Why fixing Africa’s data gaps will lead to better health policies

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February 28, 2019

An aid worker collects health and nutrition data in northeastern Kenya. Shutterstock Damazo T. Kadengye, African Population and Health Research Center

There’s been a data revolution around the world driven by advances in information technology and a need for research that responds to complex developmental issues.

African countries are also experiencing the revolution when it comes to volume, types, sources, frequency and speed of data production. This is particularly true in the population and health sector. There’s more population and health information available in the public domain than ever.

Ministries of health in most African countries conduct periodic health programme reviews to establish whether policies are producing the desired results. Countries also undertake assessments on the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases. This is done through frequent analysis of routinely collected data with the aim of improving programmes.

These periodic reviews usually serve as important input for national strategic plans. But there are still challenges with the collection of accurate and timely data, their utility, use and analytical capacity. This means that it remains difficult for many countries to develop evidence-based policies.

Mapping the issues

A number of challenges face countries trying to improve the collation and use of reliable data. Here are some of them.

Coordination: There are multiple sources of health data. These include household surveys, census, health facilities, disease surveillance, policy data and research studies. Datasets are increasingly spatially referenced and would be valuable in informing health programmes and monitoring performance. But they remain relatively under-used. It’s important to find a way to bridge this gap and increase discovery and use of data.

A platform for analytic support and triangulation of available data is needed. This would reduce fragmentation and duplication while improving efficiency.

Frequency of analysis: The premise of evidence-based decision making is that health data lack value unless they are analysed and actually used to inform decisions.

This is why coordinated and systematic analysis and review of all available data is essential. The analysis and reviews must be done at regular intervals. Regular programme assessments are critical, but are often lacking or insufficient.

Data structures: Periodical population and health surveys often consist of quantitative, qualitative and geospatial data that is voluminous and/or comprehensive. This requires well trained staffs with appropriate analytical skills to make meaning of these data.

Routinely collected health service or register-based data is common in the health sector and is traditionally used for reporting purposes. This data are longitudinal and provide wider coverage – geographically and in terms of the items recorded. This allows for trends in the use of services to be estimated. But the use of routinely collected data in most African countries has been far from optimal. This is mainly due to a lack of analytical capacity and low government demand for the data.

Data Quality: Health data, especially routinely collected service data, often have quality issues. These include missing values and errors in data entry and computation.

These errors can lead to wrong results, wrong conclusions and wrong recommendations. They can also mean that new priorities, policies and programmes based on the data will be wrong.

In addition, data analysis, dissemination and use in the sector are held back. This is a problem because the use of information sources beyond routine health management information is already weak.

Good quality data are essential for proper planning, budgeting and implementation of development activities, particularly those in essential services sectors such as public health. In the absence of quality data public resources investments are often based on guessed estimates, this leads to wastage.

Data Cost: Data collection, handling, archival and analysis is still expensive in terms of capacity, logistics and financial implications for most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. National statistical offices don’t have the necessary technological, financial and human resource capacities to collect, process and disseminate the required data.

Making data work

African countries continue to work towards achieving national and regional commitments to improving data collection and use. But it’s critical that governments invest in relevant, timely and accurate data production for decision-making.

Data actors including data managers, statisticians and data analysts need to be involved at every stage. They need to be part of mapping out the problems as well as designing research methodologies and figuring out how to collect, analyse and disseminate data.

A wide range of data, including earth observation and geospatial data, needs to be leveraged to review progress in meeting health and wellbeing targets. This is critical to improving the effectiveness and sustainability of health systems.

And there’s an urgent need to shift the focus from data to information and knowledge. This includes working with end users, like health departments, to create tools to access information.

Finally, governments need to make resources available to meet commitments to providing quality and affordable health care for all. This could be done by mobilising domestic resource, setting standard data indicators (for collection, analysis and reporting) and strengthening national statistics bodies.

Commitment may be the first step towards affordable health care. But more needs to be done to harness the power of data for public health.

Michelle Mbuthia, a Communications Officer at APHRC and Caroline Kabaria, a Postdoctoral Researcher at APHRC contributed to this article.

Damazo T. Kadengye, Associate Research Scientist / Statistician, African Population and Health Research Center

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

How politicians shared dams compensation cash

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Dan Ojumah

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February 27, 2019

Details are emerging that cash meant to compensate people displaced for the construction of two mega dams was collected by politicians.
The close to Sh. 4Billion was ostensibly collected and handed over to the contractor who in turn forwarded to some elected leaders for onward distribution.

