CSOs

The ongoing heavy rains have occasioned massive floods and unprecedented disasters in the form of loss of lives, injuries, and destruction of properties and infrastructure. Such calls for collective, responsive actions to foster the people's safety and dignity.

Against this background, the government of Kenya ordered residents within "high-risk fragile ecosystem areas" to vacate immediately or within 24 hours on Thursday.

It claimed it would evacuate, relocate and protect the exposed communities from the devastation of ongoing floods.

But it became a driver of gross injustice and unwarranted violence, specifically targeting the poor in the people's settlements.

Even before the government’s deadline elapsed, and without sufficient notice or proper consultation, bulldozers descended on the Mukuru Kwa Reuben and Kiamaiko areas in Nairobi in a case of forced and arbitrary eviction that left thousands of locals homeless.

Yet, more affluent neighbourhoods that flooded even more and sat on riparian land were left untouched, highlighting a selective, punitive, and discriminatory expedition.

The demolitions and forced evictions happened against the backdrop of systemic and arbitrary displacements that continued to target indigent communities in Kenya over the years.

The regime, aiming to appear "responsible," did not offer alternative shelter for the affected families but insisted that they move to "higher ground."

The ongoing evictions contravene our constitution, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Evictions, the United Nations Guiding Principles on the Assistance and Protection of IDPs, and the latest cabinet’s decision to relocate and evacuate affected families humanly.

Indeed, forced evictions of this nature are prohibited in all circumstances for grossly violating fundamental rights and freedoms, including the rights to adequate housing, food, water, health, education, work, security, human dignity, fair administrative action and freedom of movement.

The timing of this action by the Kenyan State is deeply callous and barbaric: the rains are pounding, infrastructure is destroyed, there is no alternative shelter, and schools are about to open, yet students don't know how they will report back.

This regime must begin by identifying alternative shelters for all the people at risk of being swept by the floods. The evictions must not bring more harm and exposure to the people. Where evictions have happened, victims must receive adequate compensation, reparation, and access to housing.

We also caution the public against dangerous maneuvers that may put their lives at risk, like crossing or driving through flooded roads.

Signed:

Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)

Mazingira Institute

Social Justice Center Working Group

We begin this press conference with a message of solidarity and encouragement to all those who have lost their jobs in the nascent gig economy comprising supplies, delivery, outsourcing and ride-hailing due to shutdowns, bad labour practices, and lack of much-needed government protections. We urge the President, Parliament, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the Directorate of Immigration Services and all other duty-bearers to act with speed to safeguard the best interest of all the affected workers in accordance with the Kenyan law.

In line with the above, we wish to state as follows:

WE BELIEVE that digital platform work represents an emerging and important aspect of the future of work. However, we also note that the rapid transformations in the labour marketplace are happening in a context that lacks the proper regulatory frameworks and/or weak enforcement mechanisms to ensure these transitions do no harm to the rights of parties involved, and that businesses do not violate the labour and related human rights of workers in their countries of operation.

WE ARE AWARE of several legal disputes lodged in the Kenyan courts in the past few months, including one in which more than one hundred and eighty (180+) online Content Moderators working for Facebook and Sama its sub-contractor in Kenya have sued the two companies for unlawful and unfair dismissal;

WE BELIEVE that just like the mass termination of hundreds of Facebook workers in Kenya, the sudden closure of some accounts for Remotasks and Jumia Food delivery services highlights the vulnerability of workers in this emerging realm of work, and especially those who depend primarily on such digital platforms work for their livelihood.

WE APPRECIATE that in a country grappling with significant levels of general unemployment (approximately 13%) and more specifically youth unemployment according to the 2019 census (approximately 39%) these digital platform jobs, including by companies and platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok are increasingly providing important opportunities for many young people in Kenya, Africa and elsewhere in the world to earn a living and economic sustenance.

HOWEVER, questions remain about how to ensure a safe, empowering and dignifying work environment for digital platform workers including fair compensation and equal pay for equal work, labour mobility across countries and new dynamics about the treatment of digital workers doing digital platform work away from their home countries. More importantly, we know that digitalization of labour platforms has serious implications for the rights of workers to organize and unionise.

