Kenya: Media and NGOs Join Forces to Protect Human Rights

Around the world, civil society and independent media face pressure when countries come under internal political stress and security threats.

These shared challenges – and strategies to overcome them – were a key part of a Nairobi roundtable that brought IWPR partners, journalists and activists together as part of the ongoing Voices for Change project in Kenya.

Ana Dabrundashvili, a Tbilisi-based IWPR senior project manager, noted parallels between Georgia’s introduction of a law that declared any organisation receiving Western funding to be a “foreign agent,” and ongoing accusations in Kenya that independent media were also tools of outside influence.

“Despite the fact that Eastern Europe and East Africa are very far from each other and historically quite different, there are striking similarities in some developments, a clear backsliding of democracy and a closing civil society space,” Dabrundashvili said. “Drawing these parallels and sharing experiences is very significant for IWPR to identify better ways of supporting civil society across all places marred by instability and conflict.” 

Participants in the October 4 event are working on 20 investigative reports and civil society-led campaigns on human rights violations across Kenya, ranging from gender-based violence to police brutality and female genital mutilation. 

The roundtable served as a space to network and exchange ideas and jointly seek for solutions to challenges, including the need to protect human rights workers themselves, physically, mentally and digitally.

The roundtable was hosted by IWPR partner, Africa Uncensored (AU) a Nairobi-based investigative media house which is supervising the editorial process.

“The Voices For Change project is important because it closely aligns with Africa Uncensored’s mission to empower citizens by providing them with the information necessary to demand justice and accountability,” said AU senior editor Eric Mugendi. “Working with journalists and community-based organisations ensures that the stories and advocacy campaigns that result from this project will go a long way towards empowering the public with knowledge about their rights and information on how to defend them, hopefully contributing towards a positive long term change in how human rights are protected and defended overall.”

Roundtable participant Seffu Kamau, coordinator at Dagoretti Social Justice Center, explained how his investigation would explore the intersection between local land right violations and gender bias.

“The investigation will feature cases that we have documented, where widows, children, and sometimes orphans, are denied their rightful land due to illegal actions by male relatives or custodians, coupled with collusion by local officials and law enforcement,” Kamau said. “Women face double discrimination, being deemed unworthy of land ownership and subjected to harassment and intimidation.”

Presenting her own plan for an investigative report, Ajuma Milicent, from the Association of Media Women in Kenya, explained the extreme corruption at the local Busia County Referral Hospital.

“The whistleblowers revealed to me that the doctors of the hospital have opted to focus on their side hustles due to non-payment by the county,” she said. “They also revealed that there are no drugs in the hospital, leaving patients struggling to get treatment. Aside from that, the hospital does not have items as essential as water and gloves.” 

Investigative reports and campaigns will be published in local media outlets in Kenya in November and promoted through local social media channels.

 Mugendi said that a key outcome of the event had been the group dynamic created through the workshop sessions and subsequent networking opportunity. 

“Our hope is that this small community of journalists and community-based organisations will deepen the connection between these two groups, and through the stories and campaigns that they will produce with our support, they will be able to make a difference in the communities and audiences that they engage with,” he concluded.

Voices for Change is supported by the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund.