This programme sustained advocacy for adherence to constitutionalism in the formulation of policy and legislation and where necessary, supporting strategic interest litigation in defence of the Constitution. Examples include:
- Supporting a case challenging the constitutionality of the National Assembly’s decision to nullify certain Gazette Notices issued by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) in respect of the salaries for state offices,
- More recently a petition challenging the constitutionality of the recently enacted Security (Amendment) Act 2014.
A commitment by representatives of the Africa Commission on Human and People’s Rights and civil society from various countries was realised. This was in done in order to sustain a dialogue on how to integrate the African human rights normative context and modern constitutional ideas in a comprehensive framework to advise constitutional review processes.
This has also entailed enhancing the level of participation and influence by civil society networks in South Sudan and Tanzania on their respective Constitutional review processes.
KHRC’s electoral governance assessment framework has enabled it to effectively input to the IEBC’s discussions on reforming Kenya’s electoral process ahead of 2017 and through practical recommendations occasioned significant observable improvements in by-elections following the 2013 general elections. The framework has also allowed the KHRC to input into a regional discussion on a human rights based approach to election observation.
The programme has successfully gathered and consolidated feedback from communities with regard to the conduct of the police vetting process. This subsequently informed KHRC’s submissions to the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) on improving the process.
An advanced transitional justice agenda has been maintained. It has:
- Convinced the government to expand an inter-governmental committee on TJRC implementation to an inter-agency committee that includes non-state actors;
- Secured a resolution from the ACHPR to institute a study on transitional justice in Africa and;
- Secured historic agreement to settle a legal case with 5,328 Mau Mau claimants over ill-treatment during the Emergency Period;
- Elicited a commitment from the ICC Trust Fund for Victims to commence an assessment of the Kenya situation by the close of 2014;
- Secured justice for widows of Nyayo House torture victims and continued to robustly engage with the Taskforce as the process of implementation commences.