It is not clear why the beneficiaries were not paid directly as is normally the case in such dealings.
Sources within the investigations told Uzalendo News that the idea was to enhance relations between the contractor and the local people in a bid to ensure smooth relations with the community.
It is not clear whether any of the land owners were compensated.
National Lands Commision is said to be fully aware of the transaction and it’s officials will shed more light in the ongoing investigations at the DCI offices.

It is not clear whether any of the land owners were compensated.
National Lands Commision is said to be fully aware of the transaction and it’s officials will shed more light in the ongoing investigations at the DCI offices.

India: How #MeToo is battling gender-based violence

By

Dan Ojumah

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February 27, 2019

The #MeToo movement swept India last year when the Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta accused actor and filmmaker Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her in 2008 on the set for the film Horn OK Pleassss. In October last year, she also filed a First Information Report (FIR) against him and others with police. It has been reported that Patekar has denied the allegations and issued a legal notice to her to withdraw the allegations. Dutta was also in the news more recently, putting a “curse” on film choreographer Ganesh Acharya, actor Rakhi Sawant and producer Sami Siddiqui for what she suggested was enabling the alleged abuse.

These allegations made by such a well-known figure changed the course of the #MeToo movement in India and opened the floodgates for many other women working in Bollywood, the media, corporations and government to allege sexual harassment by high-profile and powerful men. Social media platforms were flooded with #MeToo stories and outrage, highlighting what has always been a taboo subject in India: the extent of harassment and violence against women, along with the deep-rooted injustice and inequality they face.

The #MeToo campaign has provided a gateway for Indian women to vocalise the “enough is enough” message and seek justice. Some have referred to it as revolutionary. Sadly, the reality is that the majority of women who have encountered harassment will not – or cannot – come forward and voice their stories of victimisation.

The deluge of allegations should not come as a surprise. The wholly patriarchal nature of Indian society has normalised all forms of gender-based violence and inhibited womens’ access to justice. It is widely seen as inevitable that being female in India equates to being a recipient of injustice, inequality and all its various manifestations, including harassment. Sexual harassment towards women in India, often referred to as “eve-teasing”, is seen as an endemic and persistent condition, a fact of life.

Of course, this is a global issue. Globally, women are expected to “prove” that they have been victimised and that they are speaking the truth. Globally, women have long been the silent victims of violence. Globally, the #MeToo movement has highlighted the scale and prevalence of sexual harassment. Globally, the #MeToo movement signals outrage that women have been persistently silent for fear of the consequences of speaking out and victim shaming.

But will #MeToo be the means for truly tackling gender-based violence in India?

#MeToo in 2019

The impact of #MeToo in India has been immediate. But for many the journey to justice from filing a complaint with the police to prosecution is an arduous and time-consuming one. Due process in India is laborious and bureaucratic. Far more effective implementation of the laws is needed from all stakeholders. The laws are there, but the effective implementation and practice of them is cumbersome and restrained by cultural and bureaucratic pressures.

The #MeToo movement is growing and men are joining the debate. The movement has raised awareness of everyone’s responsibility to be duly diligent about their behaviour and actions. That high-profile and powerful men have been accused demonstrates that no one is immune. There is recognition among men that there are repercussions for their inappropriate and violent behaviour towards women. Women will no longer stay quiet or shamed.

A simple message, but implementing it in India will be a mammoth task. Shutterstock

But it is important to acknowledge that there is a distinct class narrative to the #MeToo movement in India. It is elite, upper class, empowered and financially independent women who are coming forward. For lower class, rural, uneducated and disempowered women, the #MeToo movement provides little safeguard from the daily abuse and harassment.

All women deserve equal access to justice and safety, but this is less likely for socially and economically marginalised women. The statistics on rape and child abuse in India are horrific, with a one child being sexually abused every 15 minutes and four cases of rape every hour.

A movement for all

For the #MeToo movement to have greater impact and be truly revolutionary, it needs to reach each and every community across India. It must also be acknowledged that women are not a homogeneous group. They have a multitude of identities determined by values, faith, economic position, culture, caste, understandings and embodiments of the patriarchy, familial control, justice, equality, sexism and misogyny. Any dialogue must also include men as vital contributors to the movement and advocates for ending gender-based violence.

The mission to combat and end gender-based violence requires men and women to work together, to find a platform for unity and to celebrate gender equality as something that benefits all. Ending gender-based violence cannot be accomplished without men being part of the endeavour – and the demonisation of men via campaigns such as #MeToo does nothing to progress the mission.

