Political Instability And Extreme Violence In Kenya

 

Defiance and Fury

KENYA

Anti-government protests in Kenya turned deadly this week, sparking worries of escalating violence for Kenyans who are already grappling with soaring inflation and unemployment, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday.

Police and protesters clashed in the capital Nairobi and the western city of Kisumu as demonstrators took to the streets despite authorities warning that such marches are “illegal.” One person was killed in Kisumu, the second fatality since the opposition-led protests kicked off last week.

Meanwhile, hundreds of looters broke into the home of former President Uhuru Kenyatta, stealing sheep and cutting down trees before setting ablaze a section of the property.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has called for protests every Monday and Thursday, accusing President William Ruto of stealing last year’s election and failing to get a handle on the country’s economic woes.

Many Kenyans are struggling to make ends meet amid rising costs of basic goods, a plunging local currency and a record drought that has left millions hungry. Ruto – who vowed to improve the lives of ordinary Kenyans – has recently removed subsidies for fuel and maize flour.

On Tuesday, the African Union voiced “deep concern” about the ongoing violence, calling for calm and political dialogue.

Similarly, Kenya’s National Cohesion and Integration Commission, has also called for dialogue “as a means of moving our country forward.” The peace-building commission was set up after the 2007-2008 post-election clashes that killed more than 1,100 people.

Hotel Rwanda Hero Released By Rwanda Government

 

 Savior, Saved

RWANDA

The Rwandan government released former hotelier and opposition leader Paul Rusesabagina, famous for saving hundreds of people during the 1994 genocide and the inspiration for the film, “Hotel Rwanda,” who had been jailed for years for “terrorism,” CBS News reported.

Officials announced that Rusesabagina’s sentence was commuted by a presidential order after a request for clemency. He will travel to Qatar and then to the United States in the next few days.

The decision comes nearly three years after Rusesabagina disappeared in 2020 during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, only to appear days later in Rwanda in handcuffs after being tricked by the government.

He was later convicted by a local court on eight charges including murder and membership of a terrorist group, and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Rusesabagina and his family said his detention came as a result of his criticism of Rwandan President Paul Kagame over alleged human rights abuses. The government has denied the allegations.

Following his 2020 arrest, authorities said that the opposition figure had been going to Burundi to coordinate with armed groups based there and in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

But the circumstances surrounding his arrest, his limited access to independent legal defense and his worsening health prompted international condemnation, especially by the US. Analysts believe Kagame relented because he wanted to improve ties with the country.

His release was welcomed by his family and a number of Western leaders. Even so, the Rwandan government explained that commutation does not “extinguish” the conviction.

Rusesabagina is credited with sheltering more than 1,000 ethnic Tutsis at the hotel he managed during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide in which more than 800,000 Tutsis, and Hutus who tried to protect them, were killed.

His story was famously portrayed in the movie “Hotel Rwanda,” where Rusesabagina was played by Don Cheadle.

South Africa Is Worth Fighting For

 

