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Change Begins With activism: Meet Raya Famau
The story was first published by Nation Media Group. This is not a reproduction but an amplification of the message.
Read the article of Nation Media Group page here https://nation.africa/kenya/news/gender/raya-famau-real-change-begins-with-activism-3848164
Raya Famau married at 20, only to be divorced three years later.
Before her marriage in 2000, they had agreed that she would find a job to support her parents. She had trained as a community nutritionist. She then joined her husband in Nairobi, where he was working.
“But the moment we got married, he said ‘No, I want a housewife,’” she recalls.
“That is when my problem started. For three years, I was undergoing a lot of stress [and] frustrations. I wanted to go back to college, [but] he refused. Luckily, we got divorced.”
She had to return to her poor parents in Lamu, starting all over again—a turning point, not just for her, but for her community. It started with the awakening reality of having to struggle to experience menstruation with dignity. “I wouldn’t afford a Sh100 sanitary pad. I had to ask my mom for money.”
The experience jolted her. She had to find means of providing for herself. A search for a solution landed her at Kenya Red Cross, Lamu branch, as a volunteer. She was attached to Lamu District Hospital, now Lamu County Referral Hospital. At the end of the month, she got a stipend that covered her expenses.
During the time, she felt the push to get into activism. “I felt like I needed to do activism and help other suffering women.”
Now, Ms Famau is a renowned environmental activist and a founding member of Save Lamu, a coalition of community-based organisations.
In December 2019, Coast Woman Magazine feted her as woman activist of the year. This was after President Uhuru Kenyatta awarded her a certificate of recognition as a ‘Shujaa’ of Lamu County during the Mashujaa Day celebrations held in Mombasa.
Her venture into activism has seen her defy the odds. She says, women’s responsibilities under Islam are limited to indoor-cooking and taking care of their families, and not going out to protest against violation of rights.
Her defiance has been beneficial to herself and her community. Firstly, she went back to school—Technical University of Mombasa—and started with a certificate in community development and counselling. She later advanced to a diploma. And finally, she has Bachelor of Development Studies from the same institution.
Ms Famau was married just after she finished her certificate in community nutrition, but when she volunteered at the hospital, she felt working in a health facility was not her forte, hence the switch of the course.
Secondly, under Save Lamu, she participated in petitioning the government against establishing a 1,050MW African Development Bank-funded coal plant in the Kwasasi area of Hindi/Magogoni sub-county.
In 2016, the coalition, alongside other petitioners, filed a suit against the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) and Amu Power, the company that was to establish the plant, at the National Environmental Tribunal in Nairobi.
The ruling was made in 2019, with the tribunal suspending the environmental impact assessment licence that Nema had issued to the company. It was a judgment preceded by aggressive advocacy. “We did demonstrations in Lamu [and] Nairobi. We travelled to African Development Bank to advocate that our government needs to stop this project.”
She says her near two-decade advocacy work has inspired many Lamu girls and women into pursuing education and speaking out against human rights violations.
In 2021, she founded Lamu Women Alliance, through which she is spearheading empowerment of women and girls. She runs projects on girls’ education, women economic empowerment, climate change and sexual and reproductive health.
But then, her activism has turned out to be sinking her in some deep waters. She says the national and county governments fear employing her as the officials have labelled her “a stubborn woman”, yet she applies for state jobs for which she is qualified.
For now, she is making ends meet from a portion of the seasonal grants her organisation receives to implement projects. Nevertheless, she is looking beyond the challenges.
“The future is bright for the women in Lamu. Even though we are struggling, I know [there is light] at the end of the tunnel, and we will get positions. We will work with the government and our voices will be heard,” she says.
The story was first published by Nation Media Group. This is not a reproduction but an amplification of the message.
