Although God’s sovereign and stops all suffering, he’s not a Sugar Daddy to dish out gifts to Africa freely
At the turn of the New Millennium in January 2000, I wrote an introspective letter to a good friend of mine, and on re-reading it, I thought the thoughts God prompted me to share with her were worthy of wider circulation. Africa was on my mind as the continent hopped...
We rely so heavily on the First Amendment as a bulwark against government intrusion
Last month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a controversial bill to regulate social media that represents the culmination of months of conservative attacks on free speech and the Constitution. The bill is designed to force social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter to host speech from conservative...
World Bank’s unwillingness to release Covid funds squanders fruits of research
Someday, my grandchildren will read how teams of scientists around the world developed vaccines against Covid-19 within a year. They will also read a sadder history: how millions of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) died after those vaccines came to market. Part of the reason, they’ll learn, was...
Corporate responsibility: Science-funding giant Wellcome steps up the plate to tackle racism
Two years ago, I was about to log off from my work at the research funder Wellcome when I got an e-mail from a senior leader. I remember tensing as I read it. I’d asked that Wellcome add its name to some general anti-racism commitments. The leader didn’t refuse, but...
Oil and gas: Africa doesn’t have to shy away from China despite its poor record on environment
Throughout the 2021 economic recovery, API’s data have demonstrated the intertwined relationship between the nation’s recovering economy and affordable, reliable energy. Leading economic indicators have continued to rise and along with them, so has oil demand – even as global oil drilling and investment have fallen. According to the International...
Espionage: The AN0M fake secure chat app may have been too clever for its own good
In April 1943, Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was killed when the US Air Force shot down the plane carrying him to Balalae Airfield in the Solomon Islands. The attack was made possible by the USA cracking Japanese codes and decrypting a message that revealed Yamamoto’s flight plan would just take...
When a rogue president is in power, the very essence of being a Kenyan’s at stake
As a Kenyan human rights lawyer whose activism has been shaped very much by my Christian faith and inspired by the example of Christians elsewhere who have used their faith to push for social change, I like to share some of my personal experiences of speaking truth to power in...
Tech transfer: Ensuring food security with Zimbabwe’s first private research institute
I study the interactions between cell proteins and DNA. I want to understand how the gene-editing tool CRISPR makes unintended changes to organisms’ DNA. I have a faculty appointment at Leipzig University in Germany. But in March 2021, I took parental leave, which will probably become permanent leave and came...
Mr President, when a regime fails its citizens silence becomes betrayal and inaction treason
I am a Kenyan citizen and resident taxpayer who, alongside 48 million of my fellow citizens, has watched with utter dismay and increasing frustration as your government has run the affairs of our land with criminal negligence, thereby placing in great jeopardy not just our present fortunes but our children’s...
Risks of remote presence: Your online content can be screenshot, misused
Remote attendance of events, including work, has its own challenges: you leave a lot in your trail that can work against you. Recording of such events has its own social and professional risks that you need to be aware of and give informed consent or decline where appropriate. This may...