ANNUAL REPORT JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2012 - Kituo ...

ANNUAL REPORT JANUARY TO DECEMBER

2012

Annual Report - January to December 2012i

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................... 2List of Abbreviations/Acronyms 6

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ 8Message from the Chair of the Board of Directors ........................................................................... 9Message from the Executive Director ...............................................................................................10Legal Aid and Education Programme .............................................................................................. 11

Introduction 11Single welfare litigation and client management; 11Alternative Dispute Resolution 11Public Interest Litigation (PIL); 12Individual Clients’ Cases 17Legal Aid clinics 19PIL Colloquium; 19

Objectives of the Colloquium 19Other Activities 20

Dhobi Women 20NITA Trial Advocacy Training 20Micro justice project 21Paralegal Training and Engagement 24Partnership with Central European University and the Open Society Foundation. 24Local, Regional and International Partnerships 25

Legal Aid and Education – Coastal Region ..................................................................................... 251.0 Introduction 252.0. In house Client Attendance 252.1 Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms 253.0 Litigation 263.1 Court Attendances 263.2 Public Interest Litigation 27

3.2.1 Ng’ombeni community environmental matter: 273.2.2 Kidomaya Community adverse possession matter: 273.2.3 Packaging Manufacturers Employment Case 273.2.4 Joseph Ashioya& 185 others vs. KUSCO (2006) 273.2.5 Registered Trustees of the Mombasa Catholic Archdiocese vs. Prudence Wakio and 283.2.6 Pongwe Case: 283.2.7 Basil Criticos Case in Murabani 283.2.8 Takaungu Case: 28

4.0 EMPOWERMENT OF POOR AND MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES 285.0 PARALEGAL TRAINING: AMKENI-UNDP HAMASA MAGEREZANI PROJECT 296.0 THE URBAN REFUGEE INTERVENTION SUPPORTED BY UNHCR 30

6.1 Baseline Survey on Refugees in Coast 306.2 World Refugee Day 30

7.0 ENGAGEMENT WITH VOLUNTEER ADVOCATES AND OTHER PARTNERS 308.0 KENYA TRANSITION INTIATIVE/CHEMONICS LAND RESEARCH 319.0 NETWORKING 3110.0 CHALLENGES 3111.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 31

The Forced Migration Programme (FMP) ..................................................................................... 32Introduction 32Our services at the Forced Migration Program 32Contextual Background to the Project Implementation 32Partnerships 33Program Activities 33

Mobile Legal Aid Clinics 33Legal Aid Clinics 34Refugee Community Sensitization Fora 35Legal Counselling 37Police Station Interventions 41Recruitment and Training of Paralegals 42Community fora for Sensitisation of PoCs on refugee rights and obligations 43Related Inputs and Projects – changes 43Overall impact of the Project 44

Table of Contents

Annual Report - January to December 2012 ii

Advocacy, Governance and Community Partnerships Programme (AGCP) ................................... 48Introduction 48AGCP GOALS 48IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GOALS IN THE YEAR 2012 48Goal 1: Building Strategic partnerships with communities 48Goal 2: Increased Access to Justice for the poor and marginalized 49Goal 3: Advocate for and monitor the implementation of pro-poor policies and legislations on land, labour, housing and access to justice 51Goal 4: Promote good democratic governance at all levels 52

PEACE JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION PROJECT ............................................................ 54ICC outreach activities 54Kisumu Peace Festival 56Publication of articles 56

AGCP COASTAL REGION ............................................................................................................. 571. 0 KITUO LINKS COMMUNITIES WITH ON-GOING REFORM PROCESSES 57

1.1 The Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) Public Hearings 571.2 Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Consultative Forums 571.3 The Commission of Implementation of Constitution 571.4 Judges and Magistrates vetting Board 57

2.0 URIP COMES TO COAST 582.1 Baseline survey on Urban Refugees in Coast 582.2 Engagement with Refugee rights Stakeholders 582.3 Public Forums on Refugee Rights 59

3.0 INNOVATING JUSTICE: THE COMMUNITY AND PRISON JUSTICE CENTRES. 3.1Kisauni Constituency and Development Initiative-KICODI 593.2 Shimo La Tewa Prison Justice Centre. 603.3 Shimo La Tewa Women Paralegals: The new Kids in the Block! 623.4 Lamukani Community Justice Centre (NEW!) 623.5 Malindi and Nyeri Prisons 63

4.0 ADVOCACY AROUND LAND RIGHTS AND SECURE TENURE 634.1 On Going Community Land Cases 634.2 Fact Finding Missions 654.3 The SAFE Project 65