Read the article of Nation Media Group page here https://nation.africa/kenya/news/gender/raya-famau-real-change-begins-with-activism-3848164
THE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AWARD 2022
CALL FOR NOMINATION
Civic space in Kenya continues to be under pressure as a range of actions is being directed against the work of Human Rights Defenders (HRD) and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in Kenya. Physical attacks, criminal and administrative actions, reprisals, legislative restrictions, negative rhetoric and limitation of human rights have undermined the constitutional and international protections available to HRDs.
It is against this backdrop that the Working Group on Human Rights Defenders in Kenya, which brings together CSOs, the United Nations, missions and development partners concerned with the protection of HRDs, is organizing the seventh (7th) edition of the HRD Awards on Friday, 25 November 2022.
The aim of the ceremony is to honor and publicly recognize the important work of HRDs in Kenya, by giving out awards to individuals who have demonstrated courage, innovation and impact in the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The awards are presented in four categories:
The objectives of these awards are to:
The Working Group on Human Rights Defenders in Kenya develops a call for nominations, which is then widely circulated by the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders in Kenya (also referred to as Defenders Coalition) and other partners. This call outlines the criteria for eligibility for nomination. Individual HRDs can be nominated in the four categories.
A panel comprised of human rights defenders, missions representatives and CSO organizations involved in the planning of the HRD Awards then shortlists five individuals per category within the set-out guidelines for shortlisting candidates.
The panel verifies the HRD’s human rights work through field visits, and interviews with the nominators, the nominees and their references.
The Independent Jury Committee, which comprises of eminent individuals in the human rights sector, makes a final decision, from the names submitted, on the recipient of the three awards and the runner up.
The feting ceremony will be held on 25th November 2022 in the presence of CSOs, the UN, the government, HRDs, representatives from the international missions, and the media who will cover the event.
SELECTION CRITERIA
The following will be taken into consideration:
AWARD
Four awards will be presented to the overall winners: the Munir Mazrui lifetime achievement award, the HRD of the year award, the upcoming HRD award and Global Solidarity Award.
The winners will receive:
WITHDRAWAL OF AN AWARD
The Jury Committee can revoke an award given to past winners if they violate human rights or go against the selection criteria of the HRDs Awards after being awarded.
To nominate your favorite human rights champion by downloading, filling and sending the filled form to us. (A link to download the form will be added).
OR Nominate them online here.
OR Nominate them via video or audio submission not longer than 5 minutes by sending the audio or video via email advocacy@defenderscoalition.org or Whatsapp/Signal 0716 200 100.
All nomination forms should be sent back to the Defenders Coalition via advocacy@defenderscoalition.org with a clear subject line “HRD AWARD NOMINATION” by the 31st of August 2022, 11.59 P.M.
Who is Eligible for Nomination;
Beyond the overall selection criteria as outlined above, nominees under each or the award category should posses/exhibit the following,
Nominee under this category should;
Nominee under this category should;
Nominee under this category should;
Nominee under this category should;
All nomination forms should be sent back to the Defenders Coalition via advocacy@defenderscoalition.org with a clear subject line “HRD AWARD NOMINATION” by the 31st of August 2022, 11.59 P.M.
Mithiini History
Colonial land alienation
Mithiini was a settled area, and some of the residents there actually had their parents living in parts of the land even before independence. Nevertheless, white settlers took possession and ownership of several chucks of land in the area which they occupied until well after the independence years. One of the white settlers, Tom Frazier lived in the area until about 1976 when he left. The reversion of the land after he left remains truly unclear, but many families were actually left settled on the very land.
This is one perspective, but both formerly white settled areas and community settled areas in Mithiini have now been lost to unclear private owners who continue to subjugate and throw out genuine squatters who should be gazetted as the true owners of the land area.
Policy Changes and Land Allocations.
Mithiini did not benefit in the orderly adjudications and distribution of title deeds that ensured a peaceful transition of the land from the former white settlers to new owners. Community members recall that a surveyor known as “Kanyi” was directed by the then President Kenyatta in 1977 to demarcate the land, into five (5) acres each and issue titles but some people from neighboring region interfered with the procedure hence stalling the process. However, adjudication was completed in Ngililya (ithanga), Kaguku and Kirathani. This means that residents of Mithiini could get their land titles.