IN VIEW OF THE ABOVE, WE ARE DEEPLY CONCERNED WITH:

1. The Government of Kenya’s focus on the idea of ALL and ANY digital jobs without evident consideration for safeguards to protect the dignity and human rights of the Kenyan workers in this new realm of employment;
2. The absence of clear and comprehensive framework for the protection of digital and platform workers’ rights including access to the right information, and fair and humane treatment at all times;
3. Lack of transparency and/or intentional misinformation during recruitment for digital platform jobs, and intentional targeting of vulnerable groups for exploitation under the guise of ‘expanding opportunities.’
4. Significant, unreasonable and unconscionable disparity in salaries, wages and benefits between digital platform workers in Kenya and their counterparts in the rest of the world;
5. Inability of, and/or unwillingness of foreign-owned Business Process Outsourcing companies to prioritise the well-being (especially mental health) of their workers and provide adequate support for those in need;
6. Increasing impunity and violation of the laws of Kenya, including violation of lawful Court Orders by foreign companies under the watch of the EPZ Authority;
7. Senior government officials’ appearances with, patronising of, and seemingly subtle endorsement of, and solidarity with foreign companies that are in violation of worker’s rights and lawful court orders. In particular, we believe that the President’s visit to Sama on February 27 with Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed at a time when the company is facing court cases over worker exploitation, human trafficking, and modern slavery sends a wrong signal.

SUBSEQUENTLY, WE DEMAND THE FOLLOWING:

1. That ALL companies offering work in the digital platform work space in Kenya conducts a self-assessment of their operations to ensure they operate within the laws of Kenya;
2. That the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Association of Kenya and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) hold their membership accountable for compliance in the spirit of self-regulation, and take steps to censure errant members for violations;
3. That the EPZ Authority conducts and publishes a comprehensive compliance audit of all foreign companies in the digital platform work space in Kenya;
4. That Parliamentary Committee on Labour commences investigations on the conduct of foreign companies operating in the digital platform work space in Kenya for unethical, discriminatory practices, including claims of union busting behaviour; as well as ensure formalisation of the gig economy
5. That the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (CoTU) continues to stand in solidarity with all and any workers within the Republic of Kenya, and to offer support, solidarity and advise;
6. Full adherence to Chapter 4 of our constitution and the labour laws in this country.
7. That all demand for greater transparency and accountability from online task platforms operating in Kenya.

Ends...

ABOUT PROJECT~ETHER
Project~ETHER is a Knowledge-Dialogue-Action project that exists to promote the realization of a safe, dignifying and human rights compliant labour market in the tech and related sectors in Kenya and the region.

Signed

Siasa Place

Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)

The Youth Agenda

Kariobangi Social Justice Center

Civil society organizations in Kenya have noted with concern the government’s policy to begin exclusively issuing new ID applicants and people seeking to replace lost IDs with the new digital ID, Maisha Card despite the project’s serious design irregularities and exclusion concerns.

On February 23, 2024, the Principal Secretary for the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services, Ambassador Julius Bitok announced the government’s plans to accelerate the issuance of the new generation National Identity Cards, known as Maisha Cards.

PS Bitok’s announcement followed the lifting of a court order that had suspended the implementation of the digital identity project known as Maisha Namba. Katiba Institute had filed a case with the High Court challenging the legality of the Maisha Namba project, but the matter has now been transferred to the constitutional and human rights division of the High Court for hearing and determination. It is because of this transfer to another division of the court that the interim order halting the rollout of Maisha Namba was lifted.

Another civil society organization, Haki na Sheria Initiative has also filed a petition with the High Court challenging the constitutionality of Maisha Namba.

We, civil society organizations, acknowledge and commend the High Court’s swift decisions, first to issue interim orders suspending Maisha Namba and secondly to transfer the Judicial Review case on Maisha Namba to another division of the court. However, we urge the government not to interpret this transfer of the case as consent to begin implementing the adoption of Maisha Namba before the full determination of the cases and putting in place reforms and safeguards to address the weaknesses of the system.

While announcing the pilot phase of the Maisha Namba project on November 1, 2023, PS Bitok had noted that the trials aimed to identify gaps with the digital ID system before the official launch across the country and had informed the public that transitioning to the new generation national IDs, Maisha card, would take a period of 2-3 years.

Further, the government has also maintained through several media briefs and in consultations with stakeholders that digital identity would not be mandatory. However, the government has now spurned the printing of the second generation national identity cards to exclusively issue Maisha Cards. effectively forcing all Kenyans seeking IDs to sign up for Maisha Namba.

