Despite official rhetoric about the separation of powers, colonial-era judges were routinely ‘used as an instrument of policy’, with this relationship between administration and judiciary essentially sustained after independence, writes Ramnik Shah, in a discussion of Kenya’s post-colonial legal system.

Drug regimens used in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV are effective, but infants should be monitored for drug resistance, a new study has revealed. The study in Kisumu, western Kenya, found that the triple combination of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs given to HIV-infected mothers to prevent transmission of the virus to their infants was effective and feasible, but there were cases of possible drug resistance in HIV-positive infants.

‘As workers and taxpayers of this country, we were shocked and disgusted yesterday that President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga refused to attend the Uhuru Park workers' day celebrations, writes George Nyongesa, national coordinator of Kenya’s Bunge la Mwananchi (People’s Parliament).

For almost three years, Jane Ngoyoini, 39, has not seen or heard from her daughter. In 2007, Frieda Ngoyoini, 15, completely vanished during a school girl-scout jamboree program near Chelmsford, Essex, Ireland. To date no one, including the police, has given her mother, Jane Ngoyoini, any answers or clues to the whereabouts of Frieda. As one of the missing girls that left for a sponsored trip to Ireland, Frieda has never been heard from again and has never returned. This disturbing special case, which has not reached the larger media, is still unsolved. It has left many questions unanswered. Child trafficking in Kenya is a daily occurrence, but police reports and actions to solve crimes are too many times non-existent.

A decision to exclude crimes committed in the western city of Kisumu and the Nairobi slum of Kibera from a case against alleged organisers of violence following Kenya’s 2007 election could undermine the International Criminal Court’s effort to combat impunity in the East African nation, civil society groups have warned. Judges ruled in March that ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had failed to demonstrate that high-profile extrajudicial killings by police in the western city of Kisumu as well as killings, injuries and rapes carried out in the Nairobi slum of Kibera were part of a state policy involving three suspects linked to President Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity.

A global advocacy group for gender-based violence survivors has called on the International Criminal Court to reconsider its refusal to recognise forced male circumcision as a form of sexual violence in a case against alleged organizers of Kenya’s 2007-2008 post-election crisis. Brigid Inder, executive director of The Hague-based Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, said the judges’ decision to classify forced male circumcision under 'other inhumane acts' was 'a misstep' that failed to take into account the element of force and purpose of the crime.

A clinical trial aimed at investigating whether an antiretroviral pill a day could prevent women from getting HIV was abandoned on 18 April. There were high hopes for the trial. But after the women had been on the pill for a year, there were no differences in HIV infection between women getting it and those getting a placebo, so the trial’s review panel recommended that it be abandoned.

H. Nanjala Nyabola takes a hectic drive through Nairobi's rush hour traffic and concludes that if Kenyans learnt to treat each other with respect on the roads, then there might be more respect in other areas of life.

A new policy on education will be in place before the end of next year, the Ministry of Education has pledged. The number of those in need of basic education, both young and old, has ballooned. The new policy is expected to tackle ways of improving access of education to this number (about 10 million children), fight cultural barriers to education such as female genital mutilation and how to keep children in school even in the worst climatic conditions like drought.

Failure to diagnose and treat syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among pregnant women in Kenya means thousands of mothers risk losing their children or passing on the infections to their unborn children. While prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) has expanded, with more than 1,000 sites offering the services across the country, STIs - which raise the risk of contracting HIV and can lead to congenital STIs, low birth weight and stillbirths – are often missed, even when women visit antenatal care centres; an estimated 92 per cent of Kenyan women will seek antenatal care at least once during pregnancy.

Billed as the year when the Kenya would consolidate economic gains made during recovery from the 2008 post-election chaos and the global financial crisis, a combination of factors is turning 2011 into a nightmare year for the economy. Rising oil prices driven by the turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East and the current drought – which have affected commodity prices and food supplies respectively – are fuelling fears that the country’s economic growth could lose steam.

Kenyan AIDS activists are furious about a plan by the government to implement a two percent tax increase on medicines, which they say will hurt poor people living with HIV. In November 2010, Kenya's Minister for Medical Services issued a gazette notice imposing the new tax on drugs to help fund the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, the government body mandated to regulate drugs in the country. The Kenya Revenue Authority already collects a 2.75 per cent tax on medicines.

According to the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), 60 per cent of Nairobi’s population lives on five per cent of the land. The city’s overcrowded slums and informal settlements, constructed from cheap materials like corrugated iron and connected to hazardous electricity lines, make them particularly vulnerable to fire. Access roads are few, making passage difficult for fire trucks.

Gay Kenya is pleased to bring you their 8th newsletter edition. The headline feature is named ‘The Law is an Arse’ and is on the de-criminalisation process, so far undertaken by the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) that seeks to make private, consensual same sex activity between adults not criminal.

The latest issue of the Kenyan Woman is available. Highlights of this issue include:
- In a state of stagnation: wrangles have derailed the constitution implementation process in Kenya.
- Employers told to embrace affirmative action.
- Linah Kilimo, a fighter who wears the FGM Eradication belt.
- Men fighting for women’s rights.

Kenya's suspended Higher Education minister William Ruto has been cleared of graft charges involving irregular allocation of a forest land. Also acquitted were Ruto's co-accused Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita and Joshua Kulei.

Judges at the International Criminal Court last week warned the six post-election violence suspects against making public comments that might inflame tensions. But Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri, one of the key organisers of Monday’s 'homecoming' rally at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park for the six suspects, said the judges’ warning does not apply to them. During their appearance at the court on Thursday and Friday, the ICC judges cautioned the six suspects against uttering statements in public that may once again raise public tensions.

The East African region is experiencing a severe drought that has left an estimated 2.4 million Kenyans food-insecure; acute malnutrition rates of more than 25 percent have been recorded in the arid north-east of the country. According to government statistics, food prices have gone up by about 15 per cent over the past year. In Kenya's arid eastern and northern regions, health workers are noticing a higher number of malnourished HIV-positive people visiting health centres.

The current food shortage in Kenya might soon be declared a national disaster, but one refugee does not take hunger lying down. With eight children and a ninth one soon, Ms Husna Mohammed, 30, is taking charge of her plates of food at Dagahaley in Dadaab Refugee Camp in North Eastern Province. She keeps a vegetable garden outside her tent to supplement her food ration. Refugees at this camp receive food rations every two weeks. The amount given depends on the family size.

Martha Karua fears nothing and no one, but when her adversaries look back at her long track record in politics, they must get nervous. This previously staunch supporter of Mwai Kibaki resigned as justice minister in 2009, and will challenge all comers for the presidency at the head of her own party next year. The veteran politician has been around since the heyday of Daniel Arap Moi, who ruled Kenya from 1978 until 2002. Karua helped form the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) that won the 2003 general election, and ended nearly four decades of rule by KANU. When she entered parliament, there were six female MPs. Now there are 22 out of a total of 222.