment to punish those engaging in corruption.

President Kenyatta said resources being lost through corruption can be used to improve the salaries of public servants who he told to be patient in the push for better remuneration until the economy improves and the anti-graft war is won.

“Once we win this war, we can afford higher salaries. When the economy improves, we can talk of better salaries,” he said as he warned that corrupt individuals should stop dragging their communities into their problems once nabbed engaging in corruption deals.

The Deputy President agreed with the President that Kenyans were no longer interested in divisive politics.

“We have agreed we do not need politics of hate, division and fighting among leaders,” DP Ruto said.

Raila Odinga said the Building Bridges Initiative will benefit all Kenyans saying the handshake was on the realization that continued street protests, hatred and divisions between politicians was likely to drag the country into more conflict.

He said the Building Bridges Initiative is informed by a 9-point agenda that includes sustained war against corruption.

At the upgraded Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital, the President opened a new 250-bed capacity male ward, unveiled a 100-body capacity mortuary with histology and anatomy labs and, a chapel. The previous mortuary could only accommodate 24 bodies.

The President also commissioned a 64 slide computerized Tomograpgy (CT-Scan), launched a 50-unit doctors’ hostel to be used by interns and visiting doctors on exchange programmes.

The Head of State also performed a ground-breaking ceremony for an ultra-modren cancer diagnostic and treatment centre.

He said the Shs 2 billion Kisii cancer centre will be the first such facility among three other centres of excellence that the government plans to put up across the county.

Besides the four ultra-modern cancer centres, the government is also planning to establish chemotherapy centres in various parts of the country to manage the rising cases of cancer.

The President also witnessed the presentation of an accrediation certificate to the hospital, giving it the green light to become a medical training for Kisii University.

The certificate was presented to the Kisii University Vice Chancellor by the Chairman of Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board, Prof. George Magoha.

The President said the new facilities at the upgraded hospital was a clear testimony of the close working relations between the two levels of government.

Earlier, the President received an 11-point memorandum from Governor Ongwae listing key projects that the local leaders sought the engagement of the President.

Responding to some of the issues at the leaders meeting, President Kenyatta said there are no plans to change the original route of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line from the Narok- Kisii-Kisumu route as feared.

The President also promised that the upgrading of Suneka airstrip will be completed by end of the year as Government explores the possibility of establishing an airport at Nyamaiya.

On coffee debts owed by farmers from Kisii, the President said a waiver will be considered once an audit is complete. The KTDA will also be supported to construct two new tea factories in Nyamira and Kisii.

The Head of State said JICA will construct a factory for value addition on Soapstone, one of the most lucrative resources from Kisii.

The Head of State underscored the need to complete all roads currently under construction before new one’s can be started adding that the government has allocate a Shs 14 billion budget for road projects in Kisii and Nyamira counties.

President Kenyatta said the country needs to rethink its land use and tenure systems adding that continued subdivision of farmlands into small units was making the country food insecure.

Why we are not ready for genetically designed babies

Dan Ojumah

February 20, 2019

Any children born of genome editing are genetic mosaics with uncertain resistance to disease. (Shutterstock) Françoise Baylis, Dalhousie University; Graham Dellaire, Dalhousie University, and Landon J Getz, Dalhousie University

The media is buzzing with the surprise news that a Chinese researcher, Jainkui He, has created the world’s first genome-edited twins. He did this, ostensibly, to provide resistance to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Prof. He, reportedly working with former Rice University supervisor Michael Deem, capitalized on work in 2012 by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuel Charpentier, who introduced a new and easier way of altering the DNA of human and non-human organisms using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. He also built upon the work of molecluar biologist Feng Zhang, who optimized this genome editing system for use in human cells.

He’s claim moves human germline genome editing from the lab to the delivery room — something other scientists might have been thinking about despite ethical concerns.

Jainkui He explains why his lab edited the genome of twin baby girls, Nana and Lulu, when they were embryos.

The scientific community has expressed widespread condemnation of He’s decision to initiate a pregnancy using genetically modified embryos — as “dangerous, “irresponsible” and “crazy.” What if mistakes are made? How can we be sure this powerful technology will benefit humankind? Are we ready for the consequences of genetically engineering our own evolution?

We argue that we cannot allow individual scientists to decide the fate of the human genome. Heritable human genome editing poses a significant existential threat because changes may persist throughout the human population for generations, with unknown risks.