It is a fairly known history of the area that following the sub-divisions of the land in around 1976, local residents were disenfranchised at the expense of new landowners coming from outside the region, mainly from Lari Division.
As administrative readjustments were made, taking Mithiini sub-location to be part of Kakuzi location, community members lost their voice. New powerful groups emerged associated with government functionaries which made local administration turn a blind eye on the growing grievance of land grabbing and landlessness. Many residents lost their land and had their homes forcefully demolished to pave way to the new settlers. A census of residents soon after independence, of the so-called squatters showed that Mithiini at the time was home to about 600 people.
Consequently, the status of Mithiini residents being squatters have only weakened their claim and entitlement to land that they have occupied for more than 50 years now. A generation upon generation of law-abiding citizens have been born and buried in Mithiini.
There has been no infrastructural development in the area, no certainty of titles and no proper government investments in development plans for Mithiini. However, the hardworking residents have been productively engaged, farming horticultural produce, fruits, and subsistence crops.
Instead, to date, residents face intermittent evictions, usually in the hands of rogue machette wielding youth militia and other illegal land gangs. At least at one time around 2017, a shadowy group, with no know representation from Mithiini known as MITHINI SOCIETY claimed the entire parcels of land (now subdivided into plots) in the area, and had actually promoted them for sale, interalia;
It is still unsure how adjudications, demarcations and titling of these lands were possibly accomplished. Not courts of law, not administrative bodies and not administration personnel from the area have clarified the issues to the residents.
Arrests, criminal harassments & ceaseless intimidation impacts of ‘land grabbing’ and landlessness in Mithiini.
Police stations and courts with jurisdiction on issues emanating from Mithiini area are awash with a myriad of complaints and proceedings touching on land disputes in the area. There is deep mistrust between community members pitting a section of residents against others, as some of them believe that a section of community members invite other powerful people from outside Mithiini to grab land in the area. The patterns of evictions have been accompanied with destructive tendencies involving burning of houses, raiding of livestock and destruction of crops. Several residents have lost fruit crops and their animals to such gangs.
Wherever they are arrested, numerously are not permitted to record their statements. They can neither lay complaints of the land grab in the local police stations nor file cases in court because they are poor. State investigation bodies have not helped the residents much. On occasions, some of the residents have been summoned by the area administration and cautioned against their civic activities questioning suspected fraudulent trends of land acquisition in the area. The entire Mithiini village lives in constant fears, unaware of when the police will feign next criminal and arrest them to give way to the new owners. In order to force them out of the land using charges in the criminal justice system, they are typically handed a litany of familiar charges such as shown below.
Many reports show that some people not originally from Mithiini have land claims within the area. Although they do not live within the community, they occasionally visit the place or send unspecified agents to harass and intimidate residents. Some of the squatters have been forcefully evicted from their homes and have left the area altogether. It has not helped that wherever community members who are in actual possession of the land are attacked, often the local administration (and even the police) side with the attackers, and often because they are show some forms of title deeds. Residents highly believe that such title deeds are fraudulent and should be investigated.
Attempts to gain title to the land
Community members have for a long-time petitioned authorities and leaders to intervene in their long running plea for land justice in Mithiini without success.
The local community members have in the past engaged with the human rights NGO group, Kituo Cha Sheria for a long time on this issue. In early 1990, the organization wrote to the Provincial Commissioner, Central Province pleading the case of the residents who in fact live in the land but have been denied ownership papers. On 22nd July 1997, the organization again reminded the Provincial Commissioner, Central Province that despite living in Mithiini for over 30 years, the families remained squatters and were living in fears of squabbles and unending tensions. Similar grievances and requests for interventions have been filed with non-government agencies including the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC).
