Kenya has been ranked among the countries with the highest defence budgets in Africa, thanks to two decades of a steady increase in military expenditure. It is ranked seventh behind Algeria, South Africa, Angola, Libya, Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco, having surpassed Tunisia last year. The country spent Sh45.8 billion last year down from Sh47.7 billion the previous year but remained by far the highest in East Africa relative to its GDP, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), an independent research organisation. Algeria had the highest spending on defence at Sh736 billion followed by South Africa with Sh434 billion and Angola at Sh309 billion.

The Ethiopian authorities are committing human rights violations in response to the ongoing Muslim protest movement in the country. Large numbers of protestors have been arrested, many of whom remain in detention. There are also numerous reports of police using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators. Key figures within the movement have been charged with terrorism offences. Most of those arrested and charged appear to have been targeted solely because of their participation in a peaceful protest movement.

AID/WATCH in coordination with the Minerals Policy Institute have released a letter calling on the government to stop using Australian aid funds to support the expansion of Australian mining interests overseas. Money from the aid program is being used to fund Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs for mining companies who are members of the Australian Africa Mining Industry Group. A pilot project has been established that provides funds through the Development Assistance Program allocating $30,000 of funding for Australian mining companies to run CSR programs and promote sustainability. At least one of the companies receiving funding, Paladin, have been implicated in a range of labour and environmental abuses at their operations in Africa, and also accused of corruption.