5.0 DEMYSTIFYING DEVOLUTION THROUGH TARGETED PUBLIC AWARENESS5.1 Devolution Sessions with Youth Groups 665.2 Devolution sessions with communities with pressing land concerns 665.3 Radio Talk Shows on Devolution 675.4 Devolution Manual 68

LABOUR RIGHTS 69The Kenyan Law and the Work Booklet 69Stakeholder Validation/Labour Day Dinner 69Data Base developed for Workers Unions in Coast 69

OTHERS UNDERTAKINGS BY THE PROGRAMME 69Research, Communication and Documentation (RCD)/Information Technology (IT) and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) ...............................................................................................................................................71

Introduction 71Research 71Production and Dissemination of Kituo’s Publication and Documentaries 72

Communication/Profiling Kituo’s Work 74Information Technology Backup and Security 75Monitoring Evaluaion Learning and Reporting (MERL) 75

Tracking Key Results from various proframmes 75Finance and Administration ..............................................................................................................81

Human Resources 81Internships 81Kituo Celebrates its 39th Years of Access to Justice 81Team Building Event at 14-Falls (Thika) 81AGM 82Development Partners 82Staff end of the year Party 82Procurement – Power Generator 82Staff Benefits 82Salaries and statutory payments 82Audit 82

Annual Report - January to December 2012iii

AGCP Advocacy, Governance and Community PartnershipsADR Alternative Dispute ResolutionCEU Central European UniversityCBOs Community Based Organizations CJPC Catholic Justice and Peace Commission CTDCSO Civil Society Organization NetworkECOSOC Economic and Social CouncilEACOR East Africa Collaboration for Economic Social and Cultural RightsFA Finance and AdministrationFMP Forced Migration ProgrammeGBV Gender Based ViolenceHIAS Hebrew Immigrant Aid SocietyICT Information Communication and Technology IEC Information, Education and CommunicationIDP Internally Displaced PersonIRC International Rescue CommitteeJRS Jesuit Refugee ServiceKICODI Kisauni Constituency Development Initiative KISCOL Kwale International Sugar Company LimitedKNCHR Kenya National Commission on Human Rights KCBO - Net Kamukunji Community Based Organization Network KTN Kenya Television NetworkLAED Legal Aid and Education DepartmentLRF Legal Resource FoundationLSK Law Society of KenyaMRC Minority Reform Consortium MUHURI Muslims for Human RightsMRC Minority Reforms ConsortiumNPSN Nairobi Peoples Settlement NetworkNYAHURIADEN Nyando Human Rights & Development Network NCSC National Civil Society CongressPASUNE Paralegal Support NetworkPIL Public Interest LitigationRCD/IT Research Communications & Documentation/Information TechnologyTI Transparency InternationalUNHCR United Nations High Commission for RefugeesUNDP United Nations Development ProgrammeURIP Urban Refugee Intervention Programme

List of Abbreviations/Acronyms

Annual Report - January to December 2012 1

The year 2012 marked the fourth year in the implementation of the Kituo Cha Sheria’s (KITUO) strategic plan 2009-2013. The strategic direction was largely the same as the previous year where KITUO steered towards legal empowerment of the marginalized in our society through legal education, strategic interest litigation, establishing more Justice Centers (JC) and strengthening of the already existing JCs. After last years mid-term review of the strategic plan preparations are already underway for the next 5 year strategic plan to be carried out in 2013.

KITUO maintained its traditional core areas of land, housing, labour and refugee rights. However, this year the Urban Refugee Intervention Project (URIP) in the Forced Migration programme expanded to the coastal region through assistance from UNHCR.

Message from the Chair of the Board of Directors

KITUO’s governance structure is composed of the General Assembly (AGM), the Board of Directors (BOD), Board of Trustees (BOT) and the Secretariat. The AGM meets annually to among other things, review the overall performance of the organization and receive the auditor’s report. The BOD meets quarterly to receive programme and management reports from the Secretariat. I would like to thank all the Members of the three organs, AGM, BOD, BOT, for committing their time to serve KITUO and also remaining faithful to our vision and mission.

KITUO wishes to take this opportunity to thank its development partners notably, MISEREOR, UNHCR, OSI, EUROPEAN UNION, PACT, GIZ, UNODC, USAID-CHF, OSIEA, CHEMONICS, REDRESS, TILBURG UNIVERSITY, UNDP-AMKENI, PRO MARA and FORD FOUNDATION for providing financial and technical assistance towards the implementation of our various programmes. We also extend our gratitude and appreciation to the Government of Kenya for providing a conducive environment for our operations and for the collaborations that KITUO has enjoyed through the various Ministries and agencies.

