Willie Oeba is an urban wordsmith that creates powerful poetic pieces that give voice to individuals and help them tell their most powerful stories through spoken word poetry.

Oeba is an accomplished spoken word poet in his own right. He has perfected his trade since 2014. He has captivated wide-ranging audiences and peers alike with his phenomenal wordplay incorporating witty puns, deep metaphors, and brutally honest observations and perceptions of Kenyan life while still using his poetic gift to educate young people about human rights and gender mainstreaming and other life issues that we all face. His performances make many sit up with their ears pricked up, hanging onto every syllable he laces us with because of the quality of his lyrical content.

Willy is a graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Media Science from Moi University. He doesn’t shy away from speaking truth to power even on controversial topics like calling out corrupt leaders, addressing prejudices against women and girls. In an age where young artists are engrossed with their self-image, Oeba is deliberately enlightening and sarcastic on poetic analogies.

He is also a voice-over artist and social media influencer. His most recent accomplishment was the deliberate mobilization  of the youth in Nakuru to form a community-based organization dubbed Voices Guild 254 that focuses on using art as a tool for social change and protecting human rights and dignity.

His spoken word poetry is driven by personal experiences, facilitating a true polyphony of diverse voices and making it easier for audiences to connect with. Importantly, it provides valuable insight into emerging social realities by illuminating the experiences and happenings at a personal and societal level. Having nearly been a statistic of extrajudicial killing as he was almost shot by a police officer on January 21st 2017, for mistaken identity. This incident and the urge to amplify voices of the vulnerable in the community prompted the creation of  one of the most powerful pieces in the history of Kenyan spoken-word poetry, “Dear Mr President,” which sparked a national conversation on governance, social justice, extra judicial killings, defending democracy, leadership and integrity & governance in Kenya

Many high-profile artists and peers have hailed Oeba to be a poetry king of the new school as well as constantly being considered to be in the upper echelon of the current generation of poets taking Kenya and human rights spaces by storm. As a young artist, with the mentality impossible is a myth, he 2017 won the Blaze Safaricom music competition using Spoken Word poetry & later in 2018 was crowned The East African Spokenword Word Battle King after a six-round battle challenge.

Willie Oeba has devoted his artistry to defending human rights and dignity & promotion of social justice.He has two studio spoken word albums namely ISM & Dear God under the thematic area of human rights & social justice. Apart from being a performance & studio artist, Oeba has mentored Other artivists in the art space under a programme he started in 2019 dubbed ” Truth Is”, that seeks to raise Conscious artistic generation that can stand up to protect human rights and dignity.

As a youth from Nakuru, a town recording the highest number of criminal gangs & statistics on organised crime, Oeba has started a mentorship program in the informal settlement of Kivumbini that trains youths and young kids to capitalise on their artistic niche & that also brings the police & youth together to bridge on the mistrust and education both parties on human rights.

The extraordinary thing is that Willie Oeba never limits himself to conventionally doing things – he is always looking at different ways to communicate to and enrich his audience with truth and knowledge. He uses his poetry to bridge gaps, make people think deeper, ask questions and mirror the society we live in today. Through his poetry, he is a leader, a human rights defender, a champion for equality, a voice for the voiceless, a king in his own right and gifted Kenyan youth. His verses in poetry are words that need to be seen and watched to appreciate the fundamental role of creative and innovative approaches in defending and safeguarding human rights.

Loice Akinyi Omondi is a person with mental disability woman human rights defender from Kisumu County.

Loice is a survivor of mental ill-health and this was the motivation for her birthing into the promotion and protection of the rights of Person with Disabilities. She champions the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) across the Western Region of Kenya, specifically those with mental health challenges and who need regular medicare to live a dignified life.

She believes that all medical facilities ought to offer mental health services to people suffering from mental health diseases as well as have free clinical and pharmaceuticals.

Loice is the chairperson for the people with mental disabilities in Kisumu County. She is also the chairperson and founder of the Mental Disorder Group (MCBO) and she also offers liberty and awareness through advocacy. 

