http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/403/northern_kenya_l.jpgSurvey… a history of marginalisation and distance from government support, Ahmed Issack Hassan explores the legal and administrative impediments to have plagued the development of the region of Northern Kenya. Citing a litany of human rights abuses and the discrimination faced by inhabitants of the region, the author argues for the need for appropriate and effective legislation and sustained political goodwill from executive and national parliamentary power in the struggle to tackle tyrannical practice.

Kenyan officials "violated with impunity" the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement during an operation to resettle people displaced by post-election violence early this year, human rights activists have said. "Kenya has no specific policy on internal displacement; it has no domestic law on protection and resettlement of IDPs [internally displaced persons]," Ndungu Wainaina, executive director for the International Centre for Conflict and Policy, a Kenyan non-governmental think-tank “committed to transitional justice”, told IRIN.

Fact: The Government of Kenya (GoK) will on Kenyatta Day spend on Airforce jets and State festivities over K.Shs. 300 million raised from high taxes on fuel, electricity and water; whereas thousands of Kenyans are cold in the IDP camps and millions more cannot afford even one meal a day.

A demand for scrap metal by China is fuelling an unprecedented rate of crime in Kenya and vandalism of key installations to meet a growing demand for raw material. Electricity, phone cables and railway lines have been vandalized as the Chinese importers continue to pay premium prices for metal.

The recent debate about the poverty statistics released by Kenya’s Ministry of Planning vis-à-vis allocation of community development fund (CDF) is an issue about targeting of the prized funds. Established in 2003 through the CDF Act in The Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 107, the fund is expected to support constituency-level, grass-root development projects.

When in 2003 Kenya followed its neighbours Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi in introducing free and compulsory primary education for all, the response from the public as well as international donors was overwhelming. Within the first few weeks more than 1.3 million new students were enrolled. Those who had previously not been able to send their children to school rushed to the school gates and the trend has continued ever since.

An international tribunal should be set up in Kenya to try those implicated in clashes after December's disputed poll, an inquiry into the violence says. The commission found that in some areas, the violence was planned and organised with the support of politicians and businessmen.

Anthony Kimani Muhia is as ambitious as he is entrepreneurial. The 32-year-old farmer from central Kenya has figured out much of what's wrong with the country's farming system, and he's determined to change it, starting with himself. His plot of land feels not much bigger than a handkerchief – about ¾ of an acre – but he’s been using it to find new ways of farming that might help him, his family and his community escape the poverty trap.

Elimu Yetu Coalition – Kenya’s National coalition(network) of Civil Society Organizations committed to the realization of Education For All goals (EFA) as spelt out in the Dakar framework for action – wishes to confirm to all that we will host CONFINTEA VI Africa’s Civil Society Summit on 3rd November 2008 at the Hilton Hotel, Nairobi Kenya. Find attached the registration form.

Kenya's Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, on Thursday blasted African leaders' fear of criticising each other, saying it was stifling the continent's progress towards democracy. "The African Union has fallen short, failing to condemn brutal regimes and sham elections, including the second round of elections in Zimbabwe. This has now become the norm.

Health facilities in Nyanza Province in western Kenya are struggling to meet the demand for medical male circumcisions since politicians threw their weight behind efforts to promote the procedure as a way of reducing HIV infections. The campaign initially faced opposition by community elders of the ethnic Luo community that makes up the bulk of the province's inhabitants and does not traditionally practice circumcision.

Reporters Without Borders is relieved to learn that former journalist Andrew Mwangura, the Seafarers Assistance Programme’s representative in Kenya, was finally released on bail in Mombasa after being held for nine days. Mwangura said he was “happy” with the court’s decision and was ready to go back to work and to continue trying to combat piracy in the region.

It was a sad occasion, and an occasion to rejoice. Sad, said Dr Ludeki Chweya, introducing Flora Terah's new book, because her heart-wrenching story shows that physical abuse and torture are a weapon of choice to deter wo

The individuals, who the scientists say have powerful antibodies that neutralise the virus, stopping it from infecting new cells, have neither used any antiretroviral drugs nor been attacked by opportunistic infections despite living with the virus for over nine years. On being screened, the individuals were found to possess high CD4 count- immune cells used to fight infections- and very low viral loads-amount of HIV in the body-, which were uncharacteristic of an infected person.

Community-based policing (CBP) is an approach to policing that brings together the police, civil society and local communities to develop local solutions to safety and security concerns. This paper, published by Saferworld, assesses outcomes of and lessons learned from two CBP pilot-sites supported by Saferworld as part of its broader programme of police reform in Kenya.

This project aims to alleviate economic poverty, promote sustainable development, and empower women's self-help groups in coastal areas of Kenya through the use of ICTs. Women's groups are assisted with ICT training and facilities to engage in alternative livelihood activities and improve productivity. The self-help groups include Mwamlongo, Karoyo, Wakunga, Lolarako, and Gazi Women Mangrove Boardwalk.

This article offers a critical perspective on the making of the Kenya post-colony using the example of ‘The Kenya of the North’, a region that has been relegated to the periphery – politically, legally, economically, socially and culturally – in the building of a nation. Using northern Kenya as a case study, the paper asks whether Kenya has ever been inclusive of all its regions and peoples, and whether it has succeeded in building consensus on issues affecting all its citizens, especially in as far as the rule of law, democracy, human rights and their protection are concerned.

A potential polio epidemic in Kenya has been monitored and contained using a mobile phone application called EpiSurveyor. The application, which is free to use and run on an open-source platform, was used by health officials to collate information on the disease, such as patient symptoms, treatment, levels of medical supplies and areas that needed vaccines.

Law Society of Kenya vice-chairman James Mwamu says that the report has no new information in spite of the millions of shillings spent on the commission. "It is full of contradictions when it says it cannot tell who won the elections due to immense irregularities and in the same breath says there was no rigging at KICC. Who is Kriegler trying to fool?" posed Mwamu.

Kenya has sent protest notes to the United States and European Union following pressure for Kenya's electoral commissioner to resign. The foreign minister said Samuel Kivuitu had been threatened with a travel ban, which was "shameless blackmail" and an insult to the public. However, diplomatic sources say no such travel threat was made.