I sincerely wish to thank the members of staff at KITUO led by the Executive Director who worked tirelessly throughout the year. I thank my fellow Board members and do promise we will work even harder in 2013.

Finally, KITUO would like to laud the efforts of all the stakeholders who remain committed to the vision of access to justice for all.

Ken NyaundiChair, Board of Directors

Message from the Executive Director

Annual Report - January to December 20122

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Message from the Executive Director The year 2012 was a year of transition at the leadership level of the secretariat. The then Director, Ms Priscilla Nyokabi, resigned to pursue a career in politics. This, however did not distract the organization from delivering on its core mandate. The year also marked the fourth year of implementation of Kituo’s Strategic Plan 2009-2013. As usual the

year began with drawing up of work plans and budgeting for the annual activities. This activity was followed with immediate implementation of the objectives. I wish to congratulate and thank all Kituo staff for working so hard and diligently to realize the projected outcomes. Special thanks go to the Board of Directors led by the Chair Mr. Ken Nyaundi, for continuing to offer the necessary support and guidance to the organization.

During the year, the Forced Migration Program extended its activities to the coastal region with support from UNHCR. This happened after a baseline survey on urban refugees within the coastal areas was done by Kituo and International Rescue Committee (IRC).The year also saw Kituo open up more community and prison justice centres. This Justice Centers initiative is an innovative way of making access to justice available to the poor by using paralegals to deliver basic legal services. This is a concept that is supported by UNDP Amkeni and involves empowering the organization of community and prison paralegals, setting up justice centers, training inmates, prison warders and community representatives on legal, human rights and criminal justice procedures so

as to provide legal aid to the poor who cannot afford legal fees. Three new justice centres were established at Kamiti prison and Korogocho in Nairobi and Lamukani in Kwale County.

Kituo in partnership with University of Tilburg in Netherlands started the Micro Justice Project. This project seeks to provide better access to justice for fair and just outcomes for the poor living in urban and rural areas. Specifically, it seeks to provide affordable access to legal information that enables people to solve their legal problems by making use of modern information technologies e.g. internet and mobile telephones and also provide affordable access to just and fair outcomes that work for the legal problems of the poor by using tools based on best practices e.g. dispute resolution skills among others.

The Peace Justice and Reconciliation Project (PJRP) that Kituo started few years ago as a response to the Post-Election violence to assist victims has continued to be among our priorities. This project has extensively carried out trainings in areas that were rocked by post-election violence especially in the Rift Valley. Through the support of German Development Civil Peace Service Programme, Kituo has stayed on its course for peace building and transitional justice.

On the 9th of July2012 Kituo held its 39th Anniversary under the banner “39 years of walking the talk on access to justice” in the pursuit of its mandate to empower the poor and marginalized to effectively access justice and realize human and people’s rights. A series of activities preceded the event including a housing forum and a public lecture which were held at Ufungamano and Sarova Pan Afric respectively. The public lecture discussed durable solutions for refugees residing in Kenya.

Lastly, Kituo is greatly indebted to all our funding partners especially MISEREOR and FORD FOUNDATION that have and continues to support Kituo as core grants. With UNDP AmkeniWakenya supporting our access to justice and marginal justice work, we continue to grow our capacity and especially in the Community and Prison Justice centers. We have especially increased our capacity in understanding and conducting Monitoring and Evaluation of our projects and activities. We thank all other partners among them, the UNCHR, OSIEA, CHF as elaborated by the Board Chairman.

In conclusion, 2012 was a great and insightful year for Kituo. Going forward, we reiterate our commitment to professionally and zealously advance our vision of a society of JUSTICE and EQUITY for all and working towards defending the poor and the marginalized.

