Youth activism beyond borders Odongo wekesa Africa is a youthful population, statistics show that the population of youth and children in Africa is rising. African youth are also among the most disadvantaged in the world. This ranges from economic refugees in Europe all in a bid to try and survive , to communities ravaged by the negative impacts of HIV and Aids to countries getting destroyed by election related conflicts. Conflict which increasing in the continent also affects young people more than any other age bracket. Additionally, In Sub-Saharan Africa, 3 in 5 of the total unemployed are youth (ILO 2006) and on average 72 percent of the youth population live with less than US$2 a day. Africa is also home to between seven to eight million illegal immigrants in the European Union. The contradiction   that is glaring is also that the continent has the highest deposit of natural resources, then why are African youth suffering? In a bid to create lasting change i...

Expanding access to justice through community paralegals Leonida Odongo oct 14, 2019 For many communities access to justice represents a near impossibility because of cost, distance, lack of knowledge and the fear of reprisal.  Paralegals utilise rapport and trust to increase access to justice for their clients. Despite possessing knowledge and expertise in the legal field they engage in diverse responsibilities in their communities. They advise elders and community leaders, assist individuals find lodging in cases of domestic abuse and conduct fact finding for remedies to rights violations.  Participants in this conversation sought a clearer picture of: Who is a paralegal? How to motivate them and ensure they are effective advocates? How they build trust within the communities they serve? How they solve disputes with power imbalances? How to seed their practices in other human rights sectors? Additional Resource Practition...

    The handshake between Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga on Friday 9 March 2018 shocked and surprised their respective supporters. What has left many dumbfounded is the fact that the other major key political players of both Jubilee and National Super Alliance were not privy to this meeting of the two hitherto political nemeses. Is it the beginning of a true national reconciliation process?  Introduction The first rule in politics is that “there are neither permanent friends nor permanent enemies.”  This political maxim was just proved beyond reasonable doubt when Kenya’s sworn political enemies Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga met on Friday 9 March 2018, and had a historical handshake that shocked and surprised their respective supporters.  The media is awash with speculation as to what this surprise move could portend.  What has left many dumbfounded is the fact that the other major key political players of both Jubilee a...

We have three arms of government in Kenya: 1) The Executive 2) The Legislature 3) The Judiciary       These three arms of government are supposed to be independent, complementing each other in the functions of state.The Executive is normally an elevation of members of the Legislature to new roles. You are voted in as a member of the house, get appointed to the cabinet, then join the president in the executive wing of government.Those in the Executive are meant to execute the wishes of the Legislature. In Kenya, the Executive in most cases overrides the Legislature and oftentimes operates as if it is above the law.In Kenya, the Executive governs by giving instant justice. The president directs that such and such is to be done, and like the days of Jesus, it is done. In most cases the Executive does not give a damn about the law. We have many cases where the Executive has gone against the law with impunity, such as when giving out title deeds against a court order. ...