Several readers of last week’s column invited this column to explore how emerging youth leaders could retain their political influence and deepen their recent governance and human rights impact as we turn to the next General Elections. While the recent online and street protests were supported by several generations, the Occupy “Gen Z” movement established…
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…
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…
2 July 2024, Amnesty International Kenya calls on the National Police Service (NPS) and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to uphold their constitutional obligations to protect and facilitate peaceful protestors during the #OccupyEverywhere protests scheduled for 2 July 2024 across the country. “Amnesty International reminds the National Police Service and the Kenya Defence Forces of…
1 July 2024: Six national associations of content creators, journalists, lawyers, medical practitioners, and human rights defenders issue this statement to pronounce our stand on the current state of human rights in the country, clarify our position on the call for policy dialogue, and suggest what we think is the way out of Kenya’s current…
This week’s deployment had me frantically searching online for international human rights and humanitarian standards to understand the unprecedented situation of the Kenya Defense Forces being invited to police the right to assembly. Now that Justice Lawrence Mugambi has declared Article 241(b) was properly invoked to protect life and property, what standards must the Inspector…
Nairobi, 27 June 2024: Amnesty International Kenya and the Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya) have released this statement to remind the Kenya Defence Forces and the National Police Service that the laws of Kenya have not been suspended and that Kenya is not in a state of emergency. The situation…
Nairobi, 25 June 2024: Despite the assurance by the Government that the right to assembly would be protected and facilitated, today’s protests have spiralled into violence. Human rights observers and medical officers have reported several incidents of human rights violations. Throughout the day, we have reliably documented the following. At least five people have died…
Nairobi, 25th June 2024. The Police Reforms Working Group Kenya (PRWG-K) unequivocally condemns the recent wave of abductions of citizens suspected of involvement in the #RejectFinanceBill2024 protests. These 12 abductions, which occurred over the last five days and intensified last night, are a gross violation of human rights and amount to arbitrary arrests and enforced…
24 June 2024: Twenty-seven international organisations and Kenyan associations of content creators, lawyers, medical officers and human rights defenders express deep concerns about the potential of possible internet and mass media disruptions during this week’s demonstrations to #RejectFinanceBill2024. The internet and mass media are critical for the enjoyment of the public’s right to be informed,…
After a week of intense protests against one of the most controversial taxation bills of Kenya’s independence, the people and public authorities have to wonder what will happen next. Widely understood as a rejection of the 2024 Taxation Bill, the tensions unmask a systemic problem with public participation, policymaking, and policing. Anti-tax rebellions are not…
22 June 2024. 12:30: Twenty-five human rights associations of content creators, lawyers, medical officers and human rights defenders across the country have called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to clarify the whereabouts of content creator Billy Simani, also known as “Crazy Nairobian”. The agencies include the Bloggers Association of Kenya, The Law Society of…