Gertrude Angote - Executive Director


Executive Summary 2012Kenya has been on verge of change in various sectors of economy. With this realization, Kituo Cha Sheria guided by its vision, ‘A society of Justice and Equity for all’ has been on the forefront in championing for the rights of the poor and the marginalized. The concerted effort by its stakeholders has been fruitful as Kituo has offered an avenue through which Kenyans can access and afford justice. The year 2012, saw Kituo’s continued pursuance to its vision in line with the 2009-2013 strategic plan achieving a lot in its core mandate areas of land, labour, refugee and housing. The Legal Aid and Education Programme (LAEP) through Kituo’s in-house lawyers, volunteer advocates, paralegals, local and community law students was able to incrementally achieve its set objectives for 2012 managing to attend to attend to large number of clients in various parts of the country.The legal team has also highly engaged in areas of individual welfare litigation and client management, Public Interest Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Legal Aid clinics, volunteer advocates’ scheme and legal empowerment through trainings. Kituo successfully ventured into local, regional and international partnership managing to advocate for the reform agenda to embrace the industrial court to provide justice for workers and linking up with the Kenyan judiciary in a bid to establish a working discourse between the civil society and the judiciary towards reforms and access to justice.Expansion of the micro-justice project Msheria.com under the partnership of Tilburg University also formed a major achievement. The site is continually being improved as a way of utilizing information technology to enhance access to justice. Trainings have also been conducted to increase its usability once it hits the road.Forced Migration Programme (FMP) has continued to offer legal advice on a range of issues and representing the refugee community in courts for litigation. This has been successful due to the concerted effort by the government, stakeholders and the clients who make this possible. The programme successfully organized for a total of 527 Legal Aid clinics that were piloted towards facilitating the access to justice by the refugees.FMP also held ten (10) fora that were aimed at empowering the refugee community on various aspects of law among other related issues that will enable them to survive within the hostile environment. The centre also offered legal advice to a total of 3,733 clients. On the other hand, 106 cases of arrest were represented in the court. Its mobile Legal Aid clinics were meant to extend its hand to the police stations, prisons, department of refugee affairs with the intention of enhancing refugee rights, protection as well as incorporation of institutions that works towards protection of the rights of refugees.Advocacy Governance and Community Partnership (AGCP) as one of programmatic areas in Kituo Cha Sheria has continued to play a lead role in enhancing good governance and advocating for the adoption and implementation of pro-poor policies and legislations both at the grassroots as well as at the national levels. This is geared towards recognition and protection of the rights of the poor and the marginalized in all sphere of life. The programme has come up with various initiatives of building networks and strategic partnerships with communities to increase access to justice for the poor and marginalized as well as promote good democratic governance at all levels.In the bid to promote access to justice, five (5) additional Justice Centers were established bringing a total of ten (10) fully functioning Justice Centers. The programme also ventured out of its traditional community area of operations and conducted visits to Mwea irrigation scheme in Kirinyaga and the Bulla Fot Community in Garissa to address claims of human rights violation by the National Irrigation Board. The program also launched the access to Justice Day that is meant to be celebrated locally and internationally. Moreover, ICC outreach activities were conducted with the support of GIZ, REDRESS AND PJRP.


The Research, Communication and Documentation (RCD)/ Information Technology (IT) programme played a critical role in supporting other programmes in areas of research, communication, and documentation as well as information technology. Through this programme, several publications and documentaries have been produced. Social media networks have been enhanced for greater visibility of Kituo’s activities both locally and internationally. The use of improved of IT has seen increased efficiency and production in various programmes.The Finance and Administration (FA) played a critical role in supporting core activities in order to realize organizational goals. Its activities are embedded within finance, accounting, human resources as well as administration. FA also ensured that Kituo’s resources are put to the maximum utility for the best interest of those in need.

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IntroductionThe Legal Aid and Education Programme(LAEP) has continued with Individual case representation and at the same time incorporate Public Interest Litigation into its scheme. It has been steadfast in promoting the demands for justice, and spearheading pro-poor policies, advocacy and legislative reforms on land, housing, labour and all-round access to justice. LAEP continues to offer legal aid to those earning below ksh. 8,000 in matters of land, labour, succession and housing. Matters in other areas of law such as child maintenance, criminal matters and matrimonial

Legal Aid and Education Programme

• Francis Mugendi, David Wambua and Paul Muiruri against Shengli Construction Company Ltd. KITUO received many cases of unfair termination and claims of unpaid terminal dues against this company in 2011. Several demand letters were written, many phone calls made. Successful negotiations saw the clients’ payment of Kshs. 52,000.00, 66,000.00 and 31, 000.00 respectively.

• Our client one RemjiusOmondi was paid outstanding dues of of Kshs 14,000 by his former employer. He was a security guard. Our client kivutsiImbaya was also paid ksh. 38,000 by his former employerthrough monthly installments of Kshs. 7000.

• Negotiations were held on behalf of our clients with Shengli Construction Company Limited who were represented by Kaplan and Stratton Advocates. Eventually, the company agreed to pay our client ksh. 80,000 for unfair termination.

matters were appropriately referred to organisations or persons with speciality in the area. A few non-core matters were taken up on the assessment that the clients were extremely needy. LAEP continues to operate through in-house lawyers, a countrywide network of Volunteer Advocates and paralegals.