The #MeToo movement is yet another catalyst to tackle the gender-based violence that permeates Indian society – at all levels, in all communities and across all institutions. This is a mammoth endeavour, but one that can be achieved. Dynamic, forward-thinking, gender-inclusive initiatives and projects focused on driving gender equality are needed.

It will require grassroots activism, persistence and holistic partnerships, along with a strong political will and the endorsement at both central and state level. A zero-tolerance approach is needed. There is great work being undertaken to tackle gender-based violence by a diverse range of organisations, including the police, but much more is needed if a true revolution in to become a reality.

Sunita Toor, Principal Lecturer in Criminology, Sheffield Hallam University

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

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is the new reality

By

Dan Ojumah

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February 27, 2019

Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam, which is under construction, is a source of anger for Egypt. EPA-EFE/STR Shimelis Dessu, Florida International University

Africa’s longest river, the Nile runs through 11 countries. One of them is Ethiopia which contributes about 85% of the Nile water flowing to Sudan and Egypt. The 11 nations are hoping that the massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is currently under construction, will open up many new opportunities from electric power supply to reducing evaporation losses.

When completed, the dam will have installed capacity to generate 6000 MW electricity to relieve Ethiopia’s acute energy shortage and also export to Sudan and possibly Egypt. The dam can store 74 billion cubic metres of water, about half the volume of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt.

A project of this size also, inevitably, brings challenges. Some of these relate to technical issues and other to the region’s politics.

Diplomatic concerns include the fact that, for a long time, Egypt and Sudan have believed that they have more right to the waters of the Nile than other countries. The Nile Basin Initiative was set up in 1999 to foster cooperation among the 11 countries that share the river. But its work has been hindered by Sudan and Egypt’s attitude, among other issues.

A new book, which I coauthored, explores why Ethiopia took unilateral decision in 2011 to begin construction on the dam. It also looks at what pushed Ethiopia to break away from discussions and attempts at diplomatic cooperation. One theme we explore is that the dam represents a push back against Egypt’s view of itself as the region’s water powerhouse and “guardian” of the Nile River.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will offer great benefits to all 11 countries and their citizens. Any ongoing tension between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt might stifle those benefits. Continued and transparent diplomatic engagement is needed to broker a better relationship between all the countries along the Nile.

Concerns

The biggest mega-structure on the Nile River is the Aswan High Dam. It has stood for the last 60 years as a symbol of Egypt’s hegemony on the river, and provided Egypt with power, water security and a strategic geopolitical advantage.

When completed, Ethiopia’s dam will challenge the status quo set by the Aswan High Dam. Both dams, then, will tower over different portions of the Nile River – and starkly represent the dependence of the two nations on the river’s water.

Egypt has made no secret of its unhappiness about Ethiopia’s plan. It has questioned whether the new dam will be suitably safe. It has also expressed concerns about the potential impact the initial filling of the dam will have on areas downstream. It will take between eight and ten years to fill the new dam. Egypt says this will interrupt its own water and power supply.

Ethiopia, meanwhile, says the filling will have minimal effect on other countries. It argues that Egypt and Sudan will benefit from a reduction in flooding and silting, and that the dam will be a boon for water conservation.

Egypt seems reluctant to recognise any potential benefits, and openly dismissive of Ethiopia’s right to develop its own water resources. Research has shown that the effects of filling the dam may initially dent Egypt’s water supply – but this trend will reverse once the dam is fully operational. Egypt can improve its irrigation practice and demand management to reduce the impact of reduced flow.

Another study has suggested the dam will actually provide considerable long term benefits to both Egypt and Sudan by providing steady flow and reducing evaporation losses.

The way forward

It’s crucial that all the Nile nations get together to talk through concerns and fears, and bury the hatchet. Diplomacy should be supported by sound technical data. The international community will need to continue to facilitate dialogue and provide technical and financial support for a positive outcome in the region.

The proposed dam is the new reality in the Nile, and agreement among all Nile countries is urgent. Constructive public engagement about it can go a long way to creating a solid economic, social and cultural bond among those countries.

It’s vital to negotiate towards a common goal that’s beneficial to all nations in the Nile Basin. The dam is an opportunity to craft a realistic cooperation framework as a blueprint for similar future endeavours in the basin and elsewhere.

