Contradictions in the search for peace and justice in northern Uganda: examining the potential of the International Criminal Court and local peace initiatives

Abstract In December 2003, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda referred the situation of northern Uganda in respect to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The LRA had been wreaking havoc on the civilian population since the beginning of 1987. The LRA actions included abductions, forced conscription of child soldiers, sex slavery, rape, mutilation, torture, looting and destruction of property, among other crimes. These actions fell within the ambit of war crimes and crimes against humanity punishable under international law. In response to the referral, the ICC Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo intervened to bring the LRA top leadership to justice. The referral was an opportunity to punish the LRA for their atrocities and to bring an end to the protracted conflict which had caused so much suffering to the people living in northern Uganda. The referral was also an opportunity for the ICC to put its capacity to the test as the referral was the first for the Court, hailed at the time of its establishment in 1998 as a milestone in the fight against impunity and in the pursuit of justice, peace and stability. However, a section of the local population, especially traditional leaders and broader civil society, questioned the ICC’s appropriateness as a response to the protracted conflict. The traditional leaders and civil society proposed alternative forms of justice as being more appropriate in the context of the northern Ugandan conflict. In this respect, the Court’s intervention appeared to be counterproductive. A sharp contrast was drawn between the goals of justice and the prospects for peace. This thesis, therefore, interrogates the appropriateness of the ICC’s role in the situation of northern Uganda in relation to sustainable peace and stability. The thesis also assesses the effectiveness of the proposed local peace initiatives in a situation where human rights had been grossly violated. In the process the thesis examines the potential of the ICC and of the proposed alternative models of peace to achieve their respective goals in a situation characterised by massive human rights violation. In so doing the thesis seeks to identify the lacunae of these contending models of transitional justice and proposes a more holistic approach to transitional justice

The 2010 Kenyan constitution and the hierarchical place of international law in the Kenyan domestic legal system: a comparative perspective

The prominent use of international human rights law in a state’s domestic legal system depends on the hierarchical place occupied by international law in general, and international human rights law in particular, among the sources of law in that particular legal system. Two systems of receipt of international law in the domestic legal systems have been used by different states: monism, which looks to directly incorporate ratified international law treaties in a state’s domestic legal system; and dualism, which entails the transformation of international law into the domestic legal system through the domestication of ratified international law treaties by means of the enactment of parliamentary legislation. Kenya, as a Commonwealth country, has always primarily followed a dualist approach which requires that domesticating legislation be enacted by parliament for ratified international law treaties to have application in the domestic legal system. However, with the promulgation of the new Constitution in August 2010, international law has been given a more prominent role in the domestic legal system through the inclusion in the Constitution of a provision directly incorporating ratified treaty law into the Kenyan legal system as a legitimate source of law. This article is primarily focused on analysing the hierarchical place of international law, specifically international human rights treaty law, in the Kenyan domestic legal system in the context of the new constitutional dispensation. It recommends that in order for international human rights law to have a prominent place in the governance of the country, article 2(6) of the Constitution should be interpreted progressively so as to give international human rights law norms an infra-constitutional but a supra-legal status in the domestic legal system. In this way, international human rights law will act as a bulwark against recession to totalitarian rule, as well as safeguard the democratic and fundamental rights protection gains that were won in the struggle for constitutional change.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Negotiating for Democratic Communities in Schools: Principals’ Perspectives

This study explored the strategic use of negotiating as a tool for creating and enhancing democratic communities. Principals have been described as an important unit of analysis in examining leadership practice

Perceptions on Governance for Effective Adaptation to Climate Change within Community-Based Wildlife Conservancies in Kenya

Community-based wildlife conservancies (CBC) represent a broad spectrum of new management arrangements and benefit sharing partnerships in natural resource management by none state agents, but who, by virtue of their collective location and activities, are critically placed to shape the present and future status of these resources. This approach of wildlife management is increasingly gaining popularity as an option for achieving sustainable co-existence and complementarity between wildlife conservation and livestock production in the drylands of Kenya. Despite difference in ownership and governance structure in place, all conservancies have instituted new rules of control and access. This study sought to understand whether the governance system promoted inclusivity among the various social groups and secondly whether or not the model promotes enhancement of household resilience. Quantitative and Qualitative data based on household surveys, focus groups discussions and Key informants’ interviews were collected in two counties of Samburu and Isiolo and subjected to Q1Macros for descriptive analysis. The CBCs are governed by a board, supported by sub-committees. The board provide leadership and oversight and ensures transparency, adherence to the law, and equitable representation and sharing of revenue. Women representation in the boards recommended, and almost compulsory in Northern Rangeland Trust (NRT) supported conservancies. Broadly, household’s social amenities as health facilities, bursaries for school going children, and access to credits have improved under CBC. Movement of livestock between conservancies in search of pastures and water during drought is managed through grazing committees but is not effective during times of prolonged droughts. Traditional system based on the value of reciprocity, is eroding with the creation of new forms of resource management where others may be excluded. Simmering mistrust amongst neighbouring pastoral communities is not in common. Reciprocity for water and pastures within and between communities and within neighbouring Counties must be factored in CBC implementation plan