Single welfare litigation and client management;• Matrix of clients assisted in the year 2012

Nature of case New Clients Return Clients

Male Female Group Male Female Group TOTAL

R E T U R N CLIENTS

2508 1145 454 4099

Labour 480 240 2

Land 408 204 13

Housing 90 90 -

Succession 152 76 -

Others 200 100

TOTAL 1330 710 15 2,055

In this programme, new and returning clients are attended to every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursdays and Fridays are reserved for drafting of the clients demand letters, court papers, alternative dispute resolution meetings and other follow up. The clients were advised on various issues; those with court cases were represented either by KITUO in-house advocates or KITUO Volunteer Advocates across the country.

Alternative Dispute Resolution Owing to the backlog of court cases and delays in the court processes, KITUO favors out of court settlement of cases through ADR mechanism of arbitration and mediation. This turns out to be the best mode of dispute settlement especially for the poor because it is faster and less costly. Labour matters are the more readily settled through ADR as they are more straight forward as opposed to land matters that tend to be complex. Succession matters on the other hand require confirmed grants to be issued by the High Court and hence LAEP has found particular difficulty in settling succession and land matters out of court. In the year 2012 KITUO has witnessed an increase of out of court settlement in Labour matters. These include:


Public Interest Litigation (PIL);In line with KITUO’s strategic plan 2009-2013, LAED program continues to litigate on matters of public interest.Thus far, we have done PIL cases touching on economic social- cultural rights, land matters, public procurement and political rights. In the year under consideration, LAEP has ventured into doing Public Interest Litigation on Pre Trial Detention human rights violations. This new angle of PTD Litigation confined to violations occurring in the Criminal Justice System. LAEP used PIL caucuses to successfully pick out strategic issues of public nature requiring legal intervention. A PIL caucus targets advocates practicing generally in various fields of the law as well as experts in specific legal fields. The caucuses served many functions, among them:

1. To generate PIL cases;

2. To surgerize pleadings before filing PIL cases;

3. To strategize on way forward in ongoing PIL cases;

4. To conduct pre-trial sessions with clients;

5. To debrief;

LAEP has continued to hold at least one caucus every. In 2012 LAEP expanded its caucus network to incorporate other towns e.g. one was held in Kisumu and another in Machakos where lawyers from Kisumu and Kakamega and Machakos respectively attended. This is replica of the caucuses we have in Nairobi. The programme intends to continue galvanizing its volunteer lawyers all over the country to be holding caucuses with the aim of tackling issues of public interest nature.

i) Nathan Shimwenyi Versus Kenya National Hospital, petition No. 262/12

Mr. Nathan MuhanganiShimwenyi, a driver of USA Embassy staff member, was admitted on 13th April 2012 at Kenyatta National Hospital after he was involved in a road traffic accident. At the time of his admission, he was unconscious. He was done for an emergency operation and was taken for recuperation at the hospitals ICU for a period of 27 days. After that he was transferred to the High Dependency Unit. The total bill accumulated to over ksh. 2,000,000 Million. He was then detained for failure to

pay the hospital bills pursuant of his first operation and subsequent stays at the ICU and HDU. The poignant part was that Mr.Shimweyi was in urgent need of a second operation to save his left leg. His health had deteriorated and he had lost the use of his left leg which was getting shorter. He also urgently needed an operation to fix his broken pelvic bone. The Hospital refused to operate on him or offer him any physiotherapy. Worse still the hospital refused to release him to go seek treatment elsewhere. We filed a Constitutional petition to have Mr. Shimweyireleased forthwith arguing that the right to receive payment owed from a contractual obligation is subservient to the right to health and liberty of a person. The court ordered the petitioner to be released and the determination of the arguments raised will be determined by a three judge bench.

ii) Judicial Review Miscellaneous Application No. 140 Of 2012

The Judicial Review matter was taken to court under Article 89(10) of the Constitution of Kenya, Order 53 Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules 2010 and Section 1A & 1B and 3A of the Civil Procedure Act. Brief facts of the case are that on 9th January 2012 the Interim Independent Electoral Commission published a preliminary report on the first review relating to the delimitation of boundaries of constituencies and wards in accordance with the fifth schedule of the IEBC Act 2011. In its report, it proposed to have part of Nakalale ward be in Turkana North Constituency and the other part be in Turkana West constituency. The effect was that Nakalale ward was split between two constituencies. The commission then proceeded to undertake public consultations with the public between 9th and 30th January 2012. During the hearings, the residents of Nakalale ward objected to the preliminary report and specifically with respect to splitting Nakalale ward in both Turkana North constituency and Turkana West Constituency. On 9th February 2012 the Commission published volume 3 of a report on delimitation of constituencies and boundaries where NAKALAE ward was placed in Turkana West Constituency as per the wishes of the community


abovementioned. The community was satisfied and sat back.In the final report of the commission, NAKALALE WARD was placed in Turkana North constituency. This was done contrary to the community views and contrary to the report of 9th February 2012 which the Commission had published. The Judicial review filed sought the following orders:

1. An order of certiorari be directed to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission quashing the report on delimitation of the National Assembly Constituencies and County Wards which was published on 7th of March 2012 in relation to Nakalale Ward, Turkana West and Turkana North Constituencies in Turkana County.

