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ORGANISATIONAL STUDY KITUO CHA SHERIA
RIPOCA PROJECT
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1. BACKGROUND TO THE ORGANISATION 1.1 History of the organisation
Kituo cha Sheria was founded in 1973 two years after the inception of the faculty of law in the University of Nairobi. A group of young lawyers did identify a need in the society especially with the marginalised groups in the country for legal advice. These groups (the marginalised) were vulnerable to several rights violations ranging from exorbitant increase in house rent by landlords, evictions from their slum dwelling place to poor conditions of work in their work places.
Majority of these people worked as domestic workers in the upmarket residential areas or cheap manual labourers in the industrial market.
Many are the times their salaries were withheld for no apparent reason, received dismissals on no notice and at times lost there residential places to private developers who in most cases grabbed public land where their shanties stood.
Owing to the fact that existing lawyers were too few and expensive for the poor to afford their services, the young group of lawyers decided to offer legal services to the poor free of charge. They volunteered their free time especially in the evenings drafting briefs, providing legal advice and directing helpless litigants to the respective courts or tribunals. While working from the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) offices, they found it fit to register an organisation so as to make their work more professional and this is how, in 1973, Kituo Cha Mashauri (Legal Advice Centre) which later changed its name to KITUO CHA SHERIA was born.
Kituo gradually grew and the need for its services increased as no other organisation was offering legal aid then. This in turn led to its need for resources and it‟s at this point in 1988 that they received their first funding from Ford Foundation a gesture that saw more poor people access justice. To manage its day to day activities the organisation established a small secretariat with full time lawyers to implement its priority projects. With time the secretariat expanded with the employment of more lawyers and support staff to help deal with the ever growing numbers of needy clients. Since then the organisation has broadened its support from partners and this has seen it meet better the needs of the poor
1.2 Structure of the organisation
In Kituo, governance and leadership is at two levels. The General Assembly, the Board of Trustees, the Board of Directors and the Executive Director are the dominant level. The second level consists of the Deputy Director, Programme and Departmental Coordinators, Programme/Legal Officers and Paralegals/interns. Over the year‟s, some of the functions have been passive but Kituo will ensure that
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they are institutionalised and active in the current strategic plan period which runs from 2009-2013. (See their organogram in their 2009-2013 strategic plan; page 23)
1.3 Vision and mission
Kituo‟s vision is to create “A society of Equity and Justice for all”.
Their mission is “To empower the poor and the marginalised people effectively access justice and realise human and peoples rights through advocacy, networking, lobbying, legal aid, legal education, representation and research”. To achieve these, the following core values guide the organisation. Respect for human rights, commitment to justice and equity for all, solidarity with pro poor individuals and agencies, courage in promoting social transformation and empowerment of the poor and marginalised, service through volunteerism, transparency, reliability and accountability in its relations with its stake holders, obligation to upholding the rule of law and finally professionalism,.
1.4 Resources Human resources
Kituo has six programmes and the staff is hired in accordance with the needs in these programmes. Every programme has a coordinator who supervises the other staff in the programme. The executive director oversees the work in the organisation and in her absence the deputy director stands in her capacity. There is other support staff that in their absence the day to day running of Kituo would be somehow paralysed. These include the personal assistant to the executive director, the drivers and the tea lady who also ensure cleanliness in the organisation.
Financial resources
Since 1988 Kituo has heavily relied on donor funding. The organisation has core funders who support the organisation as an entity. However other donors only support certain projects and while others only support specific activities an act that limits the implementation of those activities as the organisation has to source funds from elsewhere to support the personnel implementing the activities. Apart from donor funding the organisation charges its clients a little fee for case registration. This only goes to purchasing the materials needed for their case filing e.g. files and papers. Some clients however don‟t afford this amount but they are never turned down. Kituo goes ahead to file their cases and accords them necessary services.
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Due to its popularity and professionalism that is recognised the world over; the organisation receives interns, mostly law students from institutions that offer law courses both nationally and internationally.
Some of these institutions go along way by supporting their students‟
stay at Kituo by meeting their daily financial requirements.
Technological and infrastructural resources
Across its offices work is made easier by the use of computers.
Though some are old and obsolete, every employee has access to a computer and the mode of communication is done via internet. There are landline phones that are also used for communication purposes.
1.5 Activities
Kituo being an organisation that deals with legal aid matters, most of its activities are based on the same. The following are some of the activities that the organisation carries out.
Offering legal advice to the poor and marginalised in the society.
Training paralegals
Representing the poor and the marginalised in courts in search for justice
Training community members on how to represent themselves in court
Educating the public on their human rights. Types of rights that Kituo promotes
The organisation mainly deals with labour, land and housing rights.
However this does not mean that clients seeking justice in other areas are turned down. Everybody is received, listened to and advised accordingly in Kituo. Kituo has partner organisations that it works with in the promotion of people and human rights. Each of these organisations has its area of speciality. For instance, FIDA-KENYA deals with women rights and CRADLE deals with children rights.
Hence any person seeking women or children rights are referred to these organisations and Kituo follows the cases to ensure that the clients are helped accordingly and that due justice is accorded. In this way, Kituo also promotes women and children‟s‟ rights.
