On Tuesday the 26th of March 2019, the Standard reported that a three judge bench at the Court of Appeal, constituted by Justices Roselyn Nambuye, Daniel Musinga and Patrick Kiage, proposed that the age of consent be lowered to 16 by amending the Sexual Offences Act, citing lengthy jail terms imposed on young men convicted of defilement.
We’re joined by Judy Gitau, the Africa Regional Co-ordinator of Equality Now to discuss consent, the age of consent, its importance, and the potential impact of lowering it.
Resources
Criminal Appeal 102 of 2016 [The Ruling that proposed the lowering of the age of consent]
Court proposes lowering sex consent age to 16 years
Why the age of sexual consent continues to be a worldwide challenge
Close in Age Exemptions / Romeo and Juliet Laws
What are the Romeo and Juliet Laws
Episode 81: Abortion and Reproductive Healthcare
Much of the conversation about global warming and climate change focuses on the Earth’s poles and the areas outside the tropics. We understand that ice caps and glaciers are melting. However, it is urgent that we understand the effects of global warming in the tropics in general, and at the equator in particular. Normal temperature ranges in the tropics fall within a narrower range than those outside them, so any change will have more significant effects.
We’re joined by Jessica Mukiri, an Environmental Modeler at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, to discuss global warming at the equator, with a focus on Kenya. Which human activities make us more vulnerable to climate change? What are its effects in this region? And, how can we mitigate it? Press play to find out!
Resources
Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 ºC
Climate Change: Why the Tropical Poor Will Suffer Most
Why Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change
Vulnerability to Climate Change in Africa: Challenges and Recommendations for Africa
Africa is particularly vulnerable to the expected impacts of global warming
Global warming: Why Kenya is among countries at crossroads
Climate Risks, Vulnerability and Governance in Kenya: A review
Modeling Kenya's Vulnerability to Climate Change – A Multifactor Approach
Climate change making storms like Idai more severe, say experts
Cyclone Idai reveals the fundamental injustice at the heart of climate change
Analysis of Climate Change and Variability Risks in the Smallholder Sector
Climate Change and Health in Africa: Issues and Options
Climate Change Deadly Health Risk and Global Health Opportunity – Lancet Commission
Climate drivers of vector-borne diseases in Africa and their relevance to control programmes
Climate change and population health in Africa: where are the scientists?
Herders: Why we invade Laikipia ranches
Are Kenya ranch invasions driven by drought or politics?
Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High Levels of Climate Warming
Climate change could force huge migrations for people and animals living near the equator
Global warming, elevational ranges and the vulnerability of tropical biota
UN compact recognizes climate change as driver of migration for first time
Study finds that global warming exacerbates refugee crises
Seeds of war: Global warming helped trigger Syria's bloody civil war
Climate change and the Syrian civil war revisited
Making the Links: Refugees, Climate Change, and Poverty
Who takes responsibility for the climate refugees?
Climate Justice for a Changing Planet: A Primer for Policy Makers and NGOs
According to Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and National Treasury reports in 2016, it was estimated that a third of Kenya’s national budget was lost through corrupt dealings annually. That would mean that in 2018/19, we can reasonably expect to lose KES 1 trillion, if not more, to corruption. Much of this money ends up in offshore accounts in countries that are tax havens. As at 2007, economists at the American research firm National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) estimated that about 70% of Kenya’s GDP (KES 1.83 trillion in 2007) was stashed abroad, while the think-tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI) estimated in an October 2018 report that Kenya loses about 8% of government revenues annually (above USD 907 million, or KES 78.41 billion, based on the historical exchange rate) to trade misinvoicing by multinationals.
We’re joined by Will Fitzgibbon, an investigative journalist at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), who has worked on the Panama Papers, Paradise Papers and Swiss Leaks, to talk about where our stolen money goes. Press play!
Resources
The Panama Papers - Exposing the Rogue Offshore Finance Industry
The Panama Papers - Power Players
Paradise Papers - Secrets of the Global Elite
Swiss Leaks - Murky Cash Sheltered By Bank Secrecy
Swiss Leaks - Kenya Country Profile
Offshore Leaks Database: Kenya
What are the 'Paradise Papers' and why should you care?
Paradise papers: a special investigation
Kenya: Potential Revenue Losses Associated with Trade Misinvoicing
Wealthy Kenyans hiding Sh5trn in foreign banks
Concern as wealthy Kenyans stash their riches in tax havens
Leaks reveal Kenyan judge a director of multiple offshore companies
More Kenyans on Panama Papers list
What leaked Paradise Papers mean for Kenya
Inside the havens, where super rich people hide their billions
Third of Kenyan budget lost to corruption: anti-graft chief
Understanding the economic cost of corruption in Kenya
Experts: Theft, waste likely to silence calls for austerity
Episode 54: The Cost of Corruption
As part of its Big Four Agenda, the Jubilee government aims to focus on the provision of affordable housing units to be bought on mortgage by formally employed Kenyans. In the 2018/2019 budget, affordable housing received a provision KES 6.5 billion. By 2022, the government aims to have constructed 500,000 affordable housing units, with four types being available. The housing projects have been divided into five lots, with one lot covered in each financial year. Each lot is then broken down into flagship projects, flagship social housing projects, counties and towns and Nairobi County projects.
We're joined by Njeri Cerere, a Planning, Development and Environmental Consultant, and the co-convenor of Naipolitans, to discuss a roadmap to affordable housing in Kenya. Press play!
Resources
Kenya economic update : housing - unavailable and unaffordable
Road To Affordable Housing Agenda, Health For All, Now Clear
State of Housing in Kenya: Will Government Strategy Deliver on Social Housing
How feasible is the Housing component of Kenya’s Big Four Agenda?
The Home Ownership Survey - January 2015
The KPDA Affordable Housing Report, June 2018
The 500, 000 Affordable Housing Program – Project Delivery and Finance Framework, May 2018
Kenya Affordable Housing Programme – Development Framework Guidelines – Release Version, Oct 2018
Housing Policy as an Agenda for Elections 2017
Nairobi 1948 Master Plan “A Plan for a Colonial Capital”
Nairobi Metropolitan Growth Strategy (1973 Plan)
Housing levy with lots of grey areas
How the National Housing Development Fund affects you
NDEMO: Africa’s Poverty Contradictions and Dead Capital
Kenya’s mortgage rate 6 times more than rent compared to S.Africa’s 1:1 ratio
Why the proposed 10pc roof on mortgage is still too high for Kenyan buyers
Number of mortgage accounts declines for first time in decade
Trouble brewing in Kenya’s house loans market
Kenyans shun mortgages, prefer building own homes
Some buildings in Nairobi have not been occupied more than a year after completion.
Episode 62: Tax Justice in Kenya
Episode 70: Financing the Kenyan Government
Episode 72: The Impact of Interest Rate Capping
Episode 77: The Problem With Our Roads