This raises the prospect of Maisha Namba grievously disrupting people’s lives and having a profound impact on equity and access to ID cards for many Kenyans, particularly for the about 5 million people, who are indiscriminately locked out of or delayed in obtaining national ID cards due to discrimination and millions more who face obstacles like cost or being in rural areas far from registration centers.

It could also create a situation where the Maisha Namba digital ID becomes mandatory to access public and private services as was the case with Huduma Namba. This would disproportionately disadvantage those who don’t have Maisha Cards.

Moreover, given that multiple cases challenging the constitutionality of the Maisha Namba project are still due for hearing and determination before court, any court decisions declaring the project unlawful would have a serious effect on people’s ability to acquire nationality documents.

For instance, between December 2023 and February 2024, an estimated 600,000 Kenyans who had applied for IDs could not access their ID cards because the government began issuing only Maisha Cards to applicants, in violation of court orders. The few people who were lucky to obtain the Maisha Card also struggled to use it. Had the government put in place complementary measures including maintaining issuance of the current national ID cards, this problem would have been averted.

We note that the challenges Kenyans have already witnessed, barely three months into the pilot phase of Maisha Namba project, demonstrate how rolling back the harm and risks, not to mention the loss of public funds, would be almost impossible once the project is adopted.

We are also concerned that Maisha Namba does not address well documented flaws under the previous Huduma Namba project and the current citizenship processes that actively discriminate against minority and marginalized communities in Kenya. For the people who face challenges, such as ID vetting, distance or accessibility challenges, or even lack of digital infrastructure, in accessing nationality documents the risk of exclusion is heightened.

As a result, people who currently lack documentation such as birth certificates or ID cards will be unable to access the benefits of Maisha Namba as it will be issued based on existing population databases. Other major questions on the Maisha Namba eco-system including lack of a comprehensive legal framework, lack of public participation and consented opt-in, privacy and data protection concerns also loom large.

The Maisha Namba digital ID legal framework was created through the gazettement of regulations inserted to the Registration of Persons act and the Births and Deaths Act. This was not subjected to public participation as the constitution mandates.

The Maisha Namba Ecosystem as proposed also presents privacy concerns particularly by proposing a centralized digital ID system, which without regulatory safeguards are vulnerable to surveillance or unauthorized access by third parties.

Considering these challenges ushered by the rollout of Maisha Namba, we would also like to urge the government to reverse making digital ID mandatory and instead focus on voluntary enrollment through civic engagements and public awareness to secure buy-in from various segments of society, put in place a comprehensive legal and data protection framework to govern Maisha Namba, develop a transition trajectory, and prioritize those who lack documentation and guarantee their inclusion by ensuring they are issued with identity documents before the project is implemented.

Signed By:
1. Nubian Rights Forum
2. Kenya Human Rights Commission
3. Article 19 Eastern Africa
4. Centre for Minority Rights Development (CEMIRIDE)
5. Namati Kenya
6. Defenders Coalition
7. Haki na Sheria Initiative
8. Access Now
9. Protection International - Africa
10. Haki Centre

On January 3, 2024, an LGBTQ activist in Uganda, Steven Kabuye, was stabbed by two assailants. Kabuye had reported receiving death threats.

We condemn this violence. Our support for Kabuye and the work of all LGBTQ activists in Uganda is unwavering.

The attack on Kabuye goes against human rights. Every person deserves respect, dignity, and safety, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation. This is non-negotiable. We cannot compromise on protecting the rights and freedoms of each individual.

Repeal Anti-Homosexuality Act 

The attack is a stark manifestation of the appalling consequences spurred by the Anti-Homosexuality Act enacted by President Museveni in May 2023. This regressive legislation has fanned the flames of hate and intolerance against LGBTQ persons.

The law has catalyzed increased persecution and exacerbated the vulnerability of individuals within the LGBTQ community, especially those on the frontlines advocating for equality and justice. Now, anti-LGBTQ attacks are more frequent than ever before.

It is essential to recognize the direct correlation between discriminatory legislation and the surge in hate-driven incidents against LGBTQ individuals and activists. The Anti-Homosexuality Act has fostered an atmosphere of fear and discrimination.

We vehemently oppose such oppressive laws and stand in support of the rights and dignity of every individual, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We underscore the urgency of repealing the Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda. It will show that Uganda stands for equality, human rights, and justice for all its citizens.