2. An order of mandamus to compel the Respondent to review its report on delimitation of the National Assembly Constituencies and County Wards which was published on 7th March 2012 in relation to Nakalale Ward, Turkana West and Turkana North Constituencies in Turkana County.

The court dismissed the Judicial Review application stating that there was no prejudice suffered in having NAKALALE ward placed in Turkana North constituency as opposed to Turkana West Constituency.

iii) Kituo cha sheriavs the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Petition number 574 of 2012

Following the favorable decision in the case of Priscilla NyokabiKanyua v attorney general and another Petition 1 of 2010, we felt the need to have a similar decision under the Constitution 2010 and for purposes of the elections to held on 4th March 2013. Following in the footsteps of the Priscilla Nyokabi case LAEP filed a Constitutional Petition premised on the grounds that Article 38 of the Constitution on Political Rights relates to every adult Kenyan and this includes prisoners. Further, Article 38 is a Bill of Rights provision and according to Article 24 of the Constitution can only be limited by statute. We submitted that no statue had expressly or impliedly limited prisoners’ right to vote or to be registered as voters and as such the conduct of the IEBC was a violation of the prisoners’ right to vote and to be registered as voters.

In allowing the petition, Justice D.S Mjanaja made certain observations to wit:

1. The Constitution as the supreme law is founded on the sovereignty of the people of Kenya. This sovereignty is exercised through voting for representatives in the National and County

Mark Migun (left) attending to a client during the legal aid clinic at the head office.


governments who exercise delegated authority of the people in accordance with Article 2. It is beyond argument then that the right to vote is fundamental to our system of government.

2. Apart from merely guaranteeing the right, the Constitution places upon the State and its agencies the positive responsibility to ensure that all the people of Kenya and particularly those who are marginalised or vulnerable are able to exercise this fundamental right. That responsibility is not a passive duty but an active one imposed by the Constitution and particularly the Bill of Rights on the State and all its instrumentalities. Thus the breach of the prisoners’ right to vote entailed failing by the respondents to take positive steps to facilitate, promote and fulfil that right.

3. Article 51 of the Constitution neither limits the rights and fundamental freedoms of prisoners, which include the right to register as a voter and to vote, nor does it diminish in any way the responsibilities of the IEBC to prisoners.

4. Article 83 (3) imposes on the IIEBC a duty to take positive or affirmative steps to ensure that the right to vote by all Kenyans is realized. There mere fact

of providing registration centres for prisoners cannot be adequate to “facilitate the right to vote.” Prisoners are vulnerable persons in society and they do not have access to information, documentation, electronic media and means to voluntarily register as voters like other free citizens.

5. Unlike the right of citizens in the diaspora, whose right to vote is to be realized progressively, the right for prisoners to vote is one that is immediate and the State and its agencies must comply with the obligations that require that this right be realized. Such obligation includes the duty to promote, protect and fulfil the right to vote. The respondents violated the rights of persons in prisons by failing to facilitate and promote their rights.

6. The obligation of the Court is to give effect to the rights contained in the Bill of Rights and the fact that giving effect to these rights may be inconvenient cannot override constitutional imperatives.

7. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission must take necessary administrative arrangements even after the General Elections to ensure registration of prisoners like other citizens

A group of attendants during the Legal Aid Clinic at Nairobi high Court.


as mandated of it under Article 88 (4) (a) and the facilitation of the realization of the right to vote of all eligible inmates.

Pre-Trial Detention: Unlocking the Criminal Justice System through

PIL

During the year under consideration, KITUO took up engagement in reforms within the criminal justice system. We observed that poor and marginalized persons get unfair treatment from the point of arrest, through trial and up to judgment. Pre-trial detention serves to undermine socioeconomic development and is especially detrimental to the poor, who are susceptible to engaging with the criminal justice system and unable to post bail. Detention of any sense pulls people away from their normal lives and in most cases results in loss of employment, sinking families deeper into poverty especially in cases where their bread-winner is detained. The Kenyan situation is worse, following the overcrowding in prisons with the result that suspects in pre-trial detention end up in the same detention facilities as convicts. This exposes many remandees to both physical and psychological torture, violence and disease. The project started in October 2011 and fully rolled out in 2012.