Analysis of Actors and Activities at Dagoretti Livestock Market in Nairobi City, Kenya

Pastoralism is the main economic activity in the massive drylands of Kenya, consisting over 70% of the countries’ livestock population. It employs 90% of communities living the arid and semi-arid parts of the country. Although few small-scale livestock markets exist in rural pastoral areas, most of the animals end up in the urban markets with peak demand of livestock-based commodities. Dagoretti livestock market, located in Nairobi City (the capital of Kenya) is the largest and terminal market for pastoralist communities countrywide as well as a source of income to various market actors and government revenue. Despite this immense contribution, there is limited scientific information on the market actors, opportunities and challenges encountered at the market, to guide planning, decisions and interventions for sustainable livestock trade in the city of Nairobi. This study was the aim of this study. Data was collected using semi-structured Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (KIIs). A total of 41 KIIs and 4 FGDs were conducted with various market actors. Results show that Dagoretti livestock market is dominated by pastoralists, suppliers of animals for trade; whereby cattle consisted 63.5% of total animals sold, sheep (28.7%) and goats (7.8%). Majority of the animals came from Southern and Northern rangelands of Kenya, 43.02% and 21.68% respectively, with only 9.33% from Uganda and Tanzania. The market attracted a myriad of income opportunities including traders in live animals, brokers, transporters, trekkers, loaders and off-loaders, herders of unsold animals, forage-sellers, veterinary officers, revenue officers, food vendors, cleaners, security guards, branders, butchers, and slaughtered animal value-chains. Main challenges included high taxation barriers, poor infrastructure, lack of incentives, and animal-congestion. There is need for regulatory frameworks supporting livestock trade and incentives to empower market actors, improve efficiency in market operations, and returns to the government and individual actors

Human Rights Violations: An Impetus for Police Reforms in Kenya Between 1978 and 2002

Since independence, police reforms have been influenced by the need to expand democratic space and to ensure protection of human rights. Previous studies have attempted to deconstruct the police reforms. However, the studies have not adequately examined the implications of police reforms on human rights in Kenya. This paper examines police reforms between in Kenya between 1978 and 2002 and their implications on human rights. The study was based on a descriptive survey design and targeted senior serving and retired police officers, government administrators, county government administrators and members of the human rights groups in Nairobi County. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 116 study participants. Data was collected through focus group discussion, interview schedule and document analysis and analyzed based on thematic content analysis. The study findings revealed that Moi’s presidency (between 1978 and 2002) was marked by minimal police reforms but heightened human rights violation including arrests without warrants, detention without trial and torture which resulted in injury and death. This implied that in the absence of substantive reforms, the police disregarded human rights. Hence, the period between 1978 and 2002 was marked by curtailed freedom of association, assembly, speech and expression.Keywords: Human Rights, Police Reforms, human rights discourse, Moi era, Kenya DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/103-06 Publication date: November 30th 202

Teachers’ Perceptions of Competency-Based Curriculum Implementation, and Government Support: A Mixed Methods Study on Grade 1-5 Teachers in Homabay County, Kenya

Education reform is necessary as it allows a country to periodically review, revise, and evaluate its education systems and programs. Kenya recently adopted a competency-based education system, known as competency-Based Curriculum(CBC). This approach allows students work at their own pace to demonstrate mastery of the competencies required for their chosen field of study. However, previous studies on the implementation stages of CBC, particularly in elementary teacher preparedness, have indicated that teachers' knowledge of CBC is inadequate, they are ill-prepared, and thus they are unable to effectively teach and evaluate the new curriculum. Therefore, this study aims to investigate teacher perceptions, self-efficacy on digital technology use, and government support in the implementation of CBC, to identify the challenges teachers are facing and the support needed to effectively implement the curriculum. The study used a mixed-method convergent research design to answer the research questions. The participants were grade 1-5 teachers drawn from Homa Bay county. The study findings revealed that CBC teachers have conflicting views about CBC. Among all survey constructs, the government resource support had the highest mean, while the need for training on information and communication technology and the provision of digital technology materials to schools were mostly unfavorable. Survey respondents indicated moderate agreement with the relevant assertions. The study recommends the use of perception theory instead of self-efficacy theory to investigate teachers' opinions on the implementation of CBC. This approach can help create links between the identified issues and outcomes. Further research is necessary to examine how parents perceive the implementation of CBC and how their involvement can aid in learners' acquisition of the necessary competencies and skills. Keywords: Teachers’ perceptions, Competency-based curriculum, Government support, Digital technology DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-9-09 Publication date:March 31st 202

