The announcement of women-focused voter registration campaign is timely. Its success will depend on breaking down the barriers that continue to exclude women from their full participation in our democracy.

Less than one year before millions of Kenyans return to the ballot for the 2027 General Elections, the country is already entering a critical phase of its electoral cycle. The political machinery is already warming up, alliances are being negotiated, political leaders are positioning themselves, voters are being mobilised and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is preparing for the 2027 polls. But as the country moves closer to a highly charged political season, there is a question that deserves far more attention than who will occupy State House: Will human rights be protected throughout the electoral period? 

For over a decade, Kenyans have buried protesters, treated life-changing injuries and watched cycles of violence repeat on our streets and in our communities. A new draft Freedom of Assembly Bill offers a chance to break this pattern. What does it get right, where does it depart from previous bills, and what must be strengthened to ensure that demonstrations are protected, not punished?

While elections produce both winners and losers, the real loser in Ol Kalou was not UDA’s candidate but the State itself. Unless Kenya radically reforms its electoral environment, the by-election offers yet another warning of how state conduct is undermining our electoral democracy. What lessons should we draw, and what must change before the 2027 General Election?

As you walk or drive past any street in Nairobi, its environs, or any other location you find yourself in Kenya, it is not uncommon to see children playing at times when they ought to be in school studying, but they’re at home. Community WhatsApp groups are flooded with appeals, whether for medical support, burial expenses, school fees or even individuals on the brink randomly requesting any amount just to put food on the table. Businesses and most people on payrolls no longer feel the benefits; it’s becoming harder to keep businesses afloat, and the deductions on the pays lips are painful. In the end, it’s Mwanainchi bearing the full brunt.

Thursday’s arrest of Nairobi’s Urban Planning Chief Officer, Patrick Analo Akivaga, his wife, and the seizure of tens of millions hidden in his Syokimau home read like a movie script. While his conduct has long attracted public concern, this moment must not be reduced to the wrongdoing of an individual. We must also focus on the deeper systemic and relational failures that enabled him to thrive at City Hall.

If there is one thread that runs through the first quarter of 2026, it is that accountability is no longer a distant promise. It is being demanded, delivered, and defended.

A week before World Press Freedom Day 2026, the Zambian government did something that cut against every word of this year’s theme. Days before RightsCon was scheduled to open in Lusaka on May 5, with thousands of activists, technologists, journalists, and policymakers already en route, the government announced it was postponing the event to ensure “full alignment with Zambia’s national values, policy priorities, and broader public interest considerations.”

In April 2026, Davine Kwamboka, a mother of two in Migori County, was brutally killed, with CCTV later revealing her husband and two men attempting to dispose of her body. Her case is not isolated but part of a disturbing pattern of femicide marked by violence, silence, and grief. Anita’s killing in Nakuru, murdered by her husband, a Kenya Defense Forces soldier, in front of their young child, mirrors the same reality. These are not just individual tragedies, but stark reminders of a systemic failure to protect women before their lives are reduced to statistics.

Amnesty International Kenya welcomes the opportunity to submit our views on the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) Reparations Draft Guidelines (2026). This memorandum provides recommendations in line with Amnesty International’s positions, policy guidance, and advocacy experience over the last decade, both globally and within Kenya. Amnesty International has consistently affirmed that reparations are not discretionary acts of charity but binding human rights obligations flowing from violations of international and domestic law.

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 16.7%. It is also noted that more than 80% of persons with disabilities live in rural areas. These Persons with disabilities continue to face a myriad of challenges living their day-to-day lives, with children missing school, parents can’t access opportunities, and the elderly remain confined to their homes, simply because assistive devices seem to be a luxury rather than a necessity. 

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.