East Africa

East Africa

Details: East Africa; 03 February 2022; 1027

Photo Courtesy Tech News

What just happened? The Google One cloud storage service has included a VNP for Android devices ever since it launched in the summer of 2020. This week Google finally announced the rollout of a VPN to iOS users.

In addition to releasing Google One VPN for iOS users, Google adds a few features to it while bringing it to more countries. Google didn't specifically mention the feature coming to iPads, but it's a good bet since iPadOS is a fork of iOS.

Like before, Google One’s VPN service is available to subscribers of the premium plans for 2TB ($10 a month) or more storage through the iOS Google One app. Users can also share the storage and VPN with up to five family members.

Google One VPN was already available in the US, the UK, Canada, Mexico, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and Germany. Google brings new countries into the fold, adding Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, with more on the way.

The new features include Save Disconnect, which makes sure you’re only using the internet with VPN enabled, App Bypass, which lets specific apps connect without using VPN, and a Snooze function for temporarily turning off the VPN.

Google also stresses how the VPN’s encryption has been independently audited by the NCC Group and certified by the Internet of Secure Things Alliance. By Daniel Sims, Tech News

Details: East Africa; 02 February 2022; 708

Revellers enjoy the fireworks at Mama Ngina Water Front in Mombasa County as they ushered in the New Year courtesy of Governor Hassan Joho.

Today let us assume Kenya is an individual who is eager to make her 2022 New Year resolutions. What would these be? The genesis of the New Year resolutions culture is associated with Romans, who annually made promises to Janus, their 'god of all beginnings', hence the name January.

Early Christianity too adopted this tradition during New Year's watchnight services. Today, we largely rely on self-will to enforce our resolutions.

What key challenges did Kenya face in 2021? These included: high-octane politics; the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftershocks; a depressed economy, loss of employment, business and livelihoods; high cost of living; lack of opportunities for young persons; drought, floods, famines occasioned by climate change; runaway debt, impunity and endemic corruption.

In 2021, we witnessed significant infrastructural milestones; people's resilience in the face of coronavirus and climate change; uncompromising judicial independence; notable nation-wide development through the counties; and so on.

I now attempt to suggest some New Year resolutions that would make Kenya, in my view, a better union and Republic.

As a country, in 2022 we must pursue genuine national unity in diversity. This is unity across race, colour, gender, ethnic, clan or social origin, language, class, belief, political party affiliation, economic orientation, age, and so on. A 58-year-old country should neither have marginalised communities nor a dynasty-hustler divide. Kenyans must shun political mobilisation on tribe or other sectarian parameters.

It is imperative we become an awakened citizenry. Kenyans were once referred to as 'a nation of sheep’, and more recently as 'Wanjiga Nyinyi' (You Fools) by King Kaka. Citizens must arise to fearlessly question political or any other authority. We must exercise the sovereign power granted under Article 1 of the 2010 Constitution.

In 2022, leaders and political parties must clearly articulate their manifestos. These must contain promises that can be fulfilled. It is mind-boggling how leaders churn out development promises, miserably fail to honour them, only to regurgitate the same pledges later and get voter buy-in. Citizens must henceforth vote for those who deliver and discard political misfits.

We must prepare our children and youth for the future. On the new competence-based curriculum (CBC), we should continue to work on the instructors' re-training and capacity to deliver CBC; appropriate classroom equipment; and critically empowering most parents to engage their children within the CBC system.

Illicit drinks

Additionally, let us continue to protect children – especially the girl child– from abuse within the family, educational institutions and all other environments.

The youth must be socialised to eventually seize leadership. Currently, the majority of youth are abandoned to illicit drinks, drugs and their own devices. They must be supported to recover their dignity, discipline and promise. Youth deserve a sound education, skills enhancement, employment, business and capital opportunities.

After the advent of the cell-phone, boda boda taxis and Mpesa, the next grand opportunity for mass youth engagement will be provision of affordable credit for the youth and other disadvantaged populations. This would rescue them from excessive 'fuliza' and 'shylocks'.

Further, we need to protect our women, persons living with disability, senior citizens and all vulnerable groups. In any country where women are not an integral part of the leadership, workforce or business, overall growth is sabotaged. To exclude persons with disability from the mainstream of the Kenyan society is to negate the contribution of 15 per cent of the population.

