Freedom from intimidation, violence and corruption: International and national reflections ahead of Kenyan elections
The 2017 Kenyan general elections are scheduled for 8 August. Currently, politicians and political parties are in the midst of their campaigns. While the last elections were largely peaceful, allegations of voter-bribery, a challenging election timeline and questions over the IEBC’s capacity to manage the elections have increased concerns for violence. On 20 April 2017, […]
Book Launch: Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics
From the upheavals of recent national elections to the success of the #MyDressMyChoice feminist movement, digital platforms have already had a dramatic impact on political life in Kenya—one of the most electronically advanced countries in Africa. While the impact of the Digital Age on Western politics has been extensively debated, there is still little appreciation […]
Participation, Voice and Governance in Investment Corridors in Africa: The case of LAPSSET
Since 2012, the Kenyan government has begun commissioning work on the Lamu Port and South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Corridor) project, commonly known as LAPSSET. The corridor, which consists of road, railway and new port facilities, promises to radically alter the landscape of northern Kenya—a historically marginalized region. Communities living in the corridor have raised concerns […]
Launch of the Special Issue of the Journal of Eastern African Studies
In 2017, the Rift Valley Institute was involved in a study on the risks and challenges facing Kenya ahead of the 2017 elections and the prospects for a peaceful poll. On 27 May 2019, the findings from that study were disseminated through the launch of a special issue of the Journal of Eastern African Studies: Has […]
Green Dreams, Local Struggles: ‘Seeing’ conflicts in and around large energy projects in Kenya
Unprecedented levels of investment in ‘green’ resources—hydropower, geothermal, wind, landscapes and wildlife—are a central feature of national development strategies across eastern Africa. Political and business leaders have welcomed this investment for the benefits it will bring to the national population and the local jobs created. Many of these resource development projects are located at the […]
Book Launch: Benga, a Kenyan Kaleidoscope
As the process of globalization and digitalization intensifies, previously confidential music genres are now experiencing a heightened level of visibility. Access to new audiences, however, can also present challenges for these often peripheral cultures, related to their re-interpretation and the ethical, economic and cultural difficulties associated with their diffusion. As a genre often looked down […]
Widow Inheritance and Contested Citizenship in Kenya
Introduction On 5 July 2019, the Rift Valley Forum launched the book, Widow Inheritance and Contested Citizenship in Kenya, by Dr. Awino Okech. The book explores the intersection between power, gender and sexuality, and the role of body politics in the construction of gendered subjects and nations. The book uses widow inheritance amongst the Luo of Kenya as […]
Eldoret, a city on the move
The Rift Valley Institute’s Rural to urban mobility project aims to better understand the dynamics of rural to urban migration and the ways in which this phenomenon impacts the social and infrastructural fabric of cities in East Africa. It is conducted within the framework of the Research and Evidence Facility on Migration in the Horn of Africa, […]
The Lure of the City: Rural to urban migration in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda
The Rift Valley Institute’s Rural to urban mobility project aims to better understand the dynamics of rural to urban migration and the ways in which this phenomenon impacts the social and infrastructural fabric of cities in East Africa. Although secondary cities have witnessed tremendous growth in the past few decades, playing an important role between rural and […]
Somalia’s Jubaland
On 22 February 2013, the Rift Valley Institute’s Nairobi Forum hosted an event entitled ‘Somalia’s Jubaland: Past, present and potential futures’. Jubaland has been one of the most heavily fought over regions of Somalia—but with its perennial river, fertile soils and the port city of Kismayo it has the potential to be one of Somalia’s […]