Gender dimension
As an organisation, Kituo does not discriminate on who access their services. Both male and female clients are treated in the same way and legally advised in a way that they shall access justice, either through the courts or exploring alternative mechanisms to conflict resolution.
Beneficiaries
Being an old organisation and the first one to ever offer legal advice to the Kenyan poor and marginalised, the organisation is popular among
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Kenyans and also non Kenyans. Kenyans all over the country therefore are the main beneficiaries of the organisation. Refugees also do access justice through Kituo‟s forced migration department.
1.6 Linkages
The nature of kituos work necessitates that the organisations works with other like minded institutions in its service dispensation. Hence it has various linkages with international organisations, other NGOS in the same level and CBOs across the country. Kituo cooperates with these organisations to address matters concerning human rights in the country and if the situation so demands, it partners with other organisations to air their views with the aim of having the government to act in a responsible manner.
1.7 Engagement with government
The government invites Kituo to participate in some of its meetings especially those seeking to come up with policies in the housing, labour or land sectors. The organisation has worked with the Ministry of Justice and Constitution Affairs to come up with a national paralegal training manual which shall be used in training paralegals countrywide.
1.8 Citizen participation
In the trainings that Kituo holds with the communities, an avenue is created for the members to air their views about what Kituo should help them achieve. Kituo helps community members form their own organisations after training and then guides them on how they can become independent and help their community members‟ access justice and also monitor how the government is using allocating and utilising the funds meant to benefit citizens e.g. the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), the Youth Enterprise Fund and the Women Enterprise Fund.
1.9 Internal democracy
Every department‟s contribution in Kituos decisions counts. The staffs in various departments pass their views concerning an issue to the executive director through their coordinators, who then passes the same to the board of directors to have the final decision on the matter.
The board of directors make the final decision after putting into consideration the views put across by the secretariat. Kituo has a large number of women employees in various departments some of who are heads in those departments. The executive director is a lady.
According to her, the contributions they make to the organisation
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when it comes to decision making are taken seriously hence gender balance is always maintained.
2. APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES
1. There are different approaches and strategies that Kituo uses in its service delivery when dealing with different issues, these include word of mouth, solidarity meetings with community members, use of organisational brochures, and network organisations. Kituo offers training to community members for purposes of building their capacity to settle issues that arise in their midst in amicable ways.
2. Kituo intervenes whenever a community or individual approaches them for help. This is done through various measurers. Through television talk shows namely; LOUIS OTIENO LIVE, HATUA and AGENDA KENYA which air on the main television channels in the country (NTV, KBC and Citizen), Kituo passes vital information to the general public concerning issues to do with land rights, labour rights, women and children rights, housing rights and many others.
The other intervention measure that the organisation applies in its service delivery is representation. They pick up cases from individuals or communities, investigate them and should they be in line with their mandate, they represent the oppressed individuals or communities in court in search of justice.
Kituo has carried out paralegals training in various parts of the country. In Mombasa through their regional office there, several inmates in Shimo la Tewa prison have been trained. This training is aimed at helping the inmates understand the law and also be aware of their rights as prisoners. Through the training exercise, several inmates have been acquitted, others have appealed their cases and won and many have become paralegals.
Box 1: Jackson Mwero Malau’s Case
Jackson Mwero Malau a former Shimo la Tewa convict got to know Kituo while in prison. His was a mistaken identity case. Before his conviction, Jackson was a sales person who hawked his merchandise in order to earn a living. On second August 2006, during his usual rounds, he happened to enter a compound where robbery had just taken place. When police arrived, he was the only strange person in the compound and hence was assumed to be one of the thieves.
Jackson spent two years in prison. The owner of the compound, a lady, in her first statement at the police station, noted that those who stole from her were individuals well known to her. As it happens with most cases in Kenyan courts, the case was not well handled as the information in the files was not well followed. It was after Kituo‟s intervention that Jackson appealed the case and was discovered after two years that the lady‟s first statement
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was not taken into consideration. She had never seen, nor heard of Jackson prior to the incidence and it was after this discovery, two years later that Jackson left the Shimo la Tewa Prison.
While in prison Jackson was trained by Kituo as a paralegal and issued with a certificate of participation. After his successful training, Jackson held the position of paralegal group chairman for one year after which he relinquished the responsibility when he was acquitted. Jackson currently owns a butchery in Mombasa from where he derives his daily bread. On the side, he puts the skills he acquired from Kituo into very good use. This he does by representing remandees in court cases, helping inmates who can‟t hire lawyers, and training them on how to represent themselves in court.
According to Jackson, the paralegal training has been very useful to the inmates for they have been able to access justice. In Shimo la Tewa prison, Jackson holds monthly meetings with the remandees. Whenever there is an urgent matter to be attended to, the prisoners call Jackson for discussion on the way forward. While all that Jackson does sounds simple, his work is not without challenges.
Before his representation is accepted in court, he is supposed to produce a letter, of the organisation he works with. In other instances, he is required to pay some fee especially when launching a case. Given that his clients are inmates who have no source of income, getting the money for him, is quite a task. However, though there might be delays, Jackson coordinates with Kituo to get the letter and also the money required.