In 2020, the Environment and Land Court at Murang’a dismissed on a technicality a petition brought before it by at least 2,200 residents of Mithiini for the land for adverse possession of the land. The Court advised the petitioners to show proper evidence to back their claims[1].
At the same time, mithiini residents have filed varying reports with Makuyu Police Station, among others, and even the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) on related complaints of police abuses touching on forced evictions and harassments of the residents.
[1] See Judgment on Petition No. 1a of 2017 Environment & Land Court at Murang’a
The Gambia, Banjul
Item 3- Human Rights Situation in Africa
25th April 2022
Statement by National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders- Kenya (Defenders Coalition)
Mr. Chair, distinguished Commissioners, State Delegates, and representatives of NHRIs and NGOs.
On behalf of the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders -Kenya (Defenders Coalition), I would like to thank the Commission to raise some of our concerns about the state of human rights and the safety, security, and well-being of human rights defenders in Kenya.
General Overview
Kenya is set to hold the general elections in August 2022. The pre-election period has been characterized by grave violations, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, heightened gender-based violence primarily against women and girls, stifling of the right to peacefully assembly and picketing, and an increased intolerance towards the LGBTQI persons that is leading to violence and murder.
The election period provides a critical opportunity for citizens to advance democracy and encourage citizen participation in governance through the election of leaders who advance the citizenry’s aspirations. For elections to be meaningful, citizens must have the ability to enjoy their right to free speech, association, and right to privacy, peacefully assemble, as well as to live in safety anywhere in the country without discrimination irrespective of their ethnicity, religion, gender, or political opinion.
Kenyan political landscape has however been marred by violence targeting ethnic and political groups that are/or are perceived to have a different political opinion from the majority group during election periods. Violence that resulted in death, injuries, and destruction have been documented in various elections periods in Kenya ever since 1992. This is often instigated by the political class that through hate messaging and mobilization exploits social fissures within the Kenya society that are informed by our diversity in ethno-culture, religious, and resource capacities. The backdrop currently shows signs of bouts of violence and extremism that raise concern and call for action.
Mr. Chair we would like to bring the following issues to your attention,
Access to Information and freedom of Expression
Freedom of assembly and expression have been constantly violated by the state. There are documented cases that are ongoing in court and others that have been recently concluded where the Judicial officers have made harsh pronouncements on sentences against HRDs especially those charged under violations touching on the right to protest despite the constitution providing for and protecting the citizen’s right to freedom of expression and picketing .Four HRDs were arrested in Nairobi and charged with illegal assembly and assaulted during arrest yet the constitution provides for peaceful demonstration.
Freedom of Association & Article 11- Freedom of Assembly
In the reporting period, the Magistrate Court in Mombasa found six activists guilty of illegally gathering and failing to maintain physical distances in a public place contrary to the covid-19 measures. A land rights activist was also sentenced to six (6) months with other HRDs being arbitrarily arrested and trumped-up charges preferred against them even as they exercise their right. In some instances, police have been seen using force to violently disperse crowds and, in the process, continue to further violate human rights. Cases of HRDs arrested and exposed to physical violence by law enforcement while carrying out peaceful protests have been on the rise. Defenders Coalition also noted an increase in cases of femicide, digital and physical violence against women in Kenya
Right to Privacy
Kenya’s Data Protection Act 2019 sought to give effect to Article 31 of Constitution of Kenya which provides for the fundamental right to privacy. The introduction of compulsory sim card re-registration in April 2022 irked Kenyans with threats of de-registration of individuals’ sim cards as well as hefty punitive penalties for those who defy the registration. The Kenyan Government has continued to wield pervasive power to invasively collect citizens’ data whereas Kenyans have witnessed data breaches that have led to irregular sharing of their data with third parties as witnessed by the many private persons registered under political parties without their knowledge and consent. The government still lacks in safeguarding citizens’ data, which is a worrying trend in this digital era.