We hope for prompt action to bring the attackers of Kabuye to justice. Authorities should handle this seriously, conducting a thorough investigation to identify and prosecute the culprits to the fullest extent of the law.

Signed

KHRC

Defenders Coalition

CRECO

GALCK+

INEND

Kawangware Paralegal Trust

National Students Cauvus-Kenya

Usalama Reforms and Democracy Without Borders—Kenya

A Joint Statement by Civil Society in Kenya

On February 24, 2023, the apex court said LGBTQ persons have a right to association and reaffirmed this position on September 12.

However, this monumental decision was followed by a series of anti-LGBTQ protests in Mombasa and Lamu.

Blatant incitement to violence characterized the protests—Nyali MP Mohamed Ali rallied his supporters to kill people with different sexual orientations, audaciously invoking religious texts to justify this indefensible stance.

Now, this hate campaign is coming to the capital, and we know this will affect LGBTQ persons' lives because previous street actions placed this group in harm’s way.

We take this opportunity to unequivocally condemn all the previous and ongoing nefarious activities that continue to expose this community's rights to life, security, and dignity.

The Constitution and the court’s decision must be respected.

We call upon the Kenyan police to immediately intervene and take legal action against those who plan to harm LGBTQ persons. We wish to remind the promoters of hate and the public that under Article 33(2) of the Constitution:

 The right to freedom of expression does not extend to: (a)propaganda for war; (b)incitement to violence; (c)hate speech; or (d) advocacy for hatred that: (i)constitutes ethnic incitement, vilification of others or incitement to cause harm; or (ii)is based on any ground of discrimination specified or contemplated in Article 27(4) 

We further demand that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) exercises its investigative mandate and collaborate with other actors in the criminal justice system to ensure effective prosecution for the acts of hate speech in this situation.

Unfortunately, this delicate matter was recently brought to the attention of the police and NCIC, who seem to have abdicated their constitutional and statutory duties of maintaining law and order and facilitating respect for diversity, respectively.

We also call upon the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to act against Mohamed Ali, whose conduct in this situation damages the leadership and integrity values and standards established for State Officers in Article 73 of the Constitution.

Finally, we wish to oblige Kenyans to exercise more tolerance and restraint—having diverse sexual orientations and gender identities is not a crime but a fundamental aspect of human diversity.

We must nurture a more inclusive and accommodating culture devoid of cruel and discriminatory motives and practices. No one should ever dare to impose their religious beliefs and social values on others, for our Constitution guarantees all people's freedom of religion and beliefs.

Let it be known that we will not relent in our unwavering pursuit of justice, equality, and the protection of the rights and dignity of all.

Signed:

1. Kenya Human Rights Commission-KHRC
2. International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
3. Defenders Coalition
4. Katiba Institute
5. Independent Medico-Legal Unit-MLU
6. INUKA ni Sisi Trust
7. Kituo cha Sheria
8. Siasa Place
9. Constitution Education Reforms Consortium-CRECO
10. Social Justice Centers
11. Partnership for Empowerment Network (PEN)
12. Usalama Reforms Forum
13. National Students Guild
14. Grace Agenda
15. Democracy without Boarders
16. Kawangware Paralegal Trust
17. Kariobangi Paralegal Network
18. Center for memory and Development
19. Forum for Civic Participation in Governance
20. Women Collective Kenya
21. Coalition for Grassroots Human Rights Defenders-Kenya
22. East Africa Legal Service Network
23. Feminists for Peace Rights and Justice Center
24. Raise Your Voice
25. Women in Grassroots Uprising
26. Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH)
27. Warembo Unique
28. Viba Explore
29. Africa’s Voice of Nature
30. Civil Society Network

For media inquiries, please contact Ernest Cornel at ecornel@khrc.or.ke or 0722253893.

In a letter to the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services Permanent Secretary, Julius Bitok, we urged the government to take immediate action to ensure the enactment of proper legislation, meaningful public participation, access to critical documentation (birth certificates and ID cards) for all Kenyans, and adequate data protection measures and adherence to the law in the process aimed at creating a digital identity system in Kenya.

We further wish to remind the government of the unacceptable consequences of discrimination, eroding of privacy and exclusion for communities that have historically struggled with access to documentation that were witnessed with a similarly hurried and flawed implementation of Huduma Namba.

We reinforce that the opaque rollout, lack of public engagements and a lack of proper procedural and legal safeguards associated with the Unique Personal Identifier/Maisha Number rollout would wreak havoc on the ways citizens access nationality documents.