We also need a volunteer system for tapping the wisdom and experience of retirees through mentorship, coaching and advisory services especially to the youth.

Many sectors in our country are run by cartels. Undoubtedly, corruption and bad leadership rank as our number one public enemy. And it is not just tenderprenuers and other grand thieves, but also corrupt citizens in our cooperatives, community groups and so on. For citizens to accuse political leaders, they must be ‘clean’. In the forthcoming elections, citizens must reject hand-outs. A handout is 'tiny' corruption that opens up the mega corruption highway. We must, as a people, make a firm stand against sleaze.

Kenyans are unable to easily hold public conversations. We have not embraced Kiswahili sufficiently to guarantee its widespread use as Tanzania did. Most of Kenya's official communication is in the English language. This means that public officials cannot effectively communicate with the majority. Let us promote Kiswahili and our local languages as the primary means of communication.

Invest in innovation

We must invest in innovation. The Ministry of Industrialisation and other allied institutions have not promoted the development of products that our inventors and innovators have created so that they can enter the global market. Young people are endeavouring to innovate in the ICT field. A large number of Kenyans have latent talents that lack a mechanism for prompt discovery and promotion. A country's transformation is anchored on innovation.

Public projects are accomplished without much attention to maintenance and sustainability. As such, there is no people-centred project ownership. Let us create a robust public participation, maintenance, and sustainability framework and culture.

We must raise durable public and private institutions and servant leaders. Citizens must be ready to recall rogue leaders.

Let us commit ourselves to a clean environment in this era of climate change crisis. A majority of us callously throw garbage outside vehicle windows or even from our compounds. We must avoid deforestation and other acts that lead to environmental degradation.

The country must immediately stop incurring more public debt. Kenya’s national debt stands at Sh7.91 trillion or 63.9 per cent of the GDP. Lenders are beginning to deny us debt repayment holidays. And yet we are seeking more debt ostensibly to finance the 2022 polls. Good practice should bar an outgoing government from initiating fresh public debt in its sunset season.

Let us steadfastly nurture devolution. Despite its teething problems, it continues to be the fulcrum of our national development.

The 2010 Constitution acknowledges the supremacy of God in our country. We must in the New Year continue to invite God to divinely steer our country. We cannot go far on our own.

The final New Year resolution should be about guaranteeing that the August 2022 General Election is free, fair, transparent, credible and peaceful.

Elections are not about the competitors, but about the peoples' future. They must not be allowed to foment chaos and stagnate or reverse the country's economy and development.

Hence the Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission must be absolutely independent. The state must refrain from capturing the election and succession process.

May we now hold ourselves accountable to implementing these and other national New Year resolutions. I wish you a prosperous New Year in which you accomplish your personal resolutions. By Kivutha Kibwana, Sunday Nation

The writer is the Governor of Makueni County

Details: East Africa; 01 February 2022; 838

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan has accused rivals inside the government of trying to damage her leadership

Tanzania's parliament elected a new speaker on Tuesday following the resignation of her predecessor in a public feud with the president that rocked the ruling party.

Tulia Ackson, who had been deputy speaker since 2015, beat eight other opposition candidates.

"I believe we have elected the right person who will lead the parliament in the right direction," said senior MP William Lukuvi who supervised the election.

"She knows her boundaries as speaker and she knows there is a head of state who is Samia Suluhu Hassan."

The 46-year-old Ackson takes over at a time when rifts have emerged in the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party as it prepares for new elections due in 2025.

Hassan has accused rivals of trying to damage her leadership since she became Tanzania's first woman president in March last year following the sudden death of strongman leader John Magufuli.

Ackson's predecessor Job Ndugai resigned last month after criticising Hassan over what he called Tanzania's "excessive" foreign borrowing and accusing the government of going about with a "begging bowl".

The remarks triggered a debate over the East African country's debt levels that stood at almost $28 billion in November, according to figures published by Tanzania's central bank.

Hassan last month reshuffled her cabinet and sacked several senior members including the ministers for justice, housing, industry and investment.