Shimelis Dessu, Postdoctoral Associate at Department of Earth & Environment, and Southeast Environment Research Center of the Institute of Water and Environment, Florida International University

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

President Kenyatta congratulates President Buhari : Full Statement

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Dan Ojumah

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February 27, 2019

CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO H:E MUHAMMADU BUHARI, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA FROM H:E PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA

Excellency and Dear Brother,

I write to convey my warm congratulations following your re-election as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Your election victory is a clear demonstration of the trust and confidence the people of Nigeria have in your ability to lead your country to greater heights of progress.

Kenya and Nigeria enjoy longstanding cordial relations and a strong cooperation in many areas. I look forward to continue working closely with Your Excellency to in consolidating these mutually beneficial areas of cooperation for the greater good of our two countries.

I wish Your Excellency good health and success as you lead your great nation to higher levels of prosperity in your second term in office.

Accept, Your Excellency and Dear Brother, my renewed assurance of close cooperation of the Republic of Kenya and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

If anyone won the Oscars this year it was Netflix – the prize for its industry disruption

By

Dan Ojumah

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February 27, 2019

No single film dominated the 2019 Academy Awards as in some years, but arguably Netflix emerges as the winner. It entered the awards as an outsider and won in some of the most important categories. With 15 Oscar nominations, Netflix achieved as many nominations in 2019 as in the previous five years added together.

The Netflix film Roma was nominated for 10 awards including best picture, best director, best foreign language film and best cinematography, and went on to win the latter three. For the first time, a film distributed by an online streaming provider has won the industry’s highest accolade.

Behind the polite plaudits and acceptance speeches there are bitter feelings within the mainstream film industry on whether Netflix merits this level of recognition. John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, articulated this reticence when he said: “for filmmakers who want to go to Netflix, they are kind of selling their soul – the pot of money versus how they know a movie should be seen.”

Roma’s success is the latest beachhead in the ongoing march of Netflix as a serial disruptor in the entertainment industry. In the late 1990s the company famously disrupted the video and DVD rental business through an online subscription model with rented titles distributed by post. Its tenacity in sticking to this model saw Netflix dispatch rental industry leader Blockbuster, which closed in 2010.

Next in line were television broadcasters, which Netflix took on through its online streaming service once broadband internet speeds allowed it. This has fuelled the unprecedented speed of the company’s international expansion, transforming Netflix from a content aggregator to a producer of high-quality content, now posing a major challenge to mainstream broadcasters and encouraging many “cord-cutters” to cancel the cable TV subscriptions once seen as essential. It has also driven fundamental changes in viewing habits, ushering in the generation of “binge-watchers”.

But the success of Roma at the Oscars was not a happy accident. It was the result of the same single-minded determination that has driven Netflix’s previous industry disruption. The film was the ideal weapon to seek an Academy Award. It had a director and producer with strong track records and previous awards and its black-and-white arthouse style offered only limited appeal to mainstream cinema audiences anyway. Netflix even compromised on its long-held day-and-date strategy, which requires its programming to be available in all regions at the same time in order to meet the qualifying criteria of the Academy (which requires that a film has some degree of cinema release). It also commissioned the Oscar campaign veteran Lisa Taback to promote the case for this movie with Academy members.

Keeping up the momentum

But Netflix now faces stark commercial realities. The company’s share price has risen over 20-fold and its revenue has grown from US$3.5 billion to US$16 billion since 2012, but by 2018 the company had long-term debt of over US$10 billion. And this excludes the additional US$19.3 billion needed to secure the rights to content Netflix intends to stream in the future.

The sheer volume of content that Netflix subscribers now expect is expensive to sustain, with production budgets estimated to be in the region of US$13 billion this year. This puts pressure on free cash-flow which will inevitably remain negative for the foreseeable future.

If Netflix is to service its mounting debt burden and remain sustainable, it needs to accelerate new subscriber growth and increase the revenue subscribers yield. This will be necessary in the face of aggressive competition from other established streaming players, such as Amazon, Hulu or HBO, and to stay one step ahead of new entrants such as Disney and Apple, which come equipped with very deep pockets.

This will not be possible if Netflix continues to be seen as merely an alternative delivery channel for viewing content that would otherwise be available via broadcast television. Instead, Netflix wants to be recognised as the premium channel through which high-quality content may be viewed. The hope is that it will therefore be perceived by the market as being at least equivalent – if not superior – to cinemas as somewhere to watch the latest movies. Achieving such a shift in consumer and producer preferences would disrupt the established industry business model of giving cinemas precedence for latest releases.

