January 2004
The swearing in of a new government in January 2003 brought high expectations for improved human rights in Kenya. Following the electoral defeat of longstanding authoritarian President Daniel arap Moi, whose twenty-five year regime was characterized by endemic corruption, the administration of President Mwai Kibaki appointed to high office well-known human rights activists, civil society leaders, and victims of past abuses, and took significant steps forward in several critical areas.
- New Beginnings
- Legislative Backsliding
- Press Freedom
- Freedom of Assembly and Association
- Constitutional Reform
- Key International Actors
New Beginnings
Some of the actions and signals sent by the new government in 2003 were indeed very promising. Officials enforced universal free primary education. They opened prison doors for the first time to public scrutiny and pledged to improve prison conditions. Torture chambers in the notorious Nyayo House—gazetted as a “protected area” under the Moi regime—were publicly exposed and former prisoners publicly spoke about their experiences. Officials welcomed the licensing of new independent radio and television stations. Public pressure forced out former High Court Chief Justice Bernard Chunga, accused of complicity in torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of individuals suspected of participating in Mwakenya, a clandestine political movement in the 1980s.
The new government announced reforms in the police force and a public war on corruption. It also supported creation of a task force to investigate whether a truth commission should be established in Kenya, although by year’s end it had not acted on the recommendation of the task force to create such a commission. A new and vastly more independent government National Human Rights Commission—to succeed the executive-appointed Standing Committee on Human Rights, and heavily loaded with qualified persons from Kenya’s human rights movement—was sworn in as the new state human rights body.
Efforts to restore respect for the rule of law were seen most visibly in the government’s efforts to bring accountability for the endemic corruption that had characterized the Moi government. In a closely-followed public hearing, the Goldenberg Commission of Inquiry unearthed testimony about the Goldenberg scandal, viewed as the single worst case of corruption during the Moi era. There was a massive shake-up of the judiciary following release of an internal report that accused twenty-three judges of corruption. Officials enforced new legislative measures requiring that key public officials declare their wealth, inducing one minister to publicly declare his interests in a television company and withdraw its application for a broadcasting license. There was also a public inquiry into harambee (meaning pulling together in Swahili), a technique used widely by Kenyatta and Moi government officials to illegally acquire wealth.
Despite these impressive gains, however, significant human rights concerns remain.
Legislative Backsliding
In parliament, two pieces of legislation in 2003 appeared to claw back on human rights gains. The first was the Suppression of Terrorism Bill published in March 2003 by the government, which closely mirrors the U.S. Patriot Act and vests wide powers of arbitrary arrest, search, and detention in the police, inviting arbitrary application. Another was the Presidential Retirements Bill which attempts to gag former presidents from making political statements while in retirement. There were also concerns that the investigation into and subsequent removal of corrupt judges was selective and subject to political manipulation by Kibaki’s regime.
Press Freedom
An editor with the East African Standard David Makali was arrested and charged on October 1, 2003 after a September edition of the Standard on Sunday published excerpts of a leaked police report on the September 14th murder of Dr. Crispin Mbai, who was shot dead in his Nairobi home. Dr. Mbai was the Chair of the Technical Committee on Devolution at the National Constitutional Conference and was viewed as a key ally and political strategist of Raila Odinga, part of the Kibaki coalition government (through the Liberal Democratic Party wing). This wing has been publicly complaining that the pre-election memorandum of understanding it entered into with the other parties in the coalition government was not being honored. The Standard article, quoting the leaked police report, reported that the suspects arrested had named a prominent politician in the Kibaki government as the mastermind of the Mbai murder.
Freedom of Assembly and Association
Gideon Moi, perceived as the favorite son of former President Moi and the latter’s political heir in the Baringo Central parliamentary seat, was barred in July 2003 by armed policemen from addressing his constituents at Mochongoi Market. He was later allowed to have this meeting after being prevented by the police and provincial administration for close to two weeks.
In a second case, Catholic priest and activist Father Gabriel Dolan of the Kitale Catholic Justice and Peace Commission was arrested and man-handled in October 2003 when he attempted to meet Vice-President Moody Awori while leading a protest against land-grabbing.
Constitutional Reform
Finally, there was considerable concern following the government’s attempted filibuster of the National Constitutional Conference, a parliamentary-led consultative process to draft a new and more democratic constitution in Kenya. This is the first time Kenyans have been given an opportunity to take part in a comprehensive review of the Constitution. The draft constitution under discussion clearly contains wider and better human rights provisions and guarantees than the current one. However, the lengthy process also lent itself to political jockeying and delays. By year’s end, the stalemate continued.
Key International Actors
One of the most significant developments in 2003 came late in the year when numerous international donors officially resumed aid to Kenya. These renewed pledges were pledges of support for the Kibaki government’s economic and political reforms. They pledges are contingent upon further reforms including privatization, government payroll cuts, and continued anti-corruption efforts.
As early as 1991, international donors began suspending aid to Kenya because of rampant corruption and economic mismanagement under former president Daniel arap Moi. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspended lending in December 2000 and shortly thereafter the World Bank followed suit. In 2003, the European Union was the first to announce that it would resume aid, pledging €50 million in budget support and €225 million for development projects. Days later, the IMF announced that it would also resume dealings with Kenya, approving a U.S.$252.8 million loan, of which roughly $36 million will be available immediately. Then, in the last week of November, a group of donors—including the World Bank, the European Union, the African Development Bank, the United States and the United Kingdom—announced pledges totaling $4.1 billion for 2004-2006, the greatest portion of which would be available in 2004. Unlike the majority of aid, which will support infrastructure and development projects, U.S. aid (approximately $78 million) will be dispersed under its new strategy, “Draining the Swamps that Feed Terrorism,” and will focus on supporting good governance and security initiatives designed to help curb corruption and terrorist threats.
Related Material
More on Human Rights in Kenya
Country Page
HRW World Report 2004
Report, January 26, 2004