While progress seems limited in many parts of the world, this year’s Data Privacy Conference demonstrated Kenya’s growing maturity in digital governance. Two areas emerged as needing our attention: data governance in the security sector and election management. One of Kenya’s youngest independent offices, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, brought together over 100 leaders from state, corporate, academic, and…
Privacy is often dismissed as a concern for those with “something to hide.” Yet in Kenya today, the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 31 of the 2010 Constitution is under unprecedented strain, not because citizens are engaged in wrongdoing, but because surveillance is quietly becoming normalized. Digital surveillance refers to the use of technology…
The U.S. government’s forceful abduction of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and wife Cilia Flores in January read like the plot of a political thriller. While public resignation may have replaced initial shock and disbelief, that incident dominated international policy debate this week. At least 150 US military aircraft were involved in multiple bombings across Caracas. Scores of people were killed, and civilian and military infrastructure were destroyed. The subject of the attack, the forcible capture of the President and…
Listen to the audio version Justice for the people of Owino Uhuru comes up once again in the Mombasa Environment and Land Court on 19th January 2026. It has been 12 years since Metal Refinery (EPZ) Ltd was closed after toxic lead poisoning changed the lives of this Changamwe community forever. What is at stake…
Diana Russell, a pioneer researcher on violence against women, is credited as having popularized the use of the term ‘femicide’ to describe the killing of women because of their gender. She used the term publicly when she testified on the crimes against women during the first International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women held in Belgium…
Today, one of the biggest threats to a child’s wellbeing is hidden in plain sight: how their data is collected, stored, and shared by the institutions meant to protect them. This reality was highlighted at the 2nd Africa Child Online Safety Summit 2025, hosted by the Africa Child Online Safety Alliance (ACOSA). The summit, which…
After months of a court stay, the President appointed a Panel of Experts to compensate victims of state violence during public protests, but the High Court struck it down. Survivors, victims’ families, and all those genuinely pressing for justice and reparations should not lose heart. Justice Edward Muriithi has offered a fair and balanced way…
Digital violence is not new to Kenyan politics, but it has now escalated to the point at which we cannot ignore it anymore, because of its devastating effects on young people, especially human rights defenders. What we are now witnessing is a coordinated system of tech-facilitated state violence: a merger of police brutality, online harassment, disinformation, and…
The release of two investigative reports this week into technology enabled state surveillance and violence against critics of the state reminds us of a disturbing reality. Despite the Kenya authorities’ heavy investment in building an open and prosperous digital economy, digital rights violations persist. Left unchecked, they will continue to puncture the power of our…
H.E. Dr. Musalia Mudavadi, EGH Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora AffairsMinistry of Foreign and Diaspora AffairsP.O. Box 30551–00200, Nairobi, Republic of Kenya Date: 20 November 2025 Honourable Cabinet Secretary, RE: URGENT INTERVENTION REQUIRED FOR MISSING KENYAN CITIZEN – SALESIO CHABALI Amnesty International Kenya and VOCAL Africa write to request…
The 27 November by-elections have all the signs of a mini General Election. Given that our two neighbouring governments, Tanzania and Uganda, have provided clear evidence on how not to prepare for elections, can the Kenyan authorities demonstrate any difference? Elections are set to take place on the same day for 24 Senators, National Assembly…