Kenya: Major setback for human rights under Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime.

The second term of Uhuru Kenyatta, the current President of the Republic, will end in a few weeks. As he prepares to hand over the chair to his successor after the presidential election of August 9, 2022, the NGO Amnesty International released on Wednesday 13 July, a report on the state of human rights in the country. The record is not very good, with an increase in extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances.

Human rights have regressed considerably under Uhuru Kenyatta, the president in power since 2013. This is the main message of the report published by Amnesty International on Wednesday 13 July 2022. The NGO deplores an increase in extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances. This has even become a ‘common’ practice within the police. Between 2014 and 2021, 650 cases of torture are recorded across Kenya, says the Amnesty International report.

Forced evictions and restrictions on civil liberties are other methods of the regime.

Forced evictions are also deplored by the NGO Amnesty International. The number of Kenyans driven from their homes in an unconstitutional and inhumane manner is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, according to the report. Since 2014, a series of amendments have been passed to restrict civil liberties. For Amnesty International, this has undermined the independence of civil society organisations and undermined freedom of assembly and freedom in the country.

Health sector efforts nipped in the bud by corruption.

In the health sector, some progress is being made and has attracted the attention of the NGO Amnesty International. But it regrets the corruption that has marred ambitious public health policies. These corruptions are recorded during Uhuru Kenyatta’s first term in office and are said to have resumed with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. Politicians and businessmen have been accused of embezzling $400 million in public funds for essential medical equipment.