In light of these updates and observations, we urge the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to:
Introduction
The Defenders Coalition is a national membership organization established in 2007 and registered under Kenyan law as a trust. The Defenders Coalition works primarily to champion the safety, security and well-being of human rights defenders (HRDs). Among other pathways, the Defenders Coalition does this through strengthening the capacities of HRDs to work more effectively, besides advocating for favorable legal, policy and institutional environments to reduce their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and/or harm.
Defenders Coalition envisions a just society founded on human rights by championing for the safety, security and well-being of Human Rights Defenders. The Defenders Coalition believes that every individual is entitled to the rights and personal liberties, security and social justice and that HRDs play a frontline role of advancing the realization of these rights and freedoms as guaranteed by the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
Critical to these rights is the right to a free, fair, credible and peaceful election and to strengthen democratic practices. Defenders Coalition has over the time deployed human rights defenders to monitor and document human rights violations by state and non-state actors during the election process – prior to, during and post-election and assess the protection and respect of civic actors in the electoral process.
The Kenyan political landscape has been marred by violence targeting ethnic and political groups that are or are perceived to have different political opinions. Vocal human rights defenders and journalists have also not been spared. Key perpetrators have consistently been the police keen to protect the government in power seeking in its bid for re-election or support its preferred candidates which unleash violence on the opposing groups, and at the community, criminal gangs attack individuals perceived to not support the preferred candidates. Since 1992, there have been regional, widespread ethnic and politically instigated violence that has resulted in death, injuries, and destruction of property.
These actions have affected the conduct of free, fair, peaceful and credible elections. Although they have been fouled by local and international laws and practices. Defenders Coalition plays the critical watchdog role against such malpractices, often demanding for the electoral body (IEBC) to implement its mandate independently, unhindered and calling for accountability for violations.
Conscious of the fact that there are targeted attacks against women and WHRDs during the election period, Defenders Coalition envisions enhancing the capacities of WHRDs to monitor, document and report human rights violations that happen to individual WHRDs and women-led human rights organizations.
It’s on this basis that Defenders Coalition will conducted a two-day training of Monitoring, Documentation and Reporting for HRDs who will monitor the electoral process and human rights situation in the country during the 2022 election period. The training will equip the HRDs with advanced skills on monitoring and documentation of electoral malpractices, legislative framework on elections as well as safety and security during the monitoring period.
17 May 2022
The Defenders Coalition joins individuals across the globe to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) 2022. We join hands to call to action and emphasise our affirmation that all people have an equal right to live a life of dignity, free from violence, persecution, discrimination and stigma.
Today, Defenders Coalition celebrates the courageous advocacy efforts carried out by human rights defenders, activists, journalists, media workers and civil society organisations to raise awareness about the issues affecting SOGIE persons and human rights violations they may face.
While acknowleding increasing efforts in many countries to protect the rights of members of Sexual, Orientation, Gender, Identity and Expression (SOGIE), we remain seriously concerned with the widespread violation of the human rights of community members in Kenya in recent years, from elements including close family, community and members of the public.
Defenders Coalition is concerned that the limiting and discriminatory legal framework on the rights of sexual minorities in Kenya is acquiescely increasing the vulnerability of SOGIE persons to bias and social stigma, discrimination, economic impact, the risk of violence and domestic parental violence, and continues to contribute to the lack of access to gender-affirming health services. We are also concerned with the lack of a dedicated state agency to work on issues related to their safety and security.
We are concerned that within the past one year, Defenders Coalition has documented 23 cases of either/or violent murder, assault, forceful eviction of LGBTQ+ individuals across Kenya with little to no action by the relevant duty bearers in promoting the safety and security of sexual minority individuals as well as seeking justice for the victims. Among the documented cases, we noted that the victims of murder were brutally stabbed to death or sexually abused through corrective gang rape or strangled and/or violently assaulted before being killed.
In consideration of these grave concerns, pursuant to the rights and freedoms provided for in the Constitution of Kenya 2010, Defenders Coalition calls on all Kenyans to commit towards the promotion and protection of the rights of LGBTQ+ persons in Kenya. We call on Kenyans to strive to realise dignity, respect, and the rights of all citizens.