iv) John Swaka v The Director of

Public Prosecutions & 2 others

petition number 318 of 2011

This was a PTD issue that KITUO was enjoined in this matter as an interested party early in 2012. This was a petition addressing the issue was post judgment strategy and the question was how do we enforce a judgment that has been given in our favor, especially against government? A case in point was criminal appeal no. 497 of 2007 David Macharia v Republic also known as “the macharia case”. The Court of Appeal affirmed that the right to free legal counsel in serious criminal offences is a fundamental right that must be availed to an accused person at state expense and in that respect that robbery with violence is one such case where the suspect tried in the lower court must be given counsel at the expense of the state. We realized that there were accused persons still being tried in the lower courts for robbery with violence crimes and without a lawyer. We felt that we needed to file a PIL case asking the Director of Public Prosecutions to table all the cases on

going without this right being implemented and further to nullify any such trials and order retrial. We would also seek compensation for the suspected at an agreed rate for every day that the trial continued. Thus the matter was filed later in 2011 as a constitutional petition. The petition sought orders stopping the prosecution of all indigent persons in Kenya who are faced with prosecution for criminal offences that carry a death penalty until the state has implemented the provisions of Article 50(2)(h) of the Constitution and provided defense counsel for such indigent offenders. The basis of the petition is that the Court of Appeal, in the case of David Macharia v Republic. The respondents set out in their affidavits and submissions the steps they are taking to implement Article 50(2)(h) of the Constitution and to put in place the measures required to provide legal representation as required under the Constitution. These include the drafting of a Legal Aid Policy and Bill, and the rolling out of pilot projects in various parts of the country for the provision of legal representation to indigent Kenyans.

The Court found that the initial steps that the Executive has taken give an indication of its intention to implement the provisions of Article 50(2)(h) and the court was satisfied

that the measures were adequate in keeping with the duty imposed on the Respondents under the Constitution. The Court found no basis for taking issue with these measures. The Court further found that under Article 261(5), the petitioner would have the right to petition the Court if the respondents failed to comply with the time specifications in the Constitution which was not the case here. Secondly, the court found no circumstances presented before it that would entitle it to make a far reaching order as barring all prosecution of robbery with violence cases. It stated, “Certainly, if such an order was to be made, it would be made in

individual cases, on the basis of very clear and cogent evidence that

‘substantial injustice’ would otherwise result, and cannot be made as

a blanket order in respect of all cases of robbery with violence.” The petition was dismissed with no order as to costs.


Individual Clients’ Casesi) Julie Lidede vs. Teachers Service

Commission, Industrial Cause No. 460./2012, NKCS/1438/12 – acting for Julie Lidede

This is a case where our client was assaulted by a fellow teacher while on duty under employment by TSC. She sustained serious injuries and later TSC terminated her services on grounds of compulsory retirement and failed to pay her dues for the period she was undergoing treatment and all terminal dues. The case was to come for hearing last year but TSC applied for an adjournment because the counsel on record had left TSC and we also applied for leave to amend our pleadings to put in more documents. We amended and served on TSC but they didn’t reply and so far time has lapsed. They have instructed another counsel to appear for them. The case is still ongoing.

i) Agnes Maweu, Florence Wanjriu And Fauzia Mohammed Vs Clarkson Nortcut Insurance Company – Acting For The Claimants

The three clients had been terminated on grounds of redundancy by Clarkson Nortcut but they were not paid their dues. They reported the matter to the labour office that assisted them file criminal charges against the insurance company and one of its managers. In 2003, the court gave a judgment and fined the company to pay the claimants their dues. The judgment was not enforced and the clients approached Kituo for legal advice. Since the matter was time barred,we filed an application to bring a labour claim at the industrial court out of time. At the hearing, the court advised that we follow with the enforcement of the criminal judgment instead of pursuing the case afresh. The parties withdrew the case by consent. The advocate for the insurance company had promised to pay the money and we have been following up with that before we go to execution.i) Joseph NjugunaWambuiVs Elizabeth Nganga;

ELC No. 305 Of 2012, NKCS/1452/12 – Acting For Elizabeth Nganga

This is a land case pending before the high Court. Our client was sued by the plaintiff on a boundary dispute where the orientation of the plots as they appear on the registry index

map is not as they appear on the ground. The plaintiff was seeking that the RIM should be amended to reflect the physical boundaries and our client was opposed to that. The plaintiff had filed an application for interlocutory injunction and when we went to court, the judge directed that the court visits the land. The matter is still ongoing.

i) Estate of MagonduWaweru; P&A No. 261 of 2010; NKCS.1463/12; Acting for Margaret WanjiruNdungu

This is a succession matter pending before the High Court. Our client is the 2nd wife of the deceased and claims that she and the children were sidelined by the fist family in division of the deceased property. The first house had applied for letters of administration and left them out. They had obtained the grant but hadn’t been confirmed. Our client filed a revocation of grant instead of a protest as the grant hadn’t been confirmed. When we took over the case on her behalf, we sought directions from the court on what to do with the revocation and the court advised us to withdraw the revocation and file the correct application which was a protest. We have so far filed the protest and served on the other side but they haven’t responded. i) Nicholas NdiemaNdiwavs Florence C.