Editor's notebook

ADRIAAN BASSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

We dare not lose hope; this country is worth fighting for On the weekend, I returned to South Africa after spending a week with colleagues from around the world at a superb gathering in India.   The purpose of the gathering was to discuss leadership in an increasingly fragmented and polarised world. I arrived in India to the news of the assassination of liquidator Cloete Murray and his son, Thomas.   I knew Cloete well from his work in the liquidation of Bosasa. He and Thomas were decent, hard-working men who believed they had a purpose of tracking the assets of unsavoury characters to safeguard the jobs of companies in crisis.   A few days later, my colleagues and I stared aghast at the unfolding drama of a rapist and murderer named Thabo Bester, who faked his death and escaped from a private prison in Bloemfontein, no doubt with the assistance of people in authority.   Referring to South Africa as an evolving mafia state was not an exaggeration.   Then I started to listen to my colleagues from around the world; the United States, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. And it helped me gain some perspective in a troublesome time for our beloved land.   We are not alone. The world is under increasing pressure from anti-democratic forces, often in cahoots with criminal syndicates, campaigning under populist banners.   In many countries, the rule of law, or at least some parts of it, has utterly broken down. It has become normalised to bribe police and traffic officers and pay your way into school admission for your child. Journalists are randomly killed, and you can go to jail (or disappear) for criticising the president.   In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, is pushing through legislation that will diminish the judicial power of courts and make it impossible for the supreme court to overturn laws passed by parliament.   Visa rejected twice   In India, opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi was convicted of criminal defamation after joking about people with the surname "Modi" being thieves (the Indian prime minister is Narendra Modi). My own application for an Indian visa was rejected twice, and I was required to submit an official letter stating I would not be practising journalism in India before I was granted access to the country.   In the United States, former president Donald Trump has warned the Manhattan District Attorney that "death and destruction" would follow him being criminally charged for the alleged hush money he paid to porn star, Stormy Daniels.   My colleagues from around the world listened in shock as I spoke about South Africa's challenges and slide into a mafia state. They were perplexed how we had slipped from being a global icon in 1994 to being greylisted 29 years later for not complying with international standards countering money laundering and funding terrorism.   They still held South Africa in high esteem – and for a good reason. As we revisited the miracle story of South Africa's relatively peaceful negotiated transition to a constitutional democracy, I was reminded of the immense sacrifices millions made to move us from a pariah state to a global leader.   Yes, we have squandered much of that goodwill over the past three decades, but we are not a failed state. Despite our significant challenges, like the energy crisis, infrastructure collapse and increased organised crime, our Constitution remains a beacon of hope and inspiration to the world.   The willingness of all South Africans to avert a civil war and move forward through an imperfect process of truth and reconciliation still inspires millions worldwide. I firmly believe most South Africans remain good, law-abiding people who essentially want the same things: a job, a house, food and quality education for their children.   Strong institutions of democracy   LGBTQIA+ couples continue to travel to South Africa to get married. Our Constitution guarantees fundamental rights like access to quality education and housing. We have strong institutions of democracy, like an independent National Prosecuting Authority and Public Protector, that are allowed to rule against any politician, including the president.   We can write what we like, and Section 16 of the Constitution safeguards the freedom of the media.   We have world-class organisations, companies and people running schools, businesses, universities and non-profit entities in South Africa. The fact that the ANC has failed to deliver basic services to millions of people and is increasingly making populist noises is a cause for concern but certainly not a reason to give up hope.   In fact, there has never been a better time to take pride in our country, its people and Constitution and fight for the future of our children and our land. Next year, we can vote the ANC out of power if we so wish.   Albeit imperfect, our electoral system will allow independent candidates to run for a seat in Parliament next year. If you can gather enough signatures and about 60 000 votes, you will probably be elected to represent your community in Parliament.   If politics is not your thing, join an NPO like the Gift of the Givers, Defend our Democracy, Freedom Under Law, OUTA, the Kolisi Foundation, Section27, Ladles of Love or any other organisation that needs your skills and money. Support journalists by subscribing to news websites like News24 that shine a light on corruption and power abuse. Strengthen their hand to keep our democracy vibrant and our institutions accountable.   As I wrote this column, I watched the Proteas achieve the unthinkable by chasing an enormous 259-run target set by the West Indies during their T20 match in Centurion. Against all odds, Quinton de Kock and his teammates broke world records as they smashed their way to victory.   Let's emulate the Proteas and bring hope to this nation that remains a lodestar to the world.

More on the topic

Charge Nehawu's Leaders With Murder!

 

