After a five-month delay, the Reverend Mutava Musyimi-led Taskforce formed to recommend more effective ways of regulating religious extremism submitted its report to President Ruto this week. Disappointingly, the report offers few fresh ideas. Commissioned after the Shakahola mass crime a year ago, the 21-person Taskforce listened and read hundreds of testimonies and submissions as…
Africa and the world continue to observe with keenness as an awakened population in Keny asks pertinent questions on social, political, economic and security accountability. The type of de facto governance currently being witnessed is not what was envisaged by our Constitution. Our national values and principles are continuously watered down with impunity yet, seeking…
Ten years after the passing of the 2010 constitution, one in two Kenyans still believed that there was no equality under the law. The Director of Public Prosecutions’ statement this week that there is not enough evidence to charge a single police officer after several public violent incidents further damaged the reputation of the authorities…
Nairobi, Thursday, 25th July 2024: Amnesty International Kenya welcomes the ruling by High Court Judge Kanyi Kimondo that 11 Police Commanders and Officers have a case to answer in the case of Baby Samantha Pendo. The officers are being charged with 47 crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, and rape. In 2017, police raided Nyalenda…
Are Kenyans able to break the cycle of repetitive compulsion and seize this national moment to transform systemic issues that have festered and finally burst? Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud explored the concept of repetitive compulsion a century ago. Repetitive compulsion is the unconscious tendency of a person to repeat their response to a past traumatic event…
JOINT STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 20th July 2024: For decades, Civil Society Organizations in Kenya have been the backbone of our nation, tirelessly safeguarding democratic values and principles, amplifying the voices of vulnerable communities, promoting transparency and accountability, and ensuring the rights of all Kenyans are upheld. Their contributions have been instrumental in our nation’s…
Nairobi, 17 July 2024: The Police Reforms Working Group (PRWG-K) acknowledges the resignation of the Inspector General of the National Police Service, Japhet Koome, amid the several cases of deaths, serious injuries and abductions in the context of the protests that began as Anti-Finance Bill protests. These protests were marked by several cases of human…
In a crisis, a nation can easily twist sharply or even meander towards constitutionalism, authoritarianism or anarchy. While the dissolution of President Ruto’s cabinet plunged the Kenyan state into further uncertainty, the mood of the population remains surprisingly calm and, in several quarters, triumphant. What began as a tax revolt has turned into an accountability…
Nairobi, 13th July 2024. The Police Reforms Working Group Kenya (PRWG-K) and Civic Freedoms Forums (CFF) are deeply shocked and saddened by the recent discovery of at least six dismembered bodies at the Kware dumpsite near Mukuru Kwa Njenga slums in Nairobi. These dismembered bodies were found wrapped in sacks and polythene bags of assorted…
Tomorrow is Saba Saba day. That historical moment was pivotal, led by the anti-colonial generation and Generation X. What is the significance of the current Gen Z movement, and what opportunity does it offer our collective future? On 7 July 1990, Kenyans across 6 towns took to the streets to demand free elections and an…
The youth demographic has been widely researched and studied, and their issues and recommendations to resolve their challenges are all public. Youth unemployment, underemployment, inadequate decent jobs, inadequate support for their start-ups, femicide, challenges in sustaining innovative initiatives, and, more recently, inability to afford college fees are all in the public domain. Considering the universality…