The push towards creating a digital identity eco-system will assign individuals a lifelong unique identification number starting from birth and eventually serve as an ID number with the processing of the third generation identity cards beginning in the next 20 days.

The digitization process will also result in a consolidated National Master Population Register that will merge existing and independent databases into a single register of data on Kenyans and foreigners in the country.

However, steps needed for identification system upgrade and reforms have been glaringly lacking in this new introduction of Maisha Namba. Wider broad-based engagements with the public, civil society and other stakeholders have been non-existent, and to that end, the current efforts of the government to develop digital ID are cascading dangerously towards the pitfalls that stalled Huduma Namba.

“We are at a critical moment. A move to digital IDs is not a minor change but one that significantly changes how legal identification is administered in our country. As such, we need to get it right and improve access to nationality, data protection and individual’s privacy rather than erode it.”

“We experienced firsthand in our communities the harms of digital identity systems, where it locked out people who struggle with documentation, denied citizens services, excessively collected personal data and impeded fundamental freedoms.”

The government should use this opportunity to initiate a cross-stakeholders powered process with a transition period to ensure a smooth rollout of digital ID.

On 14th August 2023, the government of Kenya and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that effectively set the stage for the rollout of digital identity in Kenya.

Speaking during the signing of the MOU, Citizen Services Prof Julius Bitok said that “the digital identity project was crucial, and that the partnership would also factor in the role of stakeholders and interest groups to ensure that the envisaged digital ID gained from a broad
inclusion of ideas and acceptance.”

In the same spirit, PS Bitok met diverse civil society organizations in February 2023 to forge a partnership towards addressing the concerns with digitizing identity systems and reforming discriminative and marginalizing processes especially for many from our most vulnerable communities who face hurdles in obtaining nationality documents.

At the meeting, PS Bitok indicated that this administration was committed to continuous engagement and collaboration and to walking together with civil society as to any creation of a unique personal identifier. PS Bitok committed to conducting extensive public awareness on the system, ensuring public participation, conducting data protection impact assessment, doing away with vetting and exclusion and forming an inclusive working group to embark on reforms of the identification system in the proper manner to ensure any actions truly serve the needs of all Kenyans.

The commitment statements made by the PS at the time on public participation, transparency, engagement, and accountability have, however, not manifested in practice.

There has not been a single public participation forum or other channel created to solicit input and feedback from the Kenyan public. No data protection assessment has been made public, no public awareness has been conducted, and no safeguards have been put in place
to ensure Kenyans who have struggled to obtain documentation can acquire a UPI or related government services.

We therefore, call on the Government of Kenya, in particular the Ministry of Interior, to halt the roll-out of the unique personal identifier until the following minimum steps are undertaken and met in a public, transparent manner:

1. Enact a proper legal framework to govern the system that is fully grounded in the Constitution and aligns with requirements from the High Court judgment in Nubian Rights Forum et al. v. the Honourable Attorney General of Kenya et al.
2. Conduct meaningful nation-wide public participation on the proposed legal framework, any draft regulations, and the system design
3. Abolishment of ID vetting for all Kenyans
4. Implementation of affirmative action measures to issue documents to all persons who have been excluded or been unable to obtain the same due to the historical previous existence of vetting processes over the past several decades
5. Ensure all Kenyans have access to documentation (birth certificates and ID cards) before moving forward with digitization, including through the expansion of the number of registration and identification offices and resourcing of these offices, especially in underserved areas of Kenya
6. Conduct a robust Data Protection Impact Assessment and Human Rights Impact Assessment of the system that are made public for scrutiny and from which improvements will be made to the system design
7. Inclusion of civil society and members of the public, including minorities and marginalized communities in line with Article 56 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, in any relevant working groups or committees, including the National Digital Identity Technical Committee and National Steering Committee for Digital Identity mentioned in the media on September 12, 2023
8. Allow for a transition period prior to any roll-out to ensure time for the above steps, improve infrastructure such as electricity and internet nationwide, and any other needs identified by the Kenyan public

SIGNED BY:
1. Nubian Rights Forum
2. Namati Kenya
3. Centre for Minority Development
4. Kenya Human Rights Commission
5. Defenders Coalition
6. Access Now
7. Katiba Institute
8. Haki Na Sheria Initiative
9. ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa
10. Pastoralists Rights and Advocacy Network