Article 27[2] of the Kenyan Constitution provides for protection from discrimination by the state through taking legislative and other measures, including affirmative action programmes and by designing policies to redress any disadvantages suffered by individuals or groups because of past discrimination. We call on duty bearers to commit towards achieving this by encouraging reviewing of legal frameworks including Section 162 (a) and 165 (b) of the Penal Code to realize enjoyment of inherent dignity.
We invite you to support our goals of realising safety, security and wellbeing of human rights defenders. We condemn these acts of violence and inaction by the state actors to hold perpetrators to account.
Annex: LGBTQ+ individuals killed in Kenya between January 2021 – May 2022
See details of the known victims and cases documented by various human rights institutions whose quest and wheels of justice have stalled or not commenced at all.
1. Sheila Lumumba was discovered dead on 22 April 2022 at their home in Karatina Town. Post-moterm reports indicated that they were hit by a blunt object on the head, raped and stabbed to death.
2. A 50 year old intersex was found murderd on 4 May 2022 by the roiadsie in Cherang’any constituency, Trans Nzoia County. Reports indicate that the victim was raped.
3. Joash Mosoti was found murdered by strangulation in his house in Bamburi, Mombasa County on 11 May 2021.
4. Erica Chandra was found dead in westlands Nairobi on 29 August 2021.
DEFENDERS COALITION
Download the Terms of Reference here
TERMS OF REFERENCE
DEVELOPMENT OF CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR DEFENDERS COALITION
The Defenders Coalition (NCHRD-K) is a national organization incorporated in the Republic of Kenya as a Trust. Its mission is to champion the safety, security and wellbeing of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs). Established in 2007, Defenders Coalition is the only national organisation that works primarily for the protection of HRDs.
Defenders coalition is guided by the Strategic Plan 2020 – 2025, which outlines the vision, ambition and strategies of realizing the same. The Plan, which is also aligned to global human rights instruments seeks to effectively position the Defenders Coalition, as leader in the rapidly changing environment especially in technology. The Defenders Coalition takes a holistic approach in its work geared towards a safe and secure environment for HRDs through an established rapid response mechanism, capacity building and knowledge management structures. Addressing concerns of HRDs is the core business of the coalition and thus works towards increasing their capacity in safety and security as well as their knowledge in the policy and legal environment within the human rights context as well as inclusion of technology in the work of HRDs as well as at the secretariat.
Defenders Coalition currently has a manual case management system which is used to record incidents of violation against HRDs.
The overall objective of this is to create and develop a web-based system which captures the processes of intake, processing, support and exit of the client support as well as a platform for archiving the Defenders Coalition membership database.
The design and development of the case management system will be conducted by an external consultant who will lead the project team and will work under the supervision and support of the Defenders Coalition Executive Director. The consultant is expected to develop a technical detailed methodology and for framework design of the case management system, taking into consideration the local context. The consultant will develop, build and design and maintain case management and handle all the source code and data used. The sample design and proposed development tools will be discussed and approved by the Defenders Coalition team before the commencement of the development of the system.
This assignment will be completed within two months and it’s expected to start in June 10th, 2022. A breakdown of how these days shall be utilised shall be reflected in the schedule of work to be presented to the Defenders Coalition by the consultant.
The consultant(s) should have the following qualifications/expertise:
The consultant shall present to the Defenders Coalition both financial and technical proposal for the project. The technical proposal must cover all important aspects of the solution and the financial proposal should cover professional and support cost.
Interested applicants who meet the job requirements and qualifications and with the right personal attributes are invited to complete and submit the following:
All applications should be sent to Defenders Coalition info@defenderscoalition.org copied ict@defenderscoalition.org, by Thursday, May 12th 2022. Quote “DC Case Management System” in the subject line of your email.
Successful applicants will be notified by Friday, May 27th, 2022 and given further guidelines on the assignment.