Inmates in Kenyan prisons don‟t enjoy there rights. There are prison reforms that are ongoing but this is happening at a very slow rate. “As an inmate, my freedom of movement was infringed”, remarked Jackson. “With the help of Kituo, the freedom of movement within the Shimo la Tewa prison was lifted and prisoners can now access the remandees and convicts blocks without it being considered a crime”. “At one time, Jackson notes, “there was no water in the cells and cleanliness was a problem but we complained and currently water is available and it‟s easy to maintain the cells. Food was also badly prepared and beating was very evident”.
During the paralegal trainings, Kituo advised them to continue airing their grievances to the authorities. Though, it took some time, their persistence paid off. Things are gradually changing for the better, in every prison in Kenya. There is an officer in charge trained in paralegal. Everything that pertains to the prisoners is authorised by him/her. Hence any organisation offering training has to do so with his authorisation. Asked whether there is a way that prisoners can influence the government, Jackson regrets that there is none. This is because, the prisoners have to air their views through the officers who can choose to forward their cases to the Government or not.
Commenting on the extent of Kituo‟s success towards empowering people on the access to justice, Jackson says they have tried but can reach out more if they link with the press. He things that not many people in the rural areas know about Kituo as much as it is a national organisation. Jackson things that if Kituo introduced the paralegal training project in all the country prisons, it would go a long way in helping prisoners in understanding the law, their rights and accessing justice. According to him, “About 75% of
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those people in prison are ignorant of the law”. He believes that if Kenyans were offered training and explanation about laws, and simpler versions of those laws made available to Kenyans, crime rate would go down. He observed that many citizens get shocked when they are arrested or accused of breaking a certain law.
Jackson having been mistakenly arrested, arraigned in court and charged with an offence he did not commit, strongly appeals to the government to allow willing organisations to educate/train citizens on their rights and the law. This will help them present their cases well in court.
Advocacy is another intervention that Kituo uses in its operations.
Meetings are held with the community members with an aim of creating awareness on various bills that are introduced in parliament and simpler versions of these bills and laws, which the people understand easily, are disseminated. This way, the community members are aware of what certain laws and should there be any issue touching on it then they will be capable of acting accordingly without fear.
Mobilisation of the media is another tool that Kituo successfully use to bring to a stop an oppressive action of either an individual, a group of people or the government. The issue is raised with the media which in turn publicises it by giving it coverage during news time. This may attract the international community who either coerce the government to abandon its mission (if it is against humanity) or advices it on the best way to handle the issue.
3. During its inception Kituo had no women employees. With time they did recruit a few but majority of the employees were men. In 2003, there was only one lady employee i.e. the personal assistant to the executive director. However, she raised the issue with the management and currently the organisation has acquired gender balance in the number of men and women employed. In fact the current executive director is a lady, who joined the organisation just two weeks before this study in Kituo was carried out.
The other way in which Kituo is promoting gender equality is through gender balanced community meetings. Any time training is being carried out Kituo ensures that the ratio of women to men is 1:1. It is a practice that they let known to whoever is organising the meetings to avoid members of only one gender from attending. Kituo seeks to promote women‟s rights not just through campaigning for them to get what is rightfully theirs, but by also taking them through court cases so that they demand their rights.
For a long time, Kenya has remained strictly a patriarchal community where everything including women, belonged to men. Land being a valued asset has remained a man‟s only property for a long time. It is until recently that women have started owning land and other properties deemed important in Kenya. Land is one of Kituo‟s core
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areas. Several women have sought legal help concerning inheritance rights and Kituo has successfully helped them, through court cases to equally share whatever their fathers or husbands have with their brothers and sons respectively. (Quote the olentutu case in kajiado) 4. Different approaches are applied in dealing with different issues. In some cases memorandums of understanding are signed with communities, in others the parties involved are advised to talk and come to an agreement instead of pursuing court cases and yet in other issues, cases are taken to court. In choosing which approach to take, the Kituo‟s programme people are involved. They sit down weigh the pros and cons of each approach and the most suitable are adopted.
5. Kituo has 5 programmes running and each programme comes up with the approaches to use. The coordinator and programme staff discuss how they want to develop their programmes, shares the information with the personnel in other programmes and later with the donors. In this way, their clients are advised to choose the best approaches.
6. Coordination and relationships. A programme Officer remarked,
“We have tried to bridge the gap that exists between the citizens and the legislators. This has been made possible by the policy briefs that we do”. Community mobilisation for women‟s rights is another approach we use to help our clients demand for their rights. In the ongoing constitution review process, Kituo has put its petition and policy briefs on several issues one of them being that the minority and disadvantaged groups should not be subjected to numerical voting or debate. This is because they shall suffer disadvantages. There should be a law in place to take care of their needs during such times as when referendums are carried out. Kenya has existed without a legal aid law. Kituo has engaged with the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and currently there is a legal aid bill in its formative stages. Though the ministers have been changed, relationship between Kituo and the ministry has not been affected.
7. Besides helping rights holders in claiming their rights, Kituo also strengthens the capacity of duty bearers to fulfil their responsibilities.