Her work has revolved around supporting populations who suffer from mental disabilities. She has laos been on the forefront championing g for access to education by deserving students whose parents have mental disabilities thus unable to raise required school fees. She does this by ensuring that their plight is mainstreamed and they have access to scholarships and bursaries to facilitate their education journey. 

From the time that Loice survived the mental illness, she realised that the world was not accommodative to persons with mental illnesses. It was difficult getting identity. She realized that the understanding of disability was very thin: that the world only recognized persons who are physically handicapped as the people who are with disabilities. 

Loice has worked for many years to demystify this narrative. She has also championed access to justice by the victims of sexual and gender based violence and who suffer from mental disabilities. She has also been in the frontline fighting for their health programs, for instance the lack of an EEG machine to measure the electrical activity of the brain (in all Nyanza Hospitals). Through her efforts the county government of Kisumu recently launched medical programmes for persons with mental disabilities as well as an EEG at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga teaching and Referral Hospital. 

Halima hails from Isiolo County which is located in the Northern part of Kenya. 

Halima wears the crown of being a mother of three and is the serving chairlady of Isiolo women of Faith which is an affiliate of the Inter Religious Council of Kenya. Halima has garnered experience in the human rights sector having worked with as a civic educator with local civil society actors.  She is also a champion of preventing and countering violent extremism (PCVE) and serves as a member of the Isiolo County Committee on the prevention and countering of violent extremism.

In her line of work, Halima works with other women from different religious coordinating bodies, religious leaders and the interfaith youth to promote peaceful co-existence. 

Her advocacy work revolves around the promotion of rights to equal opportunities in service delivery especially in access to quality and affordable health care, education and equal job opportunities.Halima has been passionate about the rights of marginalized communities from the Northern Frontier. She works closely with women who promote the rights of the girl child in largely patriarchal communities, works with the youth in mentorship and promotion of intergenerational exchange of knowledge and Persons With Disabilities keen to realize the implementation of the Persons With disabilities Act. She has also worked to promote inclusion of these groups in decision making processes and equal representation.

Halima began her human rights work as a volunteer in the year 2012 in the local community based organizations in her community, mainly advocating for the rights of women and girl child. During that time, she spearheaded anti Sexual and Gender Based Violence campaigns where she sensitized  community members  of the effects of the vices including harmful practices including Female Genital Mutilation. 

Since 2015, Halima is actively involved with matters social budgeting project; which focuses on working with communities to identify gaps in county budgets and service delivery in three sectors namely health, water and education. She uses this form of community theatre to promote excellent service delivery and accountability. 

Within her community, Halima is a dependable shoulder to lean on. She dares to work with a group of women who have lost their sons to alleged radicalization into terrorist groups. She offers refuge from the stigmatization, debriefing sessions as well as lending a voice against the extrajudicial killings of youths in the name of security operations. 

Halima believes that the award will be a great inspiration to the individuals at the grassroots who stand up against human rights violations. It will enable them realize that their passion, good work, dedication and fighting for human rights is appreciated and recognized even if it is at the community level. She believes that will motivate and encourage other community members to stand up and advocate for human rights.

Want to share your story about championing Human Rights in Kenya? Write to us on obino@defenderscoalition or 0716 200100 for for collecting the story for publication.

Davis Otieno mostly known as Davis Tafari is a human right defender, a member of Dandora Community Justice Center, a citizen journalist working with HoodTV an online TV station and the social justice movement official photographer. Apart from being a human right defender he has a small group of talented children from the Dandora community that he teaches/directs them in theater performances. He is also a small business entrepreneur who sells shoes online. As a Human Right defender he directs the social justice centers traveling theater and also champions campaigns against police brutality and extra judicial execution. He is an ecological justice champion, and a member of the social justice centers organic intellectual where he write articles and does reflections on progressive books 

He started his human rights work back in 2017 as a community organizer championing against police brutality and later joined Dandora community Justice Center in 2018 as a Photographer/Videographer up to date. He is the founder of the social justice centers traveling theater which started as Dandora community justice center theater team later extended to the larger movement. Since its existence they have been able to travel country wide advocating for social justice through art. 

