This year has started on a high note.
I am certain many, if not all of us, already have a sense of how things might unfold as we edge closer to the 2027 elections.
My hope for 2025 is that state and non-state actors will prioritize the voices of victims and survivors of human rights abuses, voices that have been silenced for far too long.
Women who were raped and assaulted during periods of unrest.
Men who were sodomized but may never speak out due to the heavy stigma. Children born of rape during the 2007–2008 post-election violence who still have no idea who their fathers are.
These individuals deserve justice. They deserve closure.
I hope that Jacinta Onyango, the mother of Kennedy Onyango, a 12-year-old boy shot during the 2024 finance bill protests in Rongai, will finally see justice for her son.
His body, now fresh in the grave, bears the evidence of violence meted on him.
A postmortem
revealed he died from severe hemorrhage caused by a single bullet that severed
arteries, punctured veins, and pierced his lungs. May Kennedy’s soul rest in
eternal peace, but may his mother live to see justice served.
In 2025, I hope victims and survivors of police brutality can find the strength to endure the seemingly endless pursuit of justice, even though such delays should never be the norm.
Take the Baby Pendo case, which resumes on January 15, 2025. It has dragged on for years.
On November 2, 2024, Justice Lillian Mutende postponed plea-taking yet again after two suspects failed to appear in court. She ordered the Inspector General of Police to produce one of the suspects, who has skipped court since 2022.
This
is not an isolated incident, similar delays occurred in October.
For those of us closely following this
case, the thought of yet another year-long battle for justice is exhausting.
But for the many victims and survivors, we have no option but to stand firm and
push for the end of impunity.
My hope for 2025 is that senior and junior
police officers finally understand that justice will eventually catch up with
them if they disregard the rule of law.
We often forget the lasting trauma victims and survivors endure.
During a recent visit to Nyalenda, Kisumu, I met residents haunted by police brutality.
One mother shared her pain: her daughter now fears
the police so deeply that it shapes every aspect of her life. She asked what
she could do to help her child heal. I’m still grappling with how to offer a
practical solution, knowing they have no choice but to remain in Nyalenda.
My hope for 2025 is that we pause and ask
ourselves whether the current lopsided approach to justice truly embodies the
spirit of Utu Wetu—our humanity.
The year is young, and my hope is still
alive. But hope alone is not enough. Let’s do things differently this year.
Henix Obuchunju is a Human Rights Defender