Under the urban migration forced programme which deals with refugee issues, Kituo has trained police and magistrates on the importance of protecting refugees and giving them assistance where needed as opposed to mistreating them. The magistrates have been familiarised with the new refugee law while the police are trained with an aim of changing their attitude towards the refugees. This move is a big success to the programme. Mass awareness of rights is an activity Kituo believes has been carried out well. This is evidenced by the ever growing number of clients that seek their services daily. The maximum number of clients that should be seen daily is 10 people.
This allows them quality time to listen to the clients, screen them
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exhaustively so as to make a well informed conclusion on what is the way forward about their case. This number denotes new clients only.
The URIP carries out community refugee trainings during the months of April and August. After the training the refugees form groups to help them advocate for their rights and needs. There are more than 29 such groups. One person could belong to several groups in the hope of getting assistance from at least one. These networks are an initiative of the refugees.
Kituo, through the URIP has engaged with the ministry of immigration to push for a refugee policy. The department of refugee affairs has been formed in the immigration ministry. Kenyans have been made aware of the refugees and this has helped in the way they interact with them. They do not view them as foreigners or intruders. This has been made possible through trainings that Kituo offers to both the citizens and the refugees. To promote peaceful coexistence between the two, service offering facilities like clinics are shared.
9. Depending on whom the organisation is holding meetings with, different approaches are employed. Dialogue is employed when Kituo is invited by the government or other like minded organisation to make contributions on a particular issue. Training and mobilisation strategies are used when holding meetings with community members.
Kituo‟s collaboration with other like minded organisations has been very vital in shaping their strategies. The networking with Kenya Land Alliance had helped Kituo to know what they are doing, and this helps them not to duplicate the activities.
Given the experience the organisation has had, its strategies have changed with time. A survey carried out showed that while they focused mostly on land, housing and labour rights, clients seeking their services on other forms of rights were many. This necessitated that Kituo changes its approach on these rights. Specific events and circumstances like droughts, post election violence and foreign investments necessitate change in the strategies to be adopted. Kituo conducts regular review of her approaches and strategies. The last review was done in 2008. The current strategic plan was as a result of a review undertaken with all the stakeholders including the community who were represented by those they nominated as representatives, duty bearers and other organisations.
Whenever change is being introduced to people, the implementers must be very careful to identify with the ways of life of the community where the change is taking place. Whenever Kituo is carrying out its trainings in communities or opening an office in an area which will take care of the community‟s need, Kituo uses strategies that are adapted to that particular local context. During the setting up of the URIP office in Eastleigh, Kituo used several methods to announce its presence. It announced in popular radio stations in the area, paid courtesy calls to the major actors in Eastleigh, made good use of
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public address systems in the mosques, (the area has a large number of Muslims) took advantage of the chiefs Barazzas and held meetings with the police.
3. OBSTACLES AND CONSTRAINTS 3.1 Forms of Power
KITUO is a national organisation that offers legal advice to the poor and marginalised people in the society with an aim of helping them be accorded justice. Its work affects several levels of power.
Internationally, KITUO seeks audience with various ambassadors whom they air their views to, who in turn present these concerns to the government. This happens because in most cases it‟s hard to get the government representatives have a sitting just to listen to the concerns of Kituo.
The United Nations sends special envoys and raptours to carry out a study on some issues and present them with a report which includes recommendations. These envoys best work with the NGOs and other organisations that promote human rights and this is one way that Kituo gets to influence the decisions that the government makes. The mandate of the envoys allows them easy access to powerful offices like that of the president and the prime minister which organisations like Kituo don‟t have. A good example is professor Alston‟s report which sought to study the extra judicial killings that took place during the post election violence period in the country in 2008 following the fraudulent 2007 general elections.
At the community level, Kituo empowers the community members through offering training on how to monitor and evaluate the usage of Constituency Development Funds (CDF) and other moneys availed to their leaders. Once community members are armed with this information, they engage their local MPs in explaining how they intend to use the funds allocated to the constituencies and demand an audit of the accounts. In this way, the constituency members decide on whether to elect the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) or elect another person whose manifesto seeks to improve the living standards of the constituents by providing essential social amenities and also promotion of their rights.
In most cases these MPs want to retain their seats for another term hence have no otherwise but to deliver services to their people in the required way. In 2007 general elections many of the sitting MPs lost their seats to new contestants because majority of the community members were better informed, thanks to KITUOS massive civic education that informed individual voting. Together with other like
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minded organisations, Kituo came up with a concept of political accountability in 2007 whereby they demanded that contesting persons sign a charter with the community. This gesture was to make the contesters show their commitment in fulfilling the promises they made to people. Those who refused to sign were in the long run not elected to the positions they were vying for. This is because the people they sought to represent lost confidence/trust in them.
At the national arena, the organisation engages with the judiciary to speed up hearing of cases that they handle in courts and are currently working up a way in which there can be a standard manual of training paralegals. Besides Kituo works with various government ministries in their quest to representing the views and queries of the poor and marginalised in the society. For instance, Kituo has put lots of input in the Housing Bill and the Land Policy Bill. This has been through holding community meetings with the affected areas, noting their views and presenting the views during invited meetings with the concerned ministries.