He is also co-founder of HoodTV online TV station which has been able to highlight the plight of the oppressed community through a program known as State of the Hood. He has been able to document demonstrations held by the social justice movement and other progressive organizations. He has also participated in the Climb for Justice Campaign as a photographer while in the social justice centers organic intellectuals. He has been able to record videos on the struggle of the poor and oppressed working class.

The most outstanding thing about him is that he has been able to address issues of criminalization of dreadlocks among the poor youths living in informal settlements. Through community forums he has been able to organize and sensitize community members on issues affecting them and how best they can be resolved through the implementation of the 2010 Kenyan constitution. As a young rasta man from the informal settlements of Dandora he has been arrested countless times in the name of dreadlocks and being in the front line leading demonstrations against police brutality.

The biggest challenge he experiences is working without a camera of his own. If he gets the award it will help him acquire his personal camera that will make it easier for him to continue documenting issues that are affecting his community and also documenting the good work that most of the human right defenders are doing. It will also boost his morale as a young Human Rights Defender from the informal settlements to continue advocating for dignified life for the oppressed and continuing defending rights.

On 15th June 2021, Defenders Coalition in conjunction with the Working Group on Human Rights Defenders in Kenya sent out a call for nominations for HRD Awards 2021 that ran until the 30th July 2021.

We are happy that we received 432 forms in which there were were individual nominations. Out of the 122 nominations received, 10 nominees were shortlisted for two categories as follows:

• Munir Mazrui LifeTime Achievement Award –  Nominees will be unveiled during the awarding ceremony
• Human Rights Defender of the Year Award – 5 Nominees
• Upcoming Human Rights Defender of the Year Award- 5 Nominees
• Global Solidarity Award – 2 Nominees

The HRDs represent 10 thematic areas which include:

1. Women Rights
2. SOGIE Rights
3. Sex Workers Rights
4. Civil and Political Rights
5. Land Rights
6. Right To Education
7. Indigenous Persons Rights
8. Artivists
9.  Environmental Rights
10. Social Justice Crusaders
11. Health rights

The nominees come from diverse thematic areas and also geographical locations. The nominees are drawn from 7 counties that include: Nairobi, Mombasa, Garissa, Nakuru, Isiolo, Kisumu, Lamu Counties.

Defenders Coalition successfully held the annual Mashujaa Love Concert on October 20, 2021 at the Alliance Francaise.

The annual event brought together loyal fans to spoken words artist, human rights as well as culture to honor and celebrate those who have taken part in championing for the rights and freedoms that Kenyans enjoy today.

The Defenders Coalition also used the platform to launch the premier report on the Status of Veteran Human Rights Defenders in Kenya.

See photos from the event below

Read full report here

Defenders Coalition is pleased to share with you the premier report on the Status of Veteran Human rights Defenders in Kenya.

This baseline survey sought to establish the situation of veteran HRDs in Kenya by conducting a nationwide mapping exercise. The study was guided by three core objectives Map out veteran HRDs by identifying where they are and the work they are currently involved in Identify available opportunities that veteran HRDs can leverage on Identify and recommend organizations that the Defenders Coalition could partner with for the wellbeing of veteran HRDs.

The study makes three important contributions;

First it makes a contribution to the body of knowledge by introducing and focusing attention on veteran HRDs as a theoretical concept, social phenomenon and distinct population sub-set with unique challenge, needs and views.

Secondly, it provides insights into these unique challenges, needs and views of this sub-set based scientific research.

Finally, it provides information and specific recommendations that could help key actors achieve more relevant and effective engagement with, and interventions in advancing the protection and wellbeing of, veteran HRDs. This research has also generated a database of veteran HRDs that can be a useful foundation to build on in better documenting and managing information on veteran HRDs in Kenya.

Summary of the findings Gender distribution: Majority of the respondents were men constituting just under 2/3 of the respondents. Age distribution: Majority of the respondents were 41 years or more with most being within the age bracket of 41-50 years. Geographic distribution: Most of the veteran HRDs reached out to are found in 11 out of the 47 counties of Kenya with the majority being in Nairobi and Kiambu. Length of service: At least half of the veteran HRDs had served for 20 or more years. Current status in human rights engagement: The overwhelming majority of veteran HRDs are still action and committed to continuing engagement as HRDs. Nature of engagement: Nearly half of all veteran HRDs serve on a voluntary basis.