We must commit to inclusive global dialogue — involving experts and the public — to develop broad societal consensus on what to do with genetic technologies.

Possible mutations or forced sterilization

He announced to the world that he edited the genome of human embryos for seven couples using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. According to He, two of these embryos resulted in a pregnancy, and twin girls (Lulu and Nana, which are pseudonyms) were born.

The goal of the editing was to confer resistance to HIV by modifying the CCR5 gene (the protein doorway by which HIV enters human cells). He claims that these edits have been verified in both twins and this data has been looked over and called “probably accurate” by George Church, a world-renowned Harvard geneticist.

Evidence suggests, however, the procedure was unnecessary, is unlikely to provide benefit and could even cause harm. Although the father of Lulu and Nana was HIV positive, it is unlikely that he would have passed this disease to his children using standard IVF procedures.

The children born of genome editing are genetic mosaics with uncertain resistance to HIV and perhaps decreased resistance to viral diseases like influenza and West Nile. This is because the CCR5 gene that He disabled plays an important role in resistance to these diseases.

As well, there is the possibility of unintended mutations caused by the CRISPR procedure. These health risks cannot be overstated, as the repercussions for these twin girls, in terms of their susceptibility to infectious diseases or cancer will likely be a cause for concern throughout their lives.

Another uncertain consequence for the twins concerns their reproductive health and freedom. As they approach reproductive age will they face the possibility of “forced” sterilization to prevent their edited genes being passed on to future generations?

Multiple investigations

The Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, where He is employed (currently on leave from February 2018 to January 2021), has distanced itself from the researcher and will form an independent international committee to investigate the widely publicized, controversial research.

Feng Zhang, center, an institute member of Harvard and MIT’s Broad Institute, reacts to reporters on the issue of world’s first genetically edited babies after the Human Genome Editing Conference in Hong Kong on Nov. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Rice University, where Michael Deem is employed, has also said they will investigate.

The Shenzhen HarMoniCare Women’s and Children’s Hospital launched an inquiry into the validity of the ethics documents provided by He documenting research ethics approval.

Importantly, the ethics approval was only uploaded to the Chinese Clinical Trial Database on Nov. 8 as a retrospective registration — likely around the time that the twins were purportedly born.

Designer babies by powerful elites

With the Genetic Genie out of the bottle, we have to ask whether we need any more time to reflect on the ethics?

A just and fair society is one with less disparity and more justice. A predictable consequence of allowing (nay, encouraging) individuals to genetically modify their children will be greater disparity and greater injustice — and not only because of limited access to genome editing technology.

Of significant concern is the inevitable increase in discrimination, stigmatization and marginalization as powerful scientific and corporate elites decide which traits are desirable and which traits are not.

Although He disavows any interest in so-called “designer babies” whose parents have chosen their children’s eye-colour, hair-colour, IQ and so on, we are forced to contemplate such a “eugenic” dystopian future should we continue down this path.

The human genome belongs to all of us. As such, we need to commit to the hard work of making good on the 2015 admonition by the Organizing Committee for the International Summit on Human Gene Editing to work towards “broad societal consensus” on how we should proceed with, or not proceed with, editing it.

In this regard it is heartwarming to have Feng Zhang call for a moratorium on implantation of edited embryos and remind his scientific colleagues that “in 2015, the international research community said it would be irresponsible to proceed with any germline editing without ‘broad societal consensus about the appropriateness of the proposed application.’”

Françoise Baylis, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Bioethics and Philosophy, Dalhousie University; Graham Dellaire, Director of Research and Professor of Pathology, Dalhousie University, and Landon J Getz, Ph.D. Candidate in Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Scribes join First Lady in fitness drill at State House

Dan Ojumah

February 20, 2019

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta was today morning joined by journalists drawn from local and international media houses for a training session as she gears up for the 4th edition of the Beyond Zero Half Marathon slated for March 10.

The training session which started at 6.30 a.m with a warm up session was led by athletics trainer and former marathon world champion Douglas Wakiihuri and included an over 10km jog around State House Nairobi grounds.

Briefing the press after the training session, Wakiihuri said the First Lady has been training consistently for the last three weeks and, is fit and ready for the marathon.

While urging more people to sign up for the forthcoming run, Wakiihuri said that in order to run the half marathon with ease, one has to be disciplined and observe a strict training regime.

He said that First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has maintained as strict training regime over the years which she has accelerated in recent weeks ahead of the March 10 Beyond Zero marathon.