Even were Netflix to achieve this, past precedent suggests that we should not expect the company to be satisfied. The company makes no secret of its view that it sees itself in competition with all other users of leisure time and leisure dollars. Its focus on enticing subscribers to further increase their viewing hours at the expense of other activities is unlikely to diminish.

However, the question remains whether whether Netflix can navigate its financial challenges and battle the competition that seeks to thwart its extraordinary march of disruption. Media mogul Barry Diller has already concluded that Netflix has won and that “Hollywood is now irrelevant”. Perhaps, but we can expect many more episodes of Netflix as serial disruptor to play out before we know for sure.

Louis Brennan, Professor of Business Studies, Trinity College Dublin and Paul Lyons, Lecturer in Business Studies, Trinity College Dublin

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

Narok County to host Madaraka Day fete

By

Dan Ojumah

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February 25, 2019

President Uhuru Kenyatta was today at State House Nairobi briefed by the National Celebrations Committee led by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on the ongoing preparations for Madaraka Day celebrations.

At the meeting, attended by Kajiado County Governor Joseph Ole Lenku and his Narok counterpart Samuel Ole Tunai, the committee took the President through the ongoing construction works at the Kajiado County Stadium in readiness for the national fete.

The Committee expressed concerns that the Kajiado stadium construction works may not be completed within the remaining three months as earlier envisaged.

Consequently, President Kenyatta directed that this year’s Madaraka Day Celebrations be held in Narok County.

By moving celebrations from Kajiado to neighbouring Narok, the Government seeks to ensure that the benefits arising from the hosting of the national event are retained within the same economic block in line with the established trend of hosting some national events in the Counties.

President Kenyatta further directed the Ministry of Sports and Heritage to allocate Shs 100 million to Kajiado County to ensure the on-going works at the stadium are complete to meet the required standards in readiness for hosting national celebrations in future.

Also present were the Principal Secretaries Karanja Kibichu (Interior and Coordination of National Government) and Kirimi Kaberia (Sports and Heritage) among others.

Uhuru raises Girl Guides budget by Ksh. 20 million

By

Dan Ojumah

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February 25, 2019

The Government has increased the annual budget given to Kenya Girl Guides Association (KGGA) from the current Ksh 26 Million to Ksh 45 million in the next financial year
Speaking on Sautrday at State House where KGGA had been hosted by their patron and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed the government recognizes the movement as a co-curriculum activity in all schools that is key in empowering girls and women to take a leadership role.
Over 2000 thousand women and girls had gathered at the state House to mark World Thinking Day themed leadership

The event was briefly graced by the President Uhuru Kenyatta, who encouraged women to take up leadership roles in the society. Amidst cheers from the crowd for unexpectedly honoring the event with his presence, the President lauded women leadership in the country saying some of the best performers in his government are women.

“Some of the best leaders in my government are women and I am looking forward to the day
when Kenya will have a first woman president,” said the President.

The First lady while presenting awards and certificates to the over 2,000 nominees said the movement celebrates women and girls who have dedicated their time as volunteers and served selflessly in the movement and the community.
World Thinking day, formerly thinking day started in 1926 and is celebrated annually on February, 22 by all girl guides and girl scouts. It is also celebrated by Scout and Guide organizations and some boy-oriented associations around the world. It is a day when they think about their “sisters” (and “brothers”) in all the countries of the world, the meaning of Guiding, and its global impact.

22 February was chosen as it was the birthday of Scouting and Guiding founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell and of Lady Olave Baden-Powell , his wife and World Chief Guide.

Explainer: what’s at stake in Kenyan court case on gay rights

By

Dan Ojumah

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February 25, 2019

Churchgoers in Nairobi who support gay rights lit candles ahead of the court ruling. EPA-EFE/Dai Kurokawa Adriaan van Klinken, University of Leeds

The much-awaited court ruling on a petition seeking to decriminalise homosexuality in Kenya has been delayed for at least a further two months. The petition currently before the High Court argues that two sections of the Penal Code contravene several rights enshrined in the Constitution. For instance, they deny lesbian, gay and bisexual people the right to privacy. Julius Maina asked Adriaan van Klinken to provide some context to the ruling

What legal restrictions do Kenyan LGBTI people face?

The two petitions that the High Court is dealing with are concerned with Sections 162 (a) and (c) and 165 of the Kenyan Penal Code. Section 162 sets out categories of “unnatural offences”, defined as “carnal knowledge against the order of nature”. This is a term that has historically referred to anal sexual intercourse.

