The Jubilee government scored 46 per cent on human rights during its 10-year term, according an assessment by civil society.
A report by 10 human rights groups led by Amnesty International shows the Uhuru Kenyatta government got 33 out of 72 points on the scorecard.
The scorecard focused on key areas largely placed into five categories including liberty and security of the person, civic space and freedoms, highest attainable health standards, adequate housing and the right to food.
Lawrence Mute, a former commissioner at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, said the Jubilee administration did not meet the threshold of effective implementation in any of the five areas.
“As their term ends, 28 million Kenyans remain deprived of very basic social and economic rights, while over four million people currently sleep hungry,” Mute said.
He said the Jubilee government failed to effectively address unequal and inefficient food distribution, and food wastage was calculated at 40 per cent, caused by a lack of storage facilities and poor infrastructure for accessing markets.
“Bureaucratic inefficiencies, shortages, and outright corruption have undermined the government’s 2022 initiative to provide each farmer with a 40 to 50-kilogram bag of subsidised fertiliser,” he said.
“Cartels have been buying subsidised fertiliser in bulk and selling it for Sh6,000 instead of the advertised price of Sh2,800.”
The government has however scored highest in the areas of rights of intersex persons, civic freedoms, public health and, to a limited extent, housing.
The report titled ‘Missed Opportunities’ details the extensive cases of systemic unaddressed cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances that have neither been eliminated nor reduced despite persistent documentation, media publicity and actions by oversight agencies.
“During its second assessment before the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Jubilee government committed that it would investigate all extrajudicial killings and educate military and police personnel on human rights principles,” Mute said.
“However, the use of excessive force, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by the police remained a common practice under the Jubilee government over the past decade.”
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority analysis recorded that serious injuries perpetrated by the police rose between 2012 and 2019. Of the 13,361 cases processed by Ipoa, 751 (six per cent) were complaints of serious injuries.
The report accused Jubilee government state officers of responding to insecurity, crime and acts of terrorism by deploying illegal and unlawful measures such as enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings.
“Notable among these was the disappearance of at least 34 people in Northeastern in 2015. These people had been taken into custody by security forces during counter-terrorism operations targeting the al Shabaab terrorist group,” reads the report.
The Missing Voices Consortium reported that 36 persons forcibly disappeared last year.
“National parks, forests and rivers have become the dumping grounds for over 30 dead people. In January, Haki Africa and Amnesty International found at least 37 bodies of disappeared persons in River Yala, Siaya,” Amnesty Kenya director Houghton Irungu said.
The groups scored Jubilee low on protection and promotion of the right to privacy and data.
Millions of Kenyans were repeatedly violated by government security agencies, including those responsible for population census and citizen registration programmes.
“Unconstitutional, forceful, and inhumane evictions of tens of thousands of Kenyans across informal settlements and forests violated the victims’ right to adequate housing and livelihoods,” Mute said.
According to the score card, the Jubilee administration performed better in the right to health with a commendable increase in improved facilities across the country, especially in Nairobi.
“Catalysed by the existential threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the increased access to medical facilities and vaccines undoubtedly saved many lives in the second term of the administration,” Mute said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
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