“You have to do endurance, speed, strength and at the same time take care of the wear and tear of your body,” Mr Wakiihuri said.

“All this, combined with proper nutrition, puts one in a good stead and fit enough to run the half marathon, ” he added.

Peter Gacheru, the CEO of IMG Kenya who are the event managers for the 2019 Beyond Zero Half Marathon, said that besides the traditional 21km, 10km, 5km categories, a special 2km walk for pregnant women has been included so as to raise awareness on maternal health.

The organisers have also incorporated paralympics to take care of athletes living with disabilities.

“We have also incorporated Paralympic games this year. We will have a wheelchair and tricycle 21km race. And for the first time in any of the road races in Kenya, we shall have three categories of the visually impaired – T11, T12 and T13 – participating in the 21km marathon,” Gacheru said.

In addition, Gacheru said there will be a 10km special run for the Beyond Zero sponsors and corporate teams.

He said 25,000 participants are expected to take part in this year’s Beyond Zero marathon.

Beyond Zero coordinator Angella Langat said that the Beyond Zero Half Marathon is the anchor fundraising and resource mobilization platform for the First Lady’s child and maternal health interventions.

She said that the resources raised through the marathon will be used to expand the coverage of Beyond Zero’s health interventions to cover more Kenyans in need especially those in hard to reach parts of the country.

First Lady encourages young people to be agents of positive change

Dan Ojumah

February 19, 2019

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has encouraged young people to be agents of positive change and progress by adding their voice to addressing problems facing the society.
The First Lady pointed out that the youth hold the key to the future and should pro actively contribute to the search for solutions to challenges such as maternal and child mortality, poverty alleviation, hunger, inadequate housing, environmental degradation as well as curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS.
“These are critical issues of our time, and I firmly believe that as young women and men, you hold the keys to our future in your hands,” she said.
The First Lady was speaking today when she officially opened the 37th annual East African Model United Nations (EAMUN) Conference at the United Nations Complex at Gigiri in Nairobi.

The EAMUN, whose vision and mission is “Building leadership for tomorrow, is a conference that is designed for high school students aged 15 to 18 years where participants dialogue and interact to formulate solutions to real world problems.
This year’s conference, whose theme is “Tujenge Pamoja”, has drawn participants from 72 schools across nine countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, South Africa, Congo, Nigeria and Sweden.
The First Lady observed that the Model UN has become an increasingly effective and popular means of educating students about the important work of the United Nations, and the global issues it resolves as part of its institutional mandate.
“This conference has continued to attract thousands of young people from all over the world, eager to immerse themselves in debate, learn the intricacies of diplomacy, lobbying and negotiation,” the First Lady said.
She added that the conference also provides an opportunity for young people to cultivate responsible leadership and gain first-hand appreciation of the dynamics of individuals and cultures.
“You will become more confident, more empathetic. It will make you more aware and attuned to your obligations – to care about each other, to care about other less fortunate citizens,” she told the delegates.
The First Lady welcomed the theme of this year’s conference “Tujenge Pamoja”, saying it promotes collaboration and encourages the young people to overcome their differences, celebrate common opportunities and guard against shared threats.
“Some of you may wonder how this process will make a difference in the real world, or question the impact of all the work you will be doing here over the next few days. I assure you that this experience will not be in vain,” the First Lady advised.
She commended the EAMUN for developing a charity wing which has helped women in Langata Women’s prison, self-help groups in Laikipia as well as sponsoring two schools from Kibra in Nairobi to participate as delegates in the junior model UN programme.
“This reflects a true spirit of inclusivity that we want the model UN to embrace, where more children from less fortunate backgrounds can experience the exceptional opportunity provided by the Model UN,” she said.
Other speakers included Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, EAMUN Secretary General Elizabeth Kuguru and the programme’s Coordinator Erick Huma.

KeNHA closes sections of Saba Saba to Makande road

Dan Ojumah

February 19, 2019

Kenya National Highways Authority( KeNHA) has closed sections of Saba Saba to Makande road to facilitate ongoing road works.
The road forms part of the A8 trunk road and is being repaired in a bid to further de congest the tourist town of Mombasa.

KeNHA Director General Engineer Peter Mundinia says the road works will go on for 6 months.
He urged road users to cooperate with traffic police and county officials during the period.

“We urge the road users to bear with the inconvenience as we undertake these works”, he said.

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