Neutralising the Catalysts of Terror in Asia and Africa Through Strict Regulation of Common Materials (Using India, Kenya and Nigeria as a Case Study)

by | Sep 27, 2019 | ANUL, ANUL 2016 I1

Neutralising the Catalysts of Terror in Asia and Africa Through Strict Regulation of Common Materials (Using India, Kenya and Nigeria as a Case Study)

Authors BB Orubebe, SM Olokooba

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: None
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2016, Issue 1, p. 27 – 49

Abstract

The focus of this article is on a curious inadvertence omission in the counterterrorism laws and policies in Asia and Africa, with a focus on India, Kenya and Nigeria. In doing this, this article examines what constitutes ‘common materials’ and the need to strictly monitor their procurement, handling and use to prevent them from being used for purposes of terror. This article further examines the limitation in the current regulations of those materials in the countries of focus and posits that the unrestricted use of the common materials accounted for the escalated nature of terrorism in India, Kenya and Nigeria. Based on this, this article recommends among others for a robust legislative mandate to regulate those common materials. This, according to this article, will save the countries of focus and by extension the world at large from the imminent danger of terror attacks and the associated agonies of terrorism.

Is Technology used to Subordinate Socially Conservative Constitutions in Africa? The Case of Kenya’s Proposed Legislation on Assisted Reproductive Technology

by | Sep 27, 2019 | ANUL, ANUL 2016 I1

Is Technology used to Subordinate Socially Conservative Constitutions in Africa? The Case of Kenya’s Proposed Legislation on Assisted Reproductive Technology

Authors Duncan Ojwang, Agnes Meroka, Francis Situma

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: Lecturer of International Law and International Human Rights Law; Lecturer of Human Rights and Women in the Legal Process; Lecturer of International Law
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2016, Issue 1, p. 1 – 26

Abstract

When it comes to matters of technology, perhaps African countries should adopt the famous principle in disability law: ‘Nothing about us without us.’ This is because as science and technology advance at a breakneck pace, it can be used to impose globalisation, even by subordinating a country’s sacred document such as a constitution. What is at stake in this debate is whether a parallel exists between the use of law as a tool of colonisation and hegemony of the western powers and the current triumph of technology to subvert African municipal law, culture, ethics and values. Kenya is a clear example of this because, unlike most African countries, it has experienced higher levels of western influence. This article evaluates the case of the Reproductive Health Care Bill, 2014 and the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, 2016 to illustrate how technology is sometimes used to substitute the constitutions of some African countries that are socially conservative so that they conform to liberal ideas on critical areas like marriage, family, abortion, culture and reproductive rights. The preamble of the Kenyan Constitution, just like the Banjul Charter (also known as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights), sought to balance the place of an individual, family and society. This article will review the following relevant provisions of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010: Article 43(1)(a) on the right to reproductive healthcare, Article 26 on the right to life, Article 45 on the right to family, Article 31 on the right to privacy and dignity, Article 27 on the right to equality and freedom from discrimination, Article 44 on the right to culture and Article 53 on children’s rights. Understanding in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or gestational surrogacy through the Kenyan Constitution can contribute to avoiding the danger of the collapse of African society and families. Understanding technology through the Kenyan Constitution will assist the society not to forget that their values and ethics must be used to regulate the use of technology.