The Kenyan Elite and the Constitution Published: 5 July 2021 Opinion Kenya’s constitutional history did not develop in a vacuum. To understand the recent limitations placed on the powers of the executive by the 2010 constitution, the case for viewing Kenyan politics in the long durée remains compelling.
Why Bother with Elections? Reflections on East Africa’s unfolding electoral season Published: 15 January 2021 Article Are elections actually worth it? While, across the world, elections are often held up as a key marker of democratic participation and government legitimacy, many ordinary people are losing faith in them as a way of selecting their leaders.
Uganda Elections 2021 Published: 14 January 2021 New Brief Uganda is at a political and democratic crossroads. Despite being a nominal democracy, incumbent president Yoweri Museveni, who has been at the helm for 34 years, shows no intention of relinquishing power and increasingly relies on the military to overcome his waning popularity.
The Role of Civil Society in Managing and Mitigating Conflict in Ethiopia Published: 26 November 2020 Virtual Forum Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung (hbs) Nairobi Office, in collaboration with the Rift Valley Institute, cordially invites you to the 4th Election series virtual forum on; The Role of Civil Society in Managing and Mitigating Conflict in Ethiopia.
“The Pandemic Is Deepening the Divide" Published: 6 August 2020 Interview For the highly indebted developing countries, the corona pandemic accelerates the debt crisis. An interview with Barbara Unmüßig from the Board of the Heinrich Böll Foundation about the latest developments.
“The Pandemic Is Deepening the Divide" Published: 6 May 2020 Interview For the highly indebted developing countries, the corona pandemic accelerates the debt crisis. An interview with Barbara Unmüßig from the Board of the Heinrich Böll Foundation about the latest developments.
Civic Voices on the State of Eritrea Published: 23 May 2019 Report Hbs Nairobi supported the convening of a diverse group of 16 Eritrean professionals and intellectuals in December 2018 to discuss the implications of the sudden amelioration of the relationship between Eritrea and Ethiopia earlier in the year. Over the 6 months which followed the workshop, participants engaged in intense consultations and decided to publish their joint reflections just a day ahead of Eritrea’s Independence Day on 24 May 2019.
Celebrating Whispers 15 Years On: How Satire Can Further Civic Discourse Published: 13 August 2018 This year, 2018, marks 15 years since the death of Wahome Mutahi (1954 – 2003), who was one of Kenya’s most prolific fiction writers, as well as a playwright, columnist, political satirist, pundit and public opinion leader. He was popularly known as Whispers after the name of the column he wrote for The Daily Nation from 1982 to 2003, offering a satirical view of the trials and tribulations of Kenyan life. According to George Ogola in The Idiom of Age in a Popular Kenyan Newspaper Serial, at a time when the state had all but monopolized public sites of expression in the country, Whispers kept the Kenyan popular media porous, opening up spaces for the discussion of social and political issues that could otherwise only be ‘whispered’. It became the most visible site of social, cultural and political expression for the last two decades at a time when freedom to such expression was highly constrained by the state.
Extra-Judicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances in Kenya: Balancing the Respect for Human Rights and Maintaining National Security Published: 10 April 2018 The Annual All Kenyan Moot Court Competition was held on the 23rd and 24th March 2018 at the Kenyatta University School of Law, supported by the Heinrich Boell Foundation with 200 students participating from 12 different universities across the country. This year’s theme was: “Striking the Balance between Respect for Human Rights and Maintaining National Security.” While Kenya signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), it has not ratified the Convention, and consequently the existing legal framework falls short of international human right standards, and is thus unable to comprehensively deal with the problem
Dossier: For Democracy Published: 8 November 2016 Democracy must be fought for, revitalized, and renewed. Institutions, like the Heinrich Böll Foundation, have been struggling against a significant headwind for some time now, as the authoritarian developing state has gained massive momentum. With the publication “For democracy” and this online-dossier, we analyze the state of democracy worldwide as well as the possibilities of democracy assistance. At the same time, we provide insights into the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s political work for democracy. Concrete examples and regional analyses present a vivid account of our engagement. We take stock and examine the challenges that will face us in the future.