Charcoal Value Chain as a Complimentary Livelihood Activity for Pastoralists in the Rangelands

Global charcoal production has more than tripled over the past 50 years from 17.3 million tons in 1964 to 53.1 million tons in 2014. 61% of the present global charcoal production occurs in Africa, mostly to satisfy demand for cooking fuel from urban and peri-urban households. Despite the adverse environmental impacts associated with charcoal production, a significant global population relies on it for energy needs, while many producers depend on it as a livelihood source. Whereas this calls for efforts to promote sustainable charcoal production practices, this has to be informed by in-depth understanding of the charcoal value chain to guide interventions aimed at making it a sustainable economic activity. This study used household interviews, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions to gather data on the practices, actors, prices, and quantities of charcoal traded at different nodes of the value chain in Pokot Central, Kenya. The results revealed over 13 categories of actors who were directly and indirectly involved in the charcoal production and trade. These included tree owners, producers, bulking agents, transporters, brokers, retailers, wholesalers, and law enforcers (police and Kenya Forest Service guards). The findings showed that the producers mainly used traditional kilns. Charcoal trade was mainly dominated by middle traders who determined prices along the value chain, and charcoal prices varied widely from US$4 per 100kg of charcoal at point of production to US$ 20 per 1 kg in urban centres. The higher prices at the urban centres were partly attributed to extra marketing costs associated with illegal fees paid to the law enforcers at road blocks during transportation. These findings point at the need to improve the production efficiency by use of improved kilns, and formalize charcoal trade to ensure standardization of prices and minimize exploitation of producers by brokers as well as corrupt law enforcers

Audit Committee Attributes and Financial Reporting Quality of the State-owned Commercial Enterprises in Kenya

The study examines the relationship between audit committee attributes and financial reporting quality of State-owned Commercial Enterprises in Kenya. An analysis was done on annual reports and financial statements for 122 state-owned commercial for the period between 2008 and 2018. The results indicate that audit committee attributes has statistically significant relationship with financial reporting quality of State-owned Commercial Enterprises in Kenya. Results further reveal the audit committee independence has statistically significant and negative relationship with financial reporting whereas audit committee qualification, size and number of meetings held in a financial year had statistically significant and positive relationship with accrual quality. While audit committee independence and qualification exhibited statistically significant positive and negative relationship with qualitative characteristics respectively, it was evident that audit committee attributes had no significant relationship with timeliness in reporting. It is therefore, concluded that audit committee attributes impact financial reporting quality in State-owned Commercial Enterprises in Kenya requiring the appointing authorities to appoint audit committee members with the right skill mix and qualification to realize value addition services and improve financial reporting oversight. Keywords: Audit Committee Attributes, Financial Reporting Quality, State-owned Commercial Enterprises DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/11-14-12 Publication date:July 31st 202

Limitation of Socio-Economic Rights in the 2010 Kenyan Constitution: A Proposal for the Adoption of a Proportionality Approach in the Judicial Adjudication of Socio-Economic Rights Disputes

On 27 August 2010 Kenya adopted a transformative Constitution with the objective of fighting poverty and inequality as well as improving the standards of living of all people in Kenya. One of the mechanisms in the 2010 Constitution aimed at achieving this egalitarian transformation is the entrenchment of justiciable socio-economic rights (SERs), an integral part of the Bill of Rights. The entrenched SERs require the State to put in place a legislative, policy and programmatic framework to enhance the realisation of its constitutional obligations to respect, protect and fulfill these rights for all Kenyans. These SER obligations, just like any other fundamental human rights obligations, are, however, not absolute and are subject to legitimate limitation by the State. Two approaches have been used in international and comparative national law jurisprudence to limit SERs: the proportionality approach, using a general limitation clause that has found application in international and regional jurisprudence on the one hand; and the reasonableness approach, using internal limitations contained in the standard of progressive realisation, an approach that has found application in the SER jurisprudence of the South African Courts, on the other hand. This article proposes that if the entrenched SERs are to achieve their transformative objectives, Kenyan courts must adopt a proportionality approach in the judicial adjudication of SER disputes. This proposal is based on the reasoning that for the entrenched SERs to have a substantive positive impact on the lives of the Kenyan people, any measure by the government aimed at their limitation must be subjected to strict scrutiny by the courts, a form of scrutiny that can be achieved only by using the proportionality standard entrenched in the article 24 general limitation clause.  &nbsp