A civil society organisation in Kisumu plans to petition Supreme Court Chief Justice David Maraga to open an investigation into the 2017 post-election violence.
Kisumu Residents Voice Association chairman Audi Ogada yesterday said a tribunal would help get justice, tell the country the truth of what transpired and the people behind it.
Ogada said a petition will be handed over to the Building Bridges team so they can use it in their discussions in counties.
He said despite the handshake, which is now one-year-old, victims and survivors of the violence are yet to get justice.
On February 14, the inquest into the death of six-month-old baby Samantha Pendo was concluded and top Kisumu county police bosses held culpable.
Pendo’s parents Lenser Achieng and Joseph Abaja said other victims and families need to get justice, just as they did.
Early last month, the Pamoja Trust and Transform Empowerment for Action initiative (TEAM) called for a monument to be built at the Jomo Kenyatta Sports Grounds, Kisumu, in memory of those who died in 2017.
They said it will be a permanent symbol of shame and social justice and a place of repentance. “This shall be a permanent invitation for us to return to our humanity and quest for accountability,” Pamoja Trust executive director Steve Ouma
He said the structure should be part of the Building Bridges Initiative for the Lake Region Economic Bloc.
He agreed with the initiative’s nine-point agenda covering ethnic antagonism and competition, lack of national ethos, inclusivity, devolution, divisive elections, safety and security.
“We [the civil society] shall commission a process of dialogue with victims to agree on the best mechanism for reparations for the losses they incurred,” Ouma said
He said they cannot succeed unless the issue of justice is addressed. “The BBI must ultimately assure us there shall be no repetition of the violence that occurred in 2007 and 2017,” he said.
In 2016, the victims of the 2007-08 post-election violence filed an application before the International Criminal Court to compel the government to compensate them. The government expressed commitment to helping them.
