Elias Kimaiyo Kibiwot is a human rights defenders from the Sengwer an indigenous hunter and gatherer community. The community has endured conflict with the government since the colonial era. Inspired by the perpetual forced evictions and human rights violations of the community, Elias joined community leaders who were advocating for the rights of Sengwer community on land ownership. He is dedicated to serving his people towards overcoming all inhuman injustices to enable them to pursue their land ownership rights.

Through his work of documenting the human rights violations in the Embobut forest and sharing with local and international media houses, this has placed the Sengwer community at the forefront. He has used his documentation to reach out to international bodies to assist in publicizing the ongoing violations against the Sengwer community.

Through his efforts AVAAZ international collected over 960,000 signatures to petition Kenya Govt. This led to UNHCR to write to Kenyan government to stop all Human Rights violations that were ongoing. He has also been actively involved in following up on cases of members of the community arrested and as a contact person between the community and CSOs. In addition, he worked closely with the various stakeholders in developing a road map on historical land injustices and land ownership of indigenous
people. With others, they have written some letters to president Uhuru raising their grievances on the evictions without success or replies.

The greatest challenges Elias faces in his day to day human rights work is restricted movement from forest to various places, police harassment and intimidation when following up arrest cases. Elias is a victim of said arrest and assault that left him with serious injuries, following an encounter with Kenya Forest Services (KFS) officers. He is nursing the injuries to date. He was able to overcome his challenge through networking with other community members, engaging other human right organizations to come and offer
capacity building on indigenous and minority rights as enshrined in the constitution.