3.2 Why focus on the above levels.
Kituo cha Sheria has a 5 year term strategic plan which according to the executive director they intend to carry out their activities as stipulated in it. The main reason for focusing on the above mentioned levels is to achieve the objectives of Kituo which are also stated clearly in Kituo‟s strategic plan. Kituo is working towards empowering the poor and marginalised legally rather than just offering legal aid as it has been the case. A need to make people aware of their rights and educating them on what steps to take when they are violated instead of relying on Kituo for legal help was identified and the organisation has been involved in training locals on how they can represent themselves and handle their cases without much involvement of Kituo.
3.4 Links at other levels
Kituo is a membership NGO that specialises mainly in land, housing and labour rights. It collaborates with other issue based NGOS that address the same rights. Most of them are coalitions whose representation gets to the grassroots level meaning that those people in the rural areas and the urban poor and marginalised have information on what exactly are the issues at hand and the steps the government is taking in handling them. Kituo has links with the Housing Coalition which deals with housing issues, both policy and legislation.
The ministry of housing is vested with the responsibility of making housing policies in the country. For these policies to be representative
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of every Kenyan citizen regardless of their status, all have to be involved. However the ministry in most cases does not get to the most affected, (the poor and marginalised both in the rural areas and urban centres). It is in such circumstances that the coalition comes in handy. The coalition works with the affected people through Community Based Organisations (CBOs), explain to the people the issues at hand, collect their views and then presents them during meetings with the ministry officials.
The Kenya Land Alliance (KLA) deals with land issues in the country.
In Kenya, the land problem has posed great danger not only to political and economical but also social growth. Ranging from absentee landlords, the squatter problem especially in the highlands to merciless evictions by „private developers‟ all of which have caused serious squabbles in the country hence prompting careful and serious steps being taken by the institutions concerned including the government. Kituo works closely with KLA to see that justice is done on cases regarding land rights and related issues such as inheritance and evictions.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission which addresses security problems as its area of speciality also works with Kituo in the quest for accessing justice for their clients. The Paralegal Support Network, (PASUNE) is a network that brings together organisations that train paralegals Kituo included. These paralegals are encouraged to form CBOs that can engage with the national level organisations.
Friends of Yala Swamp network addresses environmental and livelihood rights of the people around the swamp. With the help of Kituo, local resident‟s interaction with foreign investments has been enhanced in that the foreigners don‟t carry out their activities ignoring the well being of the inhabitants of the area. (Check dominion firms case) These networks are important as they strengthen each others capacity in the fight for justice. When several organisations team up to address a particular issue of concern, it becomes easy for them to achieve their goal. The period of achieving it may take long but they press on until they access the justice they want as long as it‟s for the benefit of community members.
3.5 SPACES
Kituo Cha Sheria has operational strategies that cut across different spaces. The government in Kenya is the dominant power holder. Most of the national decisions made by government are non consultative or half consulted. That is, the sample consulted is not representative of the Kenyan citizenry. Only those in authority are consulted and their views, which in most cases represent their personal interests, are taken on board. Kituo therefore, with an aim of making sure that the
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decisions made have the common citizen‟s interest at heart, influences existing authorities, power holders and the decisions they make. For instance, during the post election violence of 2008, a team of eminent persons led by His Excellency Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary General was vested with the responsibility of coming up with the National Accord that would bring the two fighting parties (Orange Democratic Movement and Party of National Unity) into an agreement. Despite the closed meetings at the Serena hotel, a lot of documents used were processed by the NGO networks. They did a lot of behind the scene research and this way they got to air their views.
It is in such cases therefore that Kituo influences closed spaces. The levels at which Kituo and other NGOS are engaging with the closed spaces directly are however getting limited compared to the private sector which has direct access to the Prime Ministers office.
The government selectively invites NGOs to give their point of view when there is an issue that requires external input. They are invited because they are indeed the voice of the voiceless. The good thing is that, although a few are invited to make their contribution, it‟s like all of them are because of their strategic operating network. Some of the invitations Kituo‟s receive are useful and they do make huge contributions. For instance, in 2008, Kituo took part in a conference organised by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Which brought together legal aid agencies from both Eastern and Central Africa. Kituo was given the responsibility of providing guidance on partnership modalities in pursuit of access to justice for the poor and marginalised. In the end Kituo was nominated as a co-host to the East and Central Africa Access to Justice Network alongside FIDA (Kenya) and FIDA (Ghana).
Active participation of Kituo is unfortunately not encouraged because Government‟s documents and agendas are not sent before hand in most cases. They are distributed during the meeting hence very little contribution is made. Critical analysis of the issue is not reached, compared to if the documents were disseminated a few weeks before the intended meeting. This act makes the government to be seen as using the NGOS as a „rubberstamp‟ to its decisions. Much as the government invites contributions, it does not allow for negotiations.
This is evident in the formation of the Committee of Experts on constitutional review. They are moving their work very fast, holding simultaneous meetings in various parts of the country hence limiting organisations and people from attending and offering comprehensive contribution. There is a general feeling across the country that the government invites people for consultation after they have already decided on the way forward hence the external contributions are not taken into account.
