Don't "move on" after injustice since that is the end of society

The release of BBC “Blood Parliament” documentary and the Amnesty International 2024-2025 Kenya report whipped up a political storm this week.

Accusations of bad faith completely miss the point. Victim-centred thinking knows, only justice, not amnesia, heals national wounds.

Wairimu Muthoni knew this when she took on Super Metro SACCO for her assault in 2018. Initially seeking criminal prosecution by her government, she shifted to a civil public interest suit when state agencies disappointed her. Supported by rights organisations, the Centre for the Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) and Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA), she sued Super Metro for forcibly pushing her out of a city matatu, beating her and stealing Sh80,000 in cash and Sh40,000 in property.

Court files record testimonies of the SACCO officials and drivers denying liability for the theft and mental and physical injuries Muthoni experienced. Earlier this year, Justice Lawrence Mugambi found Super Metro guilty of violating their passenger’s right to dignity, property, safety and freedom from violence.

While it was their staff ultimately responsible for the violence against her, the owners of Super Metro are liable for what happens in their vehicle. His ruling requires Super Metro to pay the victim Sh420,000 in damages and compensation. The judge also took fault with failure of the police to conclude investigations and the National Transport and Safety Authority, Transport Ministry and the Interior Ministry for failing to develop laws and policies that protect women mobility rights.

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Muthoni’s victory may be personal, but it has huge public implications for all Kenyans who have experienced indignity or danger to their lives while taking public or private transport. In her case, her NGO lawyers demonstrated a breach of her rights, who was responsible and that the state should have protected her.

While a victory for all who use public transport, the outcome is particularly important for women disproportionately abused and then ignored by investigative authorities. Files are opened, suspects and witnesses are interviewed and then the cases go cold.

A sluggish criminal justice system not only gives a free pass to serious criminals but also reduces the trust Kenyans have in the agencies mandated and funded to protect public interest.

This week, the Kenya Defence Forces, National Police Service, Independent Policing Oversight Authority and Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions were hard-pressed to respond to the lack of progress on the 65 killings and 89 enforced disappearances last year.

Easy to miss in the storm, another civil suit matured in the High Court. Led by Pareno Solonka and team, eleven petitioners successfully argued before Justice Mwamuye that the Nairobi Police Commander was guilty of issuing an illegal order to ban protests on 18 June 2024.

Further, by arbitrarily arresting the petitioners, denying them legal counsel and using excessive state force, the National Police Service had violated no less than seven constitutional rights and freedoms.

In declining the petitioner’s prayer that the commander who issued unlawful instructions personally pay damages, however, the Sh2.2 million awarded to the 11 petitioners will have to come out of an already strained annual police budget.

These two different cases demonstrate some important truths. Firstly, a victim’s desire for accountability or justice will always be more powerful than a politician’s wish to sweep past injustices under a red carpet and “move on”.

Secondly, where professional courage or a sense of urgency to protect human life is absent from our investigative officers and prosecutors, civil strategic litigation also has power for individuals or groups of citizens.

Let us neither “move on” without justice for last year’s fallen nor this week’s horrific assassination of Kasipul Kabondo MP Charles Were.

Allowing serious crimes to go unresolved will only further fuel the dangerous “aura for aura” narratives and the rising arguments that if some are above the law, let everyone be accorded the same courtesy.