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. 

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 have for the victims and the path to reparations and justice for all whose rights are violated while exercising the right to expression and assembly?

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.  

This year’s commemoration comes at a time when Kenya is still reckoning with the escalating repression faced by young activists both online and offline. Between 2024 and 2025, the country witnessed an unprecedented wave of youth-led digital and street protests against corruption, economic exclusion, and state violence. As highlighted in Amnesty International’s 2025 report “This Fear, Everyone is Feeling It”, state and pro-government actors extended their crackdown into digital spaces through online harassment, coordinated troll campaigns, doxing, illegal surveillance, and tech‑facilitated gender-based violence (TfGBV).

The Missing Voices 2025 Annual Report exposes the continued crisis of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Kenya. Behind every statistic is a life cut short, a family left behind, and a justice system that too often fails to act.

With the legal hurdles now cleared, compensation for victims of violent policing during protests is back on the table. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, now affirmed as the constitutional body tasked with delivering the President’s pledge, must define its path and steer clear of new obstacles. 

Amnesty International Kenya (AIK) and Open Institute (OI) have collaborated since 2020 to advance data governance, data protection, and privacy rights across Kenya and the wider region. Our joint work bridges the gap between data for development and data for human rights, demonstrating that these two critical areas can coexist and complement each other. AIK brings expertise in human rights advocacy, ensuring that data collection practices respect individual privacy and promote accountability, while OI leverages data-driven development initiatives to support impactful advocacy at the subnational, national, and regional levels. This collaboration provides a lens through which the conference discussions were framed, emphasising that trust, inclusion, and human rights must underpin all data governance efforts.

The opening Article of the historic Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948 boldly states that ‘‘All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights’’. This statement is both profound and powerful because it establishes a solid foundation upon which every individual can claim and defend their rights. Subsequently, as citizens of the world, we share a collective civic duty to preserve this extraordinary vision of the 77-year-old global framework, which unequivocally articulates the rights and freedoms to which every human being is equally and inalienably entitled.  

The cheers, screams, and shouts by the children in Nyakichiwa Primary School in Bomet, describing the joy of having newly equipped classrooms as well as free lunch, all courtesy of a philanthropist commonly referred to as Mr. Beast, bring my attention to the Draft 2026 Budget Policy Statement (BPS) that has recently undergone public participation. As the BPS heads to the National Assembly for review and approval, questions linger about the significant reductions in allocations for key Education programmes in the Financial Year 2025/2026.   

Kenyans sneaking into Russia is not new. As the Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi heads to Moscow next week, what do we know about the trafficking of Kenyans to fight for Russia in Ukraine, the government’s responsibility to protect citizens, and what options does he have? 

Nairobi, 10 March 2026: Over 900 Kenyans, persons with disabilities, advocates, and allies within the broader disability inclusion movement, have today called on the Social Health Authority (SHA) to review its benefits package to include assistive devices. As it stands today, the current SHA cover does not provide comprehensive coverage for assistive devices such as prosthetic limbs, orthotics, wheelchairs, hearing aids, crutches, and other essential mobility and rehabilitation products. This exclusion places an unbearable financial burden on persons with disabilities and their families.As the Authority approaches the mandatory two-year review of its benefits package, we urge the Social Health Authority and the Ministry of Health to give serious consideration to this petition and the voices behind it, and to use this review process as an opportunity to address a structural barrier that deepens inequality and entrenches poverty.