To challenge this act by the government Kituo forms coalitions, and prepares and disseminates documents to reject Government‟s
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position. During the formulation of the housing bill Kituo set the agenda for the government. They carried out inward research and found out that the housing act was not proper. They engaged with the community people, combined ideas and shared them. These ideas were widely critiqued after which the final document was shared with the Ministry of Housing. The draft is to be tabled to parliament any time though the actual tabling period was September 2008 but due to other matters of urgency arising in the floor of the House, this was not possible. Another instance where Kituo has influenced the government is in the formulation of the paralegal policy. The government opposed paralegal training at first but organisations insisted on carrying out the training. The government softened up to the training and currently whenever they are recruiting chiefs, they give first priority to the trained paralegals. Kituo together with PASUNE is engaging the government to come up with a standard training manual for paralegals.
Kituo‟s work in the current strategic plan aligns with the national reform agenda. For instance, in land reforms, Kituo together with KLA are in the process of developing a model draft, “Land Issues Tribunal Bill” which they will share with the Ministry of Lands. In addition, the constitutional review process has been ongoing. Kituo has held side meetings with reference groups and communities. Kituo brought together representatives of minority groups in the country to push for minority rights issues. These minority groups include the Elmoros in Lake Turkana, the Ogieks in Mau forest, and persons with disability, pastoral communities, the sexual minority (homosexuals and lesbians).
The created/claimed space strategy that Kituo uses is the best so far in engaging the government, those in authority and the community members with an aim of accessing justice where it‟s needed. This is because, through organising trainings for community members in collaboration with partner organisations, people get to know their rights (livelihood, environmental, housing, land, labour, women etc) and hence will not allow anyone to violate them. This is because, the community members will take the concerned party/ies to task, and the issue will be publicised. Due to many stakeholders interested in it, the whole process of rights violation is slowed and eventually, the violators open up for deliberations with the community and a decision that is beneficial to the community is reached.
3.6 Extent of challenging the power holders
Kituo deals with human rights issues. The government is the duty bearer and has the responsibility of ensuring that the Kenyan citizenry enjoy their rights. However at times the government itself violates people‟s rights but always finds ways of getting away with it even when put to task by concerned organisations like Kituo.
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Kituo engages the government in its work. It works with various ministries. During their work with these ministries, Kituo has encountered several challenges. The civil service in Kenya does not sit with the civil society to deliberate on many issues. This is because, they are government employees who implement the policies made by parliament. The power dynamics in Kenya is itself a big constraint to Kituo‟s work. The way leaders get into positions of leadership is dubious and their motive of securing those positions is questionable.
Most of them only want to become leaders for self benefit and not because they want to represent their community members.
Kituo has excelled in legal aid matters. Any legal aid issue that arises, Kituo has to be involved. The organisation gets many referrals and from different quarters. These include chiefs, Attorney General‟s Offices, tribunals, District Officers (DOs) and Provincial Commissioners. In these referrals, people are encouraged to seek legal services from Kituo. According to the deputy director, “some referrals from chiefs and DOs are calculated moves to either stop forceful evictions or land grabbing. They want Kituo to put an injunction to such inhuman acts but can not approach Kituo since they are government employees”. During the formulation of the land policy, Kituo chaired one of the thematic areas, clearly demonstrating that the government is aware of its good work. In their core areas, (housing, labour, land) Kituo has positively influenced the policies and laws.
4. SUCCESSES/EFFECTIVENESS OF RIGHTS INITIATIVES In this section we looked at different case studies of community based organisations that Kituo is working with. The main ones we studied are Kamukunji Community Based Organisation Network (KCBONET) and Kabete NITD.
4.1 KCBONET
Background information
KCBONET is a network that brings together social groups that are based in Kamukunji constituency. These groups advocate for different issues touching on various groups of people in the Constituency which is in Nairobi. The organisations physical location is in Majengo slum inside Pumwani Child Survival School. The various groups that came together to form KCBONET are:-
Country Group Youth Club,
Jitolee Youth Group
Pumwani/Highrise Youth Group
Nairobi Group against Youth and Crime
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One Stone
Kuunganisha Youth Group
Azimio Roho Safi Na Maji
The above groups have areas of specialisation and they work in various wards in the constituency. There are those that deal with water and sanitation issues, others deal with general cleanliness of the environment, drugs and crimes and issues affecting women. Each group has its own organisational structure. They have their chairperson, secretary, treasurer and their assistants plus members.
It‟s from these officials that KCBONET, which is an umbrella organisation that brings together and coordinates these groups, that KCBONET derives its officials. The groups operate within different wards in the Kamukunji constituency.
The idea of forming KCBONET was born in 2004 during the save life fund initiative. There had been prolonged drought in the country which led to severe famine and many people suffered from lack of food, drinking water and other essential life sustaining commodities.
Different groups in the country mobilised citizens to help their suffering brothers and sisters in the most affected areas like north Eastern Province. Groups in Kamukunji were not left behind. They too felt the urge to play a role in the initiative. They collected foodstuffs and clothes and through the Kenya Red Cross Society these items were delivered to those in need. It‟s while presenting these items to the Red Cross Society at the famous Kamukunji grounds that the officials realised that they could form an umbrella organisation in the constituency so that they could address their problems as a group.