She has sought to break with some of Magufuli's policies, but has been branded a "dictator" by the opposition, and fears remain about the state of political and media freedoms. By AFP/Mail Online

Details: East Africa; 02 February 2022; 811

By JULIUS MBALUTO

Kenya’s electoral commission (IEBC) had told Kenyans in the Diaspora that they were only allowed to register using their passports. However, Kenyans within the East Africa region could use either their national identity cards or passport.

Kenyans in the rest of the Diaspora argued that they should too be allowed to use their identity cards. However, Okiya Omtata went to court and filed a petition against IEBC and Attorney General Kihara Kariuki seeking to enable Kenyans in the Diaspora to register as voters using passports and identity cards.

Now a High Court in Nairobi has allowed IEBC to register Diaspora voters using either a valid identity card or a passport. The Court gave the directive on 31^st January 2022 pending determination of the petition. IEBC send out a memo saying:

“The purpose of this memo, therefore, is to direct you to comply with the court order by allowing every Kenyan citizen residing abroad to use either their valid passport or national Identity card to register as a voter,’ Marjan told IEBC staff.

This the last week to register as a voter at Kenyan embassies.

Details: East Africa; 01 February 2022; 777

Exiled Kenyan lawyer Miguna Miguna wants the state and airlines to pay him over Sh1 million, which he used during his last aborted trip to Kenya.

In a fresh application filed on Tuesday at the Milimani law courts, Miguna through lawyer Adrian Kamotho says the state should be ordered to compensate him.

“I spent more than $10,000 (Sh1 million) and an equivalent amount in March 2018 and January 2020 when the state prevented me from entering Kenya,” he says.

He says to date Air France has never refunded him the fare he paid for his Berlin-Nairobi round trip which he was stopped from taking.

“I spent $4,300 (Sh488,566) on air transport and $3400 (Sh386,308) on hotel accommodation,” Miguna says.

Further Miguna wants Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo jailed for six months for disobeying court orders issued in November last year directing him to be given an emergency travel document.

“I seek severe penal punishment including but not limited to custodial sentences of the contemnors in addition to having them ordered to jointly and severally compensate me for the losses incurred concerning the aborted trip to Kenya in November,” the application reads.

Miguna wants Omamo to purge the contempt by enabling him to obtain his emergency travel document from Kenya High Commission, Ottawa or the Kenya High Commission, Berlin.

He says if Omamo fails to comply with the orders then citizens should arrest her on sight and deliver her to Kamiti Maximum Prison.

Miguna says Omamo has refused to comply with the court ruling and order despite being aware of it, she has willfully disobeyed the same with impunity and demonstrated callous refusal to comply with it.

“The actions of the CS are in bad faith, contemptuous and a dangerous affront to the proper administration of justice,” he said.

Justice Hedwig Ong'undi had directed Omamo to ensure the order was complied with.

The CS directed Miguna to obtain an emergency travel document from the Kenyan High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, or Berlin, Germany, within 72 hours.

Once in possession of the emergency travel document, Air France should allow him to board an available flight to Kenya with immediate effect.

In his affidavit, Miguna says he went to the Kenya High Commission in Berlin on November 22 after the court order but they declined.

The officials at the commission told him they had not been served with the physical copy of the order and said they were small people who would lose their jobs if they complied with the order.

“When I returned to the embassy on November 23 with physical copies of the order the High Commission in Berlin locked me outside the building and subsequently refused to receive a copy of the order that I presented,” the affidavit reads.

Miguna says one of them said they would not issue him with the emergency travel document until and unless they had received instructions from senior officials at the Ministry of Interior in Nairobi.

“The deputy head of missions laughed at me and pretended she was going to get the Head of Missions but never returned to the conference room,” Miguna says.

The lawyer says at no time did any of the Kenya embassy officials in Berlin ask me to complete or fill any forms nor did they provide me with any forms to complete.

After waiting for more than 96 hours in Berlin, beyond and expiry of the timeline set by the court he was compelled to return to Toronto.

“I was not physically, emotionally and financially able to continue undergoing the frustration and abuse inflicted upon me by them, staying in Berlin any longer under the circumstances would have been unreasonable and unsustainable,” he said. Edited by Kiilu Damaris, By Annette Wambulwa, The Star

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01 February 2022 - 23:00