Research & Insights · Page 2

Keep the conversation going.

Continue exploring reflective musings and critical essays grounded in African realities.

11 May 2026

The time tax: Hours already taken

This series has named the care tax — the invisible extraction that sustains households and economies. Now we ask: what does that extraction do to a day? To a body? To a life? Th…

6 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

5 May 2026

The tax no one names

She wakes before dawn. The house is still dark. She fetches water. She prepares food. She readies children. Her day begins before the recognised working day starts — and continu…

6 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

1 May 2026

The tax system treats the majority as the exception

Tax systems do not reflect economic life. They structure it around assumptions about income, time, and visibility. They are built on an implicit model of the taxpayer — stable i…

5 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

29 April 2026

The citizen the tax system imagines

Who is recognised as a taxpayer — and who is treated as an exception? Tax systems are built around an implicit model of the taxpayer. Stable income. Formal employment. Individua…

3 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

26 April 2026

Tax enforcement: Who gets punished — and who walks away?

The previous article asked who can comply and who struggles. This article asks: when compliance fails – or when the system decides to pursue – who is punished and who walks away…

3 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

24 April 2026

Tax administration: Where power meets people

This series has examined what is taxed, how it is designed, and who pays. Now we ask: how do people actually comply? Who can enter the system, and who struggles before enforceme…

10 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

22 April 2026

Who pays? The burden of tax extraction

This series has examined what is taxed and how it is designed. Now we ask: who actually pays? The myth of the taxpayer Tax systems tell a simple story: taxpayers are those who a…

9 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

14 April 2026

How much? The design of tax extraction

This series has examined what counts as economic value. Now we ask: how is it designed? Design decides direction. Tax systems do not only decide what to tax. They decide how muc…

5 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

13 April 2026

What counts? The politics of the tax base

This series moves from lived reality to the rules. The previous article asked who writes tax policy – at global, regional, and national levels. Now we ask: what does the system…

4 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

11 April 2026

Taxation policy and law: Who decides?

This series moves from lived reality to the rules. The first article showed how colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy built the tax system. Now we ask: who writes the rules to…

7 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

2 April 2026

Built without us: The tax system designed by colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy

This series moves from lived reality to the rules. It asks who the system was built for, who it serves, and who it leaves out. The first article looks backwards—to the time befo…

6 min read · Read essay

Tax justice & care

1 April 2026

The tax system that counts us: Who pays, who profits, who is erased

( A follow‑up to “The Tax System That Sees Us”) We have lived the reality. The market fee that leaves no record. The pension that never comes. The clinic with no drugs. The tax…

7 min read · Read essay