Read full report here

 For Immediate Release October 18, 2021 

Consortium Applauds Court Judgement Declaring Huduma Cards Illegal; Calls for Further Reforms. 

On 14 October, the High Court struck down the Government of Kenya’s decision to roll out Huduma Cards due to violations of the Data Protection Act, 2019. The Court found that the government had started collecting personal data from Kenyans without first determining how it would protect that data and that the Government has “not appreciated the import and the extent of the application of the Data Protection Act with respect to the collection and processing of data under the National Integrated Identity Management System” (NIIMS). 

The court has compelled the Government to complete a data protection impact assessment, as required by the Data Protection Act (2019), prior to processing of data or rolling out Huduma Cards. 

As a consortium of organizations working on citizenship, identification, human rights, and data protection, we applaud this judgment and the enforcement of the Data Protection Act by the courts. It is paramount that relevant legal frameworks are in place and followed before collecting and managing data. We call on the Government of Kenya to comply with this judgement by conducting a robust and thorough Data Protection Impact Assessment to protect the rights of all citizens and residents in Kenya. 

A Data Protection Impact Assessment is designed to identify risks that may occur through processing of data and put in place proper mitigation measures. A Data Protection Impact Assessment is critical to ensure compliance with both data protection laws as well as human rights obligations. Such assessments should involve mapping of all data processing and data flows, conducting consultation with stakeholders – which for a national initiative like NIIMS should include widespread public consultation on the purpose and risks of the system, completing a detailed risk assessment, and developing a range of measures to address the risks and ensure compliance with the law. If designed and implemented properly, a Data Protection Impact Assessment can reduce the risk of data breaches and intrusion of privacy. 

We call on the Government of Kenya to follow legal requirements and international best practices on Data Protection Impact Assessments as they complete the exercise. 

In addition to carrying out a proper Data Protection Impact Assessment, Kenya’s identification system and data protection regime must be reformed and strengthened in several other ways to protect the rights and serve the needs of all Kenyans. In particular, we call on the Government of Kenya to: 

1. Ensure a fully inclusive identification system: The Government must ensure all Kenyans can access identification documents such as birth certificates and national identity cards prior to moving forward with Huduma Namba. If Huduma Namba is rolled 

out, it must be done in phases, with a clear transition period to eliminate discriminatory treatment and expand access to documentation under the current system. There must be options for all to enroll and safeguards to protect against denial of services for those within and outside the system. By focusing on reform and access to the identification system first, the Government will reduce the risk that millions of Kenyan citizens will be left behind in the transition to digital. 

2. Establish a robust legal framework and governance body via country-wide public participation: Given the extensive nature of Huduma Namba and the impact it will have on the lives of all Kenyans, there is need for a national discussion about the future of identification in Kenya, including public input into the development of anchoring legislation, the system design, a governing body for NIIMS that can be held accountable for implementation and give effect to rights enshrined in the Constitution and other applicable laws. 

3. Ensure the full realization of the right to privacy and data protection: The Government must ensure Kenya has a financially independent and well-resourced data protection authority, capable of discharging its mandate under the Data Protection Act. The government ought to ensure the swift adoption of the draft Data Protection Regulations (2021). Likewise, the government must realize its responsibility to comply with the Act by guaranteeing threats to human rights are sufficiently mitigated and all necessary data protection safeguards have been implemented. 

In conclusion, the Government of Kenya should not push Huduma Namba forward in blatant disrespect of the law but instead ensure the creation of an identification system and data protection scheme that protects and gives effect to all Kenyans’ rights enshrined in our Constitution. 

Signed by: 

1. Katiba Institute 

2. Kenya Human Rights Commission 

3. Heralding Development Organization (Paranet) 

4. ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa 

5. Centre for Minority Rights Development (CEMIRIDE) 

6. Defenders Coalition 

7. Namati Kenya 

8. Nubian Rights Forum 

9. Access Now 

10. Haki Centre