Editor's notebook

ADRIAAN BASSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Charge Nehawu's leaders with murder Health Minister Joe Phaahla faces his biggest test since taking over the mantle from the corruption implicated Zweli Mkhize in 2021.   On Phaahla's watch, at least four South Africans died in the past week due to illegal labour action by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu).   Nehawu, a Cosatu affiliate, represents about 112 000 healthcare workers at the country's public clinics and hospitals. In terms of the law, healthcare workers are categorised as "essential workers" for obvious reasons. They are not allowed to strike.   Yet, in defiance of numerous court interdicts prohibiting Nehawu nurses and hospital workers from striking, they continued to down tools. And not only that, many Nehawu members took it upon themselves to prevent sick patients, some of them children, from accessing healthcare services.   Some of them violently removed doctors and hospital workers, who refused to strike, from the country's healthcare facilities, thereby violating the most basic oath of a healthcare professional.   As these examples show, in the past week, many Nehawu members became murderers, criminals and thugs.   At the Pelonomi Hospital in Bloemfontein, an unborn baby died after the absence of nurses delayed an emergency Caesarean section. Placental abruption occurred, and when doctors operated on her hours later, the baby had died, Rapport reported.   At Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg, a 40-year-old man with gangrene and severe pain told News24 he was told to pack his bags and leave the hospital as it was too dangerous for him to remain there. He had to ask strangers to wheel him out of the vicinity. At the General Gizenga Mpanza Hospital in KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal, a female nurse wielding a panga attacked an ambulance carrying a critically ill teenage boy and tried to open the ambulance. A male nurse punched a paramedic who pleaded with striking workers to let them through in the face.   Phaahla announced on Thursday that four people had died due to the illegal strike. That number would have grown exponentially over the past four days as more reports of violent behaviour emerged.   Let's remind ourselves why the healthcare workers are striking. Nehawu is demanding a 10% salary increase for all their members backdated to 2022 after the government approved a 3% increase for all public servants last year.   On top of that, Nehawu wants a R2 500 housing allowance.   According to the union's secretary-general, Zola Saphetha, they cannot even start to negotiate 2023's increases after the 2022 matter has been solved.   I don't know in which world the likes of Saphetha live, but in the real world, very few employees have received 10% increases since Covid-19 decimated the global economy. South Africa cannot afford double-digit raises for the 1.2 million public servants in a declining economy.   In fact, the public servant's wage bill needs to be significantly reduced, especially at the top levels, to get us back to a more sustainable fiscal path.   But even if you agree with Nehawu's outlandish demands, the violence and illegality accompanying the strike should still be condemned. It is unacceptable for nurses and healthcare workers to endanger the lives of those they are supposed to save.   Phaahla's spokesperson said this week the minister would take legal advice on whether to charge those striking Nehawu members who prevented patients from receiving treatment with attempted murder.   I think the minister should take it a notch further and ask his lawyers, and the National Prosecuting Authority, whether there isn't a case to be made for people like Saphetha and Nehawu president Mike Shingange to be charged with murder, attempted murder and assault.   I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me a case could be made that it was as a direct result of their instruction to Nehawu members to strike illegally that babies and patients died, and critically ill children were attacked with pangas.   It's time for the leaders of trade unions to take responsibility for the violent and thuggish behaviour of their members.   Phaahla should do the right thing and bring an end to the impunity characterizing this strike.

Ghana Fears Its China Debt

 

Coming Due

GHANA

Officials in Ghana’s finance ministry recently said talks to restructure its debt to China were “highly cordial and fruitful” – but, however, not concluded.

Ghana owes China almost $2 billion. As Reuters reported, while the West African country technically is in default because it has missed payments to service its debt, the real problem is that the country needs to reach a deal restructuring $46 billion in debt, including to China, or else it won’t receive a $3 billion rescue loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF loan is crucial because Ghana’s economy is in crisis. The value of the country’s currency, the cedi, has plummeted against the dollar, forcing Ghanaian consumers to pay more for imported goods. Inflation is running at 50 percent.

Post-pandemic global economic woes as well as the Russia-Ukraine war’s effect on food and energy prices are major contributing factors. But poor governance has also played a part. As Bloomberg wrote, Ghana was once an island of stability in Africa, held up as a model. It also has oil reserves. But the government still borrowed too much.

And it hasn’t learned its lessons.

Despite the crisis, for example, President Nana Akufo-Addo has vowed to proceed with the construction of the $58 million to $100 million National Cathedral of Ghana, a massive church that critics say is a costly vanity project. “Taxpayers’ money should not be used to fund a personal pledge to God,” said Sam George, a member of parliament, in an interview with the BBC. “We are Christians, but the government has no business funding the construction of a religious building,”

Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama, who served from 2012 to 2017, recently announced he would challenge Akufo-Addo in the 2024 presidential election by running on a campaign to restore the economy, reported Voice of America. He’s been blasting Akufo-Addo for economic mismanagement.

Hanging over Ghana’s negotiations with China are fears that many other African and developing countries will also want to renegotiate their debts, wrote GhanaWeb, a Holland-based news website. China has invested $23 billion in African infrastructure alone between 2007 and 2020, more than double that of the four next richest countries, according to the Center for Global Development.

Disagreements between Western and Chinese creditors have complicated the restructuring that Ghana needs to finalize in order to receive the IMF loan, too, argued Gary Kleiman, a consultant and former IMF financial sector expert.

In the meantime, countries like Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Tunisia are also struggling to restructure their debts in order to receive IMF funding. Tunisian banks, for instance, have warned that they face liquidity risks – no cash, in other words – if they don’t receive help soon, Fitch Ratings noted.

