thirdworldcitizen

The traditional approach to security threat as either external or internal in nature has been challenged by time and occurrences around the world that shaped political responses to these particular threats. The problems faced by states are now more intertwined as states evolved over the years and new challenges emerged as a result of these interactions. Once state’s major threat was external military attack, currently it's home grown terrorists, the role of police was internal peacekeeping and order, now its pursuing domestic drug dealers and unlike outside state borders, on the other hand military’s tasks not only resemble that of internal security, but the rules of deployment has also been modified by international law. Additionally, the provision of services that were once entrusted to states, like security, has been delegated by states to private security providers instead. All these changes did not occur in vacuum, it has been aided by major developments in the global syst...

This is what a dress three size bigger looks like, maybe four...it doesn't matter, I made my point :-) Fashion scares me quite a bit. It is one of those things I do not really understand, it terrifies me when I get to see what it has done to people on the streets, its horrible! It was easy back when I was a carefree child untouched by leopard print skirts and zebra inspired handbags and belts. I am not saying I wore this animal inspired clothing, no , on the contrary I try as much I can to understand why someone would dress up like a leopard. Well, I tried and till now, I have no idea why. Fashion to me is about comfort, comfort and more comfort. It was fun wearing cardigan, a T-shirt with my favourite cartoon character, a maroon trouser and sneakers, that was longtime ago, back when I was eleven. Now its complicated, I am too old for that and too young to dress in a potato sack. Being reminded that life is too short for crappy clothes with the hope that I might enshroud ...

“We are all crazy but our degree of craziness do vary”, a quote I heard somewhere long time ago, and the one who said I do not recall. This quote however, does explain a lot of things that tend to happen in places that are highly frequented by people. Based on my every day experience, if I were to proclaim that majority of people I encounter are a little bit light in the head, I will be doing humanity an injustice. Thus, I choose to call them, highly confident people who live in a parallel city of Nairobi. For instance, matatus are not only a mode of transport, as I have come to learn, but a cuboid/rectangular (I am not good with shapes) structure with seats and windows that can move your tired and beaten body to your desired destination. And in this vehicles that occasionally serve as a moving club that plays ridiculous songs, there are customers; some angels and some a reincarnation of the Sith lord himself. Why would a woman built like a baby hippo squeeze herself between em...

For some citizens of this vast nation of ours, Kenya, insecurity started after our former president Mwai Kibaki sent forces to neighbouring Somalia to topple Al-shabaab. This is an Al-Qaeda affiliated group in the Horn of Africa that has spread terror and destroyed everything that once made Somalia. For these Kenyan folks, before these terrorists from the north took on vengeance attacks, Kenya was the most peaceful of them all. I mean after all we are comparing it to Somali, South Sudan and the DRC. This is a mistake, and here are the reasons. Insecurity is not something new; it has been there before KDF incursion into Somalia, before Westgate Attacks, before Mpeketoni attacks. Insecurity and its threat level do not simply increase because an area of interest to the economy is affected. We have treated insecurity with different magnitude. When the coastal areas known for its tourist attractions are affected the threat seem to be of a national issue, and not when it happens in...

Understanding post election violence in new democr... : Although post election violence has been a common occurrence in most African states, the new wave of PEV especially in Guinea and Nige...

Although post election violence has been a common occurrence in most African states, the new wave of PEV especially in Guinea and Nigeria shows change in pattern. These states are the so called new democracies in Africa, states that recently underwent democratic transition (S, Omotola 2010). This wave of violence has threatened stability of these states as people took to the streets to redress the disputed elections through violence. And unfortunately in some instances it took ethnic dimensions when a specific group of people were targeted in the process not only complicating the situation but also raising concerns over ethnic violence. Post election violence in these states is linked to patrimonial nature of most African states, weak institutions and exploitation of ethnicity to invoke political support which has undermined stability and security.   Additionally, different parties and leaders in these states have employed different tactics of election malpractices that invol...