In a digital environment where online harassment and tech-facilitated violence are used to silence voices, how can Kenya protect itself, support young people in others, and still find the courage to speak out for their rights and the rights of others? In today’s interconnected world, digital spaces are powerful platforms for expression, activism, and community…
What is more astonishing? Seven citizens allegedly abducted, unlawfully detained, and tortured after a march honoring victims of police brutality on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, or does the Interior Principal Secretary insist that no enforced disappearances have taken place under President Ruto’s administration? Last week’s column highlighted the mothers who…
This year, we asked a hard question. Under the theme Voices Online: Courage, Silence and Harassment, we invited students across Kenya to sit with a reality many young people already know; that speaking out online can carry a cost: Threats, ridicule, coordinated attacks and silence chosen not out of indifference, but out of fear. The…
05th May 2026 1. Executive Summary Amnesty International Kenya, and Watoto Watch Network welcome the opportunity to submit our views on the Artificial Intelligence Bill, 2026 (“the Bill”), introduced into the Senate on 2nd April 2026 by Senator Karen Nyamu. This submission addresses a single, critical gap in the Bill: the complete absence of any provision protecting children from the specific harms that artificial…
Defending Digital Rights. Protecting People. Reclaiming Civic Space. The first quarter of 2026 marked a critical moment for digital rights in Kenya and across the region. From landmark court decisions that reshaped online freedom of expression, to grassroots conversations on privacy, data protection, and young people’s digital well‑being, this quarter underscored one clear truth: technology…
On 10th April 2026, we held an Amnesty Kikao, a community gathering built around the screening of our latest report, “This Fear, Everyone Is Feeling It”: Tech-Facilitated Violence Against Young Activists in Kenya. What was meant to be a conversation about a research report became something much more powerful: a room full of people refusing to be spectators to their own oppression. …
History demonstrates that when power answers to no one, it will eventually devour itself from within. Two developments this week offer a stark contrast. The tabling of Uganda’s Protection of Sovereignty Bill (2026) signals a state at war with its most active and productive citizens. The launch of Kenya’s PBO Regulations reflects a state choosing,…
This week’s vicious public attack on Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, captured on CCTV and carried out in a busy commercial space, shatters any lingering illusion that Kenya’s next General Election will be calm, rules‑based, or insulated from violence. Now that we have another example of political violence, what would a responsible security management strategy look like? As the Senator…
As of the 2019 national census in Kenya, over 900,000 Kenyans lived with a disability, representing 2.2% of the general population. According to the United Nations Population Fund in Kenya (UNFPA), mobility-related disabilities account for about 42% of this total. In comparison, visual-related disabilities account for 36.4%, cognitive disabilities for 23.2%, and hearing-related disabilities for…
Easter weekend finds me in Laikipia, apparently one of Kenya’s happiest counties. Amid public tensions between Senators and Governors, dissatisfaction with the cost of living, and a looming global crisis in fertilizer, oil, and exports caused by the US war on Iran, Easter’s message of renewal and hope feels timely, especially a few days before the Africa Urban Forum opens in Nairobi. Bhutan, a South Asian…
Kisumu High Court’s 25 March judgment this week, awarding Sh 38.6 million to 28 victims and families, validates their long-ignored cries for justice. It confirms what human rights organisations, opposition politicians, and the media have extensively documented. Police violence during the 2023 “Sufuria” protests was deliberate, excessive, and brutally unlawful. What implications does this ruling…
There is something powerful, almost electric, about a movement that is born outside the confines of power. Tuko Kadi did not begin in boardrooms. It was not commissioned, funded, or focus-grouped. It emerged organically, defiantly, from the fingertips of young Kenyans who have grown tired of watching democracy happen to them instead of with them. Predictably, the political class has shown up. When the President invokes…