These omens don’t bode well for the near future of the global economy.

Sudan May Be Supporting Russia In The War With Ukraine

 

Your complimentary one-year subscription to DailyChatter is provided by the World Affairs Council of Northern California with the mission of educating and engaging Americans on global issues.

Good Morning, today is March 08, 2023.

NEED TO KNOW Second Thoughts SUDAN Sudan’s military junta has been colluding with an affiliate of Russian military contractor the Wagner Group to plunder the strife-torn African nation’s gold, robbing impoverished Sudanese citizens of critical funds while bolstering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The European Union recently slapped sanctions on Wagner’s subsidiary in Sudan, a company called Meroe Gold, CNN reported, for allegedly committing “serious human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings,” according to European officials. The EU prepared the sanctions as Sudanese protesters took to the streets of the capital of Khartoum to call for reforms that would oust Sudan’s military rulers and transfer power to a civilian government, wrote Africanews. Police cracked down on the demonstrations using tear gas and other measures. Such clashes have been common for at least four years in Sudan. In 2019, civil unrest resulted in the toppling of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir. After a brief democratic period, the military staged a coup in 2021 and took control. As the Sudanese people complain, the military leaders have struggled to deal with the mammoth changes that have rippled through the world during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Sudan is already one of the world’s poorest countries. Now high energy and food costs have hit the country hard. Droughts due to climate change have worsened the tough conditions. A third of the country’s population, or around 15 million people, face famine, Agence France-Presse reported. Three million children who are five years old or younger are “acutely malnourished.” More than 500,000 people also remain displaced in camps in Darfur – 20 years after a conflict began between rebel groups in the region and Sudan’s Arab-dominated central government, Al Jazeera noted. Around 300,000 people died in the fighting between 2003 and 2007. After a joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission withdrew in 2019, fighting in the region started flaring up again. The country’s dismal progress against global counter currents in recent years might have been one reason why even Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the number two member of Sudan’s ruling council, recently said he felt like the 2021 coup was a mistake – a remarkable admission from a prominent member of the country’s junta. Dagalo was particularly concerned that elements of al-Bashir’s National Congress party political were regaining power within Sudan’s military and civilian government, added the BBC. Dagalo, furthermore, has been at odds recently with Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, Sudan’s de facto head of state. Burhan wants a paramilitary force under Dagalo’s leadership to merge with the country’s army, but Dagalo has resisted losing his independence – or his protection – in case of civil war. Burhan is now in talks to transition to a democratic government, but many suspect that he’s reluctant to hand over power, argued the National, a news outlet in the United Arab Emirates. As the involvement of the Wagner Group illustrates, Burhan might fear what could happen to him if he’s not in firm control of the country.

The ANC Presidential Succession Starts To Take Shape.

 