The penalty for this is 14 years imprisonment. Although this law is not explicitly and exclusively about homosexuality – it would equally apply to heterosexual couples engaged in anal sex – it’s mostly been used to prosecute men involved in same-sex relationships.

Section 165 is concerned with “indecent practices between males”, either committed in private or in public. This carries a penalty of five years imprisonment. The law doesn’t provide a definition of what counts as “indecency”. However, historically it’s referred to non-penetrative sexual acts between men.

Both laws criminalise male homosexual relationships. But there’s room to interpret Section 162 to cover female same-sex relationships as “unnatural” too. This means that both men and women involved in same-sex relationships in Kenya fear the possibility of legal prosecution.

How many of these laws date back to colonial times?

Kenya’s Penal Code was originally introduced in 1930 when the country was a British colony.

The British Empire first introduced laws against “unnatural offences” and “indecent practices among males” to India’s Penal Code in 1860. It then copied these to its colonies in Africa.

Human Rights Watch produced a report in 2008 entitled “This Alien Legacy”. The report traced the origins of “sodomy” laws in the British colonial empire, pointing out that their introduction was inspired by a “mission of moral reform—to correct and Christianize ‘native’ custom”.

When Kenya became independent from Britain in 1964 it retained the Penal Code. In other words, it’s laws were never decolonised. The irony is that these laws are often now defended as reflecting “African values”.

As the Human Rights Watch report explains, the scope of the laws has expanded over the decades to include the penalisation of sex between two women which was never part of the British law.

Are Kenya’s laws more restrictive than other countries in the region?

The relevant sections of the Kenyan Penal Code are similar to laws in most other African countries, in particular former British colonies. Some countries, such as Uganda and Nigeria have sought to introduce even more wide-ranging laws targeting LGBTI people in recent years.

In Kenya, on the other hand, the introduction of the new Constitution in 2010 has given growing impetus to the recognition of the rights of LGBTI people.

The Constitution doesn’t explicitly mention sexual orientation or gender identity. But, as prominent gay activist and lawyer Eric Gitari points out, it “nonetheless possessed golden threads of equality, dignity and freedom”.

Indeed, various legal successes have been achieved in Kenyan courts in recent years. In 2014 the High Court ruled that the transgender organisation, Transgender Education and Advocacy, should be allowed to register as an NGO, and in 2015 a similar ruling was made for the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Thus the right to freedom of association was effectively applied to LGBT groups, and the right to protection against discrimination was applied to sexual orientation and gender identity.

In 2018 a Court of Appeal in Mombasa ruled that forced anal examination of people accused of same-sex activity was unconstitutional as it violated the right to privacy.

Are attitudes towards gay rights changing in the country?

During the campaign towards the referendum about the new constitution, conservative forces – including the current Deputy President, William Ruto – called on citizens to vote against it. One of their arguments for taking this stance was that it would lead to the legalisation of homosexuality.

Despite this, the majority of Kenyans voters (67%) came out in support of the new constitution, which, at the very least, suggests that homosexuality was not their top priority.

Many prominent political and religious leaders in Kenya are vocal on issues of homosexuality. And the Kenyan Film Classification Board has banned several gay-themed films in recent years because they would promote “immorality”.

But it seems that attitudes might be changing slowly.

One example of this is that the Kenyan media reflect a wide range of opinions on LGBTI related matters and don’t hesitate to challenge and criticise politicians using homophobic rhetoric. This isn’t echoed in the media of some other countries in the region.

There is also a growing visibility of LGBTI people in Kenya, which has helped to give a face to an issue that was previously rather abstract to most Kenyans.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s repeated statement that for most Kenyans today homosexuality is a “non-issue” is also interesting, because it leaves open the possibility of future social and political change on the subject.

Adriaan van Klinken, Associate Professor of Religion and African Studies, University of Leeds

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

Justice Fatuma admits failure of the Judiciary to fight corruption

By

Dan Ojumah

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February 23, 2019

COURT of Appeal Judge Justice Fatuma Sichale has admitted that the judiciary is the weak link in the fight against corruption.
Sichale said some judges have been a let down to taxpayers in as far as dispensation of justice and said time to pull up their socks had come.

“We hear the wailing from Wanjiku on a daily basis. We must all change the way we do things in order to dispense justice and win back public confidence”; Justice Sichale said.

She was speaking during the Induction of Board Members at the lLake Naivasha Resort.
Sichale however said majority of the judges are executing their duties well and urged Kenyans not to blame the judiciary as a whole.
She also added that it was a right of every Kenyan to receive timely judgements and decried delays in dispensing judgements.