Laws, Rules, and Justice, the cogs on which our society moves. Socrates said, “Without rules, we are nothing but animals.”
Interestingly, our Kenyan society is slowly degenerating into an animal kingdom. Despite a progressive 2010 constitution, the Kenyan Judiciary hailed on its picturesque DEI, has repeatedly proven to be all bark and no bite.
Wealth is the currency of the courts and justice is dispensed depending on an individual’s financial status or proximity to power. In Kenya, the prosecution and police service charged with enforcing court orders are the weakest link in the justice system. There is a common adage that goes, justice delayed is justice denied.
The Baby Pendo case is a significant moment in Kenya’s fight for police accountability and justice. In July 2024, a major development occurred when 11 senior police officers were ordered to face charges related to the death of six-month-old Samantha Pendo, who was killed during police operations after the disputed 2017 elections. The officers are set to take a plea on October 3, 2024, seven years later.
Additionally, the Kianjokoma brothers’ case continues to revolve around the legal proceedings concerning the six police officers accused of their deaths.
The two brothers, Benson Njiru and Emmanuel Mutura, were arrested in August 2021 for allegedly breaking curfew, but their bodies were later found with signs of physical abuse, leading to accusations of police brutality.
One may wonder why cases take so long to be solved, or in some instances, judgments are blatantly unsatisfactory, or completely disregarded by those meant to enforce them. Individuals close to political power are always shielded from the brunt of their impunity by the same courts meant to dispense justice.
Interestingly, ethics seems to be a dead word in Kenya’s leadership vocabulary. The Weston Hotel, associated with President William Ruto, has been embroiled in a legal dispute over allegations of illegally acquiring land that was originally part of Lang’ata Primary School.
The National Land Commission (NLC) determined in 2019 that the hotel sits on public land that was unlawfully acquired. The government did not take action to reclaim the land or enforce immediate restitution, and legal maneuvers have delayed the resolution. No conclusive judgment has been made since, despite a damning pile of evidence from the commission.
Recently, the same hotel was exposed for being one of the top beneficiaries of government hospitality tenders, a clear conflict of interest. But as usual, words are wind.
Instances of powerful individuals disregarding court orders and no action taken against them are rife in Kenya. After the controversial lawyer, Miguna Miguna, was deported in 2018, the courts issued multiple orders for his return and restoration of his Kenyan passport. Despite these orders, the government repeatedly ignored them, and Miguna was barred from re-entering the country until 2020.
There have been several instances where courts ordered compensation or disciplinary action against police officers or government officials accused of brutality or human rights violations, but the rulings were either ignored or delayed for years. One prominent case involves the post-election violence, where police officers implicated in the violence faced little to no accountability.
As the week draws to a close, the country is anticipating the sentencing of acting police IG Masengeli, who was convicted of contempt of court after disregarding seven court summons, much to the delay of justice for aggrieved families who were affected by a rogue police service.
Orwell’s words ever ring true whenever we witness the government’s conduct. “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”
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