Editor's notebook

ADRIAAN BASSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Are you ready for Deputy President Malema? No, this is not a clickbait headline or hysterical attempt to further upset long-suffering, law-abiding South Africans, already carrying the yoke of a decade of misgovernance and state capture.   It is hard to figure out what exactly is happening in the ANC, allegedly led by a freelance president working full-time as a cattle farmer. Over the past few weeks, I listened, watched and eavesdropped. This is what I saw.   In December, Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected ANC president by a sizeable margin. But the biggest victor of Nasrec 2 was not Ramaphosa, but Paul Mashatile.   Mashatile was not Ramaphosa's preferred candidate to take over from DD Mabuza as party deputy president. And, until the last minute, Ramaphosa didn't announce his preferred candidate.   So it was left to Ramaphosa's campaigners to determine who would be the governing party's number-two. Mabuza's term and purpose had clearly run its course, and it was now up to the leading faction in the ANC to come up with the name of a person who could succeed Ramaphosa in 2027.   This is how things work in the ANC; the deputy becomes the president when the incumbent has finished his two terms (all ANC presidents have been men).   So, the Ramaphosa cabal came up with the very uninspiring name of Oscar Mabuyane, Eastern Cape premier, as their preferred candidate for deputy president. But they had a problem; Ronald Lamola, the young justice minister, had been running his own campaign and wanted to be the preferred deputy for Ramaphosa's slate.   Literally, until the last minute at the conference, the Ramaphosa faction was fighting over who should be on the ballot. Eventually, they couldn't convince either Mabuyane or Lamola to withdraw, which split the Ramaphosa vote in two.   This opened the way for Mashatile to win with 2 178 votes versus Mabuyane's 1 858. Lamola scored only 315 votes.   It was a very significant moment at Nasrec that may have gotten lost in all the noise of Ramaphosa's re-election. Mashatile ran his campaign, funded by his own donors, independently from Ramaphosa's. He was not the president's preferred choice for deputy.   This partly explains the hiatus that prevented Ramaphosa from appointing his new Cabinet. The president, apparently, cannot stand Mashatile and has struggled to bring himself so far as to appoint Mashatile to the second-highest office in the land.   I'm told the president doesn't trust Mashatile as far as he can throw him. For a good reason, probably. As MEC and later premier of Gauteng, Mashatile was best known for surrounding himself with a coterie of friends who were deployed to all the government agencies under his control.   This brotherhood later became known as the Alex Mafia.   Although he was never formally charged with or accused of corruption, the pattern of benefitting friends was there for all to see.   After a few quiet years in Jacob Zuma's slipstream, first as deputy minister, then minister of arts and culture, and then back to Gauteng as housing MEC, Mashatile made a comeback onto the national scene as treasurer-general on Ramaphosa's slate in 2017.   When Ace Magashule was suspended, and Jessie Duarte died, Mashatile assumed control of Luthuli House's entire C-suite. He used the time well to build his profile and campaign and has the ANC deputy president T-shirt to show for it.    Hugely ambitious    It is no secret in ANC circles that Mashatile is hugely ambitious and sees himself as the party's president and, by extension, the country before or after the 2024 election. He is 61 years old and has no appetite to wait until 2029, when Ramaphosa's second term as head of state technically ends, to take over the Union Buildings. To achieve this, he needs Ramaphosa out. So, what is his plan?   In the wake of the Section 189 panel's findings against Ramaphosa on the Phala Phala matter, Mashatile was lobbying hard for Ramaphosa's removal before Nasrec 2. He failed, but his attempts were clearly noted.   In light of last week's dismissal by the Constitutional Court of Ramaphosa's efforts to set aside the report, Mashatile will have a fresh impetus to get rid of Ramaphosa, even before next year's watershed election.   Coupled with Ramaphosa's lackadaisical approach to the Presidency, to the chagrin of his staunch backers, Mashatile may find fertile ground for Ramaphosa to vacate his office before the year is over.   So where do Julius Malema and the EFF fit in? Another reason for Ramaphosa's dislike of Mashatile, I'm told, is his willingness to bring the EFF into the national government. So far, Ramaphosa has resisted any deals with the EFF and is apparently not in favour of what is currently happening in Gauteng.   In fact, at the same time when the EFF stormed Ramaphosa's stage during the State of the Nation Address, the party was in coalition talks with their ANC comrades in Gauteng.   If you have followed local politics closely since the beginning of the year, you would have noticed the ANC and EFF have formed a coalition to take back the metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng. First, they took Johannesburg; last week, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni is next.   The blueprint is to give the mayorship to a small party and share the spoils of the city's fiscus and city departments between the ANC and EFF.   I have very strong reason to believe this timing, shortly after Mashatile became ANC deputy president, is no coincidence. Remember what Malema told News24 in August last year? "I think he [Mashatile] can make a very good leader in his own right. He can be a better leader than Cyril Ramaphosa."   In the same interview, Malema berated Ramaphosa for "hating" black people. I strongly suspect that these Gauteng city deals with the EFF are not only engineered by Gauteng ANC leaders like Panyaza Lesufi, Lebogang Maile and TK Nciza but ultimately with Mashatile's approval.   The national plan, I'm told, is for Mashatile, as president, to bring in Malema as his deputy and formally introduce the EFF to the national government as the ANC's coalition partner. The EFF is expected to achieve between 10% and 13% nationally and push the ANC above 50%.   What will Malema, who is funded by a confessed cigarette smuggler, and the EFF in the national government look like? In 2021, the EFF gave us some clues when it gave the ANC a list of 10 demands to enter into city coalitions: nationalise the mines, formalise expropriation without compensation, nationalise the Reserve Bank and remove "Die Stem" from the national anthem.   Last year, the Human Rights Commission found that Malema committed hate speech when he told his followers in the Western Cape: "You must never be scared to kill. A revolution demands that, at some point, there must be killing because the killing is part of a revolutionary act."   Mashatile is not a radical fascist like Malema, but his ambition to ascend may blind his common sense.   When Zuma fired finance minister Nhlanhla Nene in December 2015, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange lost R150 billion in value. Malema in the national government will make that look like a school picnic.   Malema has always said he wanted to be president. Maybe it's time for those who believe in democracy, non-racialism, the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution to start taking him and his enablers seriously.