Registering KCBONET was not an easy task. In 2006during an annual General meeting with the stakeholders, it was unanimously agreed that the organisation be registered with the Registrar of Societies now that the constituent organisations were registered with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social services. Despite numerous trips to the Attorney General‟s Office, they were not registered as they were seen as a threat to the national security. This is because, vigilante groups like “Mungiki”, “Chinkororo” and others were terrorising people in various parts of the country. They however did not give up. Instead they approached KITUO Cha Sheria which gave them legal hosting and saw them get registered. Unlike in the beginning when they could not carry out any activities in the constituency or hold any meetings, KCBONET currently carries out its activities without fear.
KCBONET vision
The vision of the organisation is working towards “a united and empowered Kamukunji community where people are informed and articulate own issues in harmonious and peaceful environment”. It is
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the duty of every individual social group to work towards the achievement of a peaceful and democratic community where people go about their daily activities without fear of intimidation.
KCBONET mission
The mission is very well connected to the vision. It is the organisations mission “to establish a community platform where people share and strengthen ideas for sustainable development in Kamukunji”.
KCBONET Objectives
The objectives of the organisation are:
To serve as an umbrella body for various development groups in Kamukunji that is preferably registered with the Ministry of Gender, Children Affairs and Social Development.
To facilitate capacity building for KCBONET members.
To facilitate members access to public funds and resources from other donors by linking and availing necessary information.
To facilitate economic empowerment of the members and their constituents.
To engage in advocacy campaigns on issues that affect members and the community at large.
To facilitate and manage community based projects within Kamukunji constituency.
Programmes
KCBONET has four running programmes namely; governance and democracy, health and environment and sanitation.
The governance and democracy programme deals with issues touching on promotion of good governance. It is under this programme that information on public funds like CDF, Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) and the Women and Youth Funds is disseminated. Training is offered to people on how they can monitor the use of these funds for their own benefit in the constituency.
The health programme focuses on issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.
Being a constituency with several slums, (Kiambiu, Motherland, Harare, City Caton, Kinyago, Kitui, Galole, Kanuku and Majengo), the HIV/AIDS prevalence is high. Poverty in the area forces many people especially women to engage in prostitution. This leads to high rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the constituency. The health programme advocates for the rights of People Living with Aids (PLWAs).
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The environment and sanitation programmes are mainly concerned with the general cleanliness of the constituency. Through them cleanup exercises are carried out, trees are planted and people are educated about the importance of using clean water for cooking and drinking, the importance of preparing food in a clean environment, and the advantages of disposing waste in the appropriate ways.
KCBONET is a non profit making organisation and exists as a project of Kituo cha Sheria. Kituo has greatly helped the organisation grow by consistently supporting them in their activities. KCBONET officials and members greatly appreciate the legal hosting that Kituo has always accorded them and they say that this kind gesture has helped them implement their activities in a wonderful manner. In 2008, Kituo trained the members on how to develop a strategic plan and media advocacy. They have also helped them on networking by introducing them to various networks operating within the country. This has helped KCBONET exchange notes and learns the techniques of running a network. KCBONET has also received help in production of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials.
Activities
Kcbonet has a range of activities that they carry out according to their programmes plan. They organise and carry out clean up exercises in their constituency. Owing to the fact that the constituency has several wards, they organise these cleanups on separate days and they encourage the residents to participate not only in the cleaning but also in the planning exercise. This creates a mutual understanding between the organisation and the community members.
KCBONET holds Training of Trainers (TOT) workshops for its members on topics such as government devolved funds like the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), the women Fund, the Youth Fund, infrastructure fund, HIV/AIDS Fund and Bursary Fund.
Sporting is an activity that is cherished by many youths in the country. It is one way that they keep themselves busy especially those who are jobless. In this way, they keep away from drugs, engaging in crimes and other destructive activities. KCBONET organises sporting activities for the young people in its constituency and hold friendly matches amongst the wards. These sports especially soccer, brings together many young people and it is during such times that KCBONET seizes the opportunity to educate them on the importance of living a meaningful life away from drugs and other forms of crimes.
KCBONET invites experts in different fields and people of good will to talk to the youth about investing in small scale business that can help hem earn a living.
In Kamukunji constituency where KCBONET is situated, there are all classes and ages of people. KCBONET therefore joins the rest of the
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world in celebrating various internationally recognised days like the African Child Day, United Nations International Anti-corruption Day, Freedom of Information Day and many others.
Challenges
Political interference is the greatest challenge that the organisation faces. The network is seen as a threat by the area Member of Parliament. He hails from the area and has grown up there hence he is very well aware of the kind of people living in the area, the kind of life they live and also their desperation levels. Public funds are poorly managed. Much of the money ends up in a few peoples pockets for their own self gain. KCBONET educates people on how they can monitor and evaluate those funds for the good of the whole constituency. This creates enmity between them and their member of parliament for he does not want them to hold him accountable.
Handouts
Most people in Kamukunji are poor. Most residents will only attend meetings if they are assured of some money or other goodies at the end of the day. This makes them miss out on educative meetings that KCBONET holds for them. Being a non profit making organisation, KCBONET has no money to give out.
Insufficient equipments
The KCBONET office is far from what a modern office looks like. The office has no computers, no cabinets, not enough seats, and it needs cameras to help produce substantive evidence of its work. The office is in dire need of photocopiers, printers and other office equipments.