Defenders Coalition recently held two convenings towards the strengthening of #DigitaSecurityTrainers and #HRDs on how to offer digital; security support to #HRD Networks and human rights organizations during the elections period and beyond.
The meetings also contributed towards creating a network of security practitioners to fill the ever-expanding gap of digital safety capacity. The digital security trainers also shared amongst themselves, and for use,new tools, tactics, and knowledge.
Here is the position of the digital security trainers in the form of a communique find it here
Elsewhere Mombasa, our team of digital security management supported our partners @muslims for human rights to conduct security management training for grassroot #HRDs from the region.
Defenders Coalition continues to offer the above services so as to strengthen the capacities of #HRDs and #HumanRights organizations to conduct their work of promoting human rights safely by developing tailored elaborate security management plans for individuals and organizations.
STATEMENT OVER THE VIOLENT UNLAWFUL ARRESTS OF JULIUS KAMAU, MINOO KYA, CLINTON OJIAMBO NAHASHON MACHARIA AND ANTHONY KANYIRI: FREEDOM TO DEMONSTRATE, PICKET, AND PRESENT PETITIONS.
#FREETOPROTEST
11 Apri 2022
We, the undersigned organizations, are concerned that State Organs continue criminalizing Kenyans who exercise their right to protest (peacefully and unarmed), subjecting them to harassment, use of force, intimidation, and preferring unlawful charges against them. We are deeply concerned over the circumstances and manner of the arrest of Julius Kamau, Minoo Kya, Clinton Ojiambo, Nahashon Macharia, and Anthony Kanyiri, which only confirms the continued trend of suppression of the right to protest by the State, mainly where the protestors criticize the government and/or public officials. We also note the increase in threats to these fundamental rights and freedoms in the run-up to elections and the continued propagation of such repression through the National Police Service.
On 7th April 2022, Julius Kamau, a Kenyan activist, was violently manhandled by three plain-clothes police officers, thrown into a police lorry before being transferred into a police van, and subsequently held at the Central Police Station in Nairobi for allegedly creating a disturbance. Julius was protesting over the continued increase in the cost of living and calling for the lowering of food prices in the country ahead of the budget reading by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary on 7th April 2022.
The protest had begun online under the #NjaaRevolution, where rights holders were protesting against the increased cost of living and calling for lowering of food prices, among other issues. Two days after Julius was arrested, on 9th April 2022, four other protestors, Minoo Kya, Clinton Ojiambo, Nahashon Macharia, and Anthony Kanyiri, were arrested and detained at Mwiki police station in Nairobi County while participating in further protests under the #NjaaRevolution.
The right to protest is guaranteed under Article 37 of the Kenyan Constitution. 12 years after the promulgation of a very progressive Bill of Rights within the Kenyan Constitution, it is disappointing that rights are still treated as privileges. The right is also guaranteed under regional and international human rights instruments ratified by Kenya, including, Article 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Banjul Charter) and Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Further, spontaneous protests are not illegal, as stipulated by the African Commission Guidelines on the Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa. The Guidelines operationalize the implementation of Articles 11 of the Banjul Charter by State parties and all relevant stakeholders.
For the avoidance of doubt, one does not require the permission of the police to protest. Under the Public Order Act and other International Human Rights instruments, the rationale for notification is for the police to provide security for the protestors and must not be misconstrued as an obligation on those who wish to protest to seek ‘permission’ from the police. In itself, a lack of notification is not sufficient reason to characterize a protest as unlawful. We strongly condemn the inhuman actions of the police officers, whose conduct not only contravenes numerous constitutional and legal provisions but is a clear demonstration of the repressive nature of Kenya’s National Police Service.
We, therefore, call on the National Police Service and the concerned State Organs:
Signed by:
Article 19, Eastern Africa
Civic Freedoms Forum (CFF)
Crime Si Poa
Defenders Coalition
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI)
Red Vests Movement
Tribeless Youth