Tunisia Has An Illegal Immigrant Problem

 

Diversions and Distractions

TUNISIA

Guinea and Ivory Coast began repatriating hundreds of their citizens from Tunisia this week after Tunisian President Kais Saied blamed sub-Saharan migrants for a rise in crime and accused them of attempting to erase Tunisia’s identity, Africanews reported Thursday.

Ivorian officials said that the country’s national carrier is being tasked to help return around 500 of its citizens from Tunisia. Meanwhile, Guinea announced it is sending its foreign minister to Tunisia “to provide urgent support for Guineans” there.

The repatriation efforts come a week after Saied ordered Tunisian authorities to take “urgent measures” against “hordes” of sub-Saharan African migrants. The president accused these individuals of causing a wave of crime and changing the North African nation’s demographic makeup.

He also alleged that unnamed parties have settled sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia in exchange for money over the last decade, according to Al Jazeera.

There are more than 21,000 sub-Saharan African migrants in Tunisia. Dozens have been arrested in a major crackdown, while others have reported physical attacks.

Some migrants have flocked to their embassies asking to be returned home.

Saied’s comments drew condemnation both locally and internationally, with the African Union urging Tunisia to avoid “racialized hate speech.” Tunisians have launched protests against the president’s statements and the government’s actions against migrants.

In recent months, Saied has been under fire from opposition and human rights groups for arresting political opponents who have criticized his rule and his failure to improve the economy. At the same time, he has come under criticism worldwide for Tunisia’s backsliding on democracy: Tunisia overthrew its longtime dictator in 2011 and sparked the so-called Arab Spring, establishing a democracy that lasted until 2021 when Saied took over in a “coup.”

Kenya: Don't Leave A Message."

 

Don’t Leave a Message

KENYA

Move over, quiet quitting. Employees who are sick and tired of bosses calling them after the end of the business day and at weekends are pushing for laws to maintain boundaries between work and non-work time.

In Kenya, for example, lawmakers have proposed a law that would grant workers the right to ignore their boss’s calls unless they are on the clock, reported CBS News. If workers respond while off duty, furthermore, they are entitled to compensation.

“Technology has led to employees being called late at midnight and yet some of them are non-essential staff,” Kenyan senator Samson Cherargei told the Star, a local newspaper. “Most of these issues have led to (the) breakdown of families and lack of quality time.”

An employer association, the Federation of Kenya Employers, said the proposal was an intrusion into the private sector that would make it harder for companies to hire workers and more difficult for officials to entice firms operating on the black market to become legitimate, wrote the Monitor, an Uganda-based newspaper.

Such debates are raging around the world. After France enacted a similar law in 2017, researchers said workers become more productive due to more leisure time, according to research cited in Quartz. German car giant Volkswagen even turns off its email servers after work ends, added National Public Radio. Others, however, say the so-called “right to disconnect” hamstrings those who want to work and earn more.

Remote working is also helping to drive the issue. Working from home or other non-office locations can increase workers’ “well-being and work engagement,” but only if they work regular hours, the World Economic Forum noted. Otherwise, work takes over one’s life and the benefits of remote work plummet.

Other dimensions of the issue complicate that story, however. Laws stipulating the right to disconnect really only apply to knowledge workers, argued Toronto Metropolitan University professional communication professor Ope Akanbi in the Conversation. Ambulance drivers, for example, work in person or they’re not working at all. Lawyers, doctors, media, marketing and other professionals easily blend work and life, on the other hand. The government won’t alter their situations. They need to figure out their own work-life balances.

Filipinos are now addressing those questions. Michael Tan, a columnist for the Philippines-based English-language newspaper the Inquirer, largely supported a right-to-disconnect bill now under consideration in the capital of Manila. But he noted that he wouldn’t want the law to prevent him from taking after-hours meetings with others in different time zones.

Whether one is a lawmaker or a middle manager, micromanaging the world’s workers is arguably folly.