Group dynamics
Leadership within the CBOS has proved to be difficult. There are constant conflicts within member organisations over the leadership, activities to engage in, skills development and also needs of different groups are different. What is considered a priority need by one group is not in other groups and resolving such problems takes a lot of time and is also difficult.
Other NGOs working in the area see KCBONET as a threat to their existence and therefore do not engage them in their activities.
KCBONET is well structured and has focused leadership and this makes it implement its activities without much difficult. It has no core funding yet but it has managed to operate even without funds. The other NGOs operating in the area are fully funded but their work is not as elaborate as KCBONET‟s. The members of these other NGOs therefore fear that once KCBONET receives core funding, they will miss out on theirs. There are donors that have pledged to fund KCBONET. USAID has promised to fund their project on Mobilisation and Issues on Agenda four (4) and improve the office infrastructure.
The World Aids Campaign (WAC) has already visited the KCBONET
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office and has given them 4000 Kshs to help pay rent for the office.
The WAC has also promised to fund the World Aids Day and the Human Rights Day activities on the 10th of December 2009.
KCBONET’s Contribution to human rights
Information is very important in any community. Without it members are never aware of the current news in their area or even in the country. KCBONET has taken it upon itself to relay information to the constituents of Kamukunji through meetings, public rallies and Barazzas. They provide information on public funds, an act that the former area member of parliament disliked. KCBONET members have held demonstrations to stop public land grabbing. The Eastleigh North Hall and the Eastleigh North Maternity Centre was about to be grabbed but they managed to stop it though they lost the former to a private developer who was eyeing it. According to KCBONET the public private relationship is just an avenue of grabbing public property. The network of paralegals trained under KCBONET follows up arbitrary arrests carried out by policemen who in most cases are after bribes.
The members of KCBONET also sign petitions and present them to the government.
Working strategy
The demonstrations have worked well for KCBONET for they attract the media and in this way their issues are publicised. They also attract the local council with the mayor revoking some plot sales at times.
The community radio station -Ghetto FM-Highlights security, health, education and entrepreneurial issues among many others.
Space
KCBONET is free to hold meetings for awareness creation within the community. However, sometimes the police interfere with their meetings.
Forms of power
The former MP saw KCBONET as a threat to his popularity. He never wanted KCBONET to carry out any activities for this would enlighten the constituents on the dubious ways in which committees he had put in place were running constituency affairs. KCBONET makes itself known to those in power like the area district Commissioner and the District Officers.
Kabete NITD CASE STUDY
The Kabete NITD Self help group has been in existence for the last 18 years. Its members are all those who live in the slum and their main
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issue is getting a permanent place to inhabit. The members inhabit on a small portion of land that belongs to the Kenya Veterinary Department. They came there as a result of various reasons some were displaced from their homes in the rift valley during the Molo clashes of 1992, while others suffered great losses after their houses burnt down and they had nowhere to go. Through the area chief they were settled in the place they inhabit today and the Catholic Church donated iron sheets with which they constructed temporary shelters.
The piece of land on which they inhabit is about 2 acres and is not officially subdivided. They do not allow more settlements because the area is already fully inhabited and there are constraints in the use of social amenities like water, electricity and sanitation.
In 2007, community received an eviction notice from the Nairobi City Council ordering all the inhabitants to vacate the area within 48 hours. They approached Kituo cha Sheria for help and were given legal advice on how to go about the issue. They filed a certificate of urgency in court. This prevented them from being evicted. According to the community, Kituo has been an eye opener to the community of NITD. The community members have attended seminars and meetings with Kituo which has been of grate help to the community. The NITDs main threat is eviction. They want the government to allocate them the land on which the community currently inhabits.
Strategies they use
To drive their point home and also gain publicity, the NITD community use demonstrations. In 2007 when the police wanted to evict the community, the members demonstrated to the police stations. They first went to the Kabete police station where the Officer in Charge of Station (OCS) sent them to the Gigiri Police Station to see the Officer in Charge of Police Division (OCPD). Their councillor mobilised them to put up a demonstration. According to the chairman, “the police wanted the piece of land for their own expansion”.
Political representation is not good in the constituency. The community has tried to get audience with the area Member of Parliament to no avail. Even when community representatives leave a message in his office, they get no response.
People in the area yearn for civic education. According to some members, this will help them know their rights. They stress that organisations with the capacity to offer civic education should do it
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and also influence the duty bearer/government to undertake its responsibility.
It is through word of mouth that NITD members learnt about Kituo.
Former Land Minister, Kivutha Kibwana called organisations in slum areas for a meeting. The meeting resolved to stop evictions and called on the ministries of Land and Housing to come up with good policies that address the plight of the slum dwellers.
Organisation
The members had formed women, and youth groups. Through these groups they conducted small businesses which earned them a living.
However due to instability, their operation has been interfered with but they are gradually picking up again. Asked whether they would mind being settled elsewhere, they say they are willing as long as the government involves them in the process.
Obstacles and constraints
Like in many slums, the community has social amenity problems such as insufficient toilets, lack of health centre, lack of water and electricity. Able NGOs like Maji na Ufanisi are willing to build them a public toilet. They already have given them the building materials but the project has since been stopped by the Nairobi City Council due to land dispute. The City Council cannot allow toilets to be constructed on property that does not belong to these community.