Ndiema, milimani CMCC No. 5229/09; NKCS/1447/12 – acting for Florence Ndiema

This is a matrimonial cause filed at Milimani Chief Magistrate courts where the plaintiff sought to evict our client from the matrimonial home. At the initial stages, the plaintiff successfully obtained an order to evict her and the client came to us when the same plaintiff had commenced contempt proceedings against her for failing to vacate the matrimonial home pursuant to the court order. We defended the application for contempt and won the case. The court said that the defendant could not be evicted at this stage since these are matrimonial proceedings and haven’t been finalized. It also stated that the court with jurisdiction to handle such case is the High court and not the magistrate court. We had applied for the ruling of the court so that we transfer the case to High Court.


Legal Aid clinicsThe LAED Programme continues to conduct legal aid clinics with a view of assisting a large number of clients and especially those clients who are not able to access our offices and even the inmates. In 2012, the programme conducted legal aid clinics as follows: on 1st May 2012 to commemorate labor day; on 26th July 2012 at Langata Women’s prison, 19th September 2012 and on ne28th November 2012. A total number of 672, clients have so far been advised and those with court matters have been incorporated into our database where they are being represented by our in house counsels and our volunteer advocates. As a follow up to the Langata Women Prison Legal Aid Clinic which was held on 26th July 2012, the LAED programme intends to set up a justice center in women’s prison for purposes of continued engagements with the prison.

PIL Colloquium;The 3rd Annual Public Interest Litigation Colloquium was held on the 29th, 30th and 31st August 2012 and was organized by Kituo cha Sheria and Katiba Institute. The theme of the Colloquium was Access to Criminal Justice in Kenya and examining the Legal Aid Bill. Public Interest Litigation having been made central in the Constitution the two organizations saw the need for lawyers to come together to share tools and experiences in matters of

criminal justice.The Colloquium’s speakers included Judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court of Kenya, international experts on matters of legal aid and legal experts in Criminal Justice in Kenya. Participants included Council members of the Law Society of Kenya, the staff of Kituo cha Sheria and Katiba Institute, its in-house Advocates and Volunteer Advocates, Paralegals and other partner organizations.

Objectives of the ColloquiumThe main objective of the Colloquium was to empower advocates to pursue and to advocate for trends and reforms in the criminal justice system in light of the Constitution. Other objectives included the interrogation of the Legal Aid Bill and its impact in the Criminal Justice system and how access to justice can be realized in the criminal justice system through advocacy and litigation. This was also to be met through examining the state of the criminal justice system.Expected outcomes of the colloquium included; an understanding of the state of criminal justice in Kenya, the role of the bench in the enhancement of legal aid in Kenya, and borrow best practices from other states with progressive criminal justice systems.

Participants during a training on the rule of law.


Other Activities Dhobi Women

As part of Kituo’s strategic plan of moving from legal aid to legal empowerment, every Thursday and Friday since May 2012 our officers have been offering free legal aid and advice to dhobi women. These are women who are employed in the informal sector as house-helps or to do menial jobs such as doing laundry.

A large majority of these women are either widowed or single parents. A similarly overwhelming majority of these women are illiterate or semi-illiterate and were therefore unaware of their labour rights. Most of them had worked for months without pay and those who were lucky enough to be paid, got wages that were way below the agreed amount. These women’s families were highly dependent on the meagre salaries earned by the women. Therefore, when she is not paid her dues, the entire family wails.

The whole training was centered on enlightening them

on their labour rights. Our officers also drafted simple contracts that they would use to avoid being denied their hard-earned dues.So far, roughly 470 women were trained and we hope that they will spread the “gospel.”

NITA Trial Advocacy Training Every year, Kituo in conjunction with the US based National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA), Justice for Africa (JAA) and the Kenya School of Law (KSL) conduct training on Trial Advocacy. The training has always been fashioned to help trial advocates to polish their trial advocacy skills and in the long run benefit our indigent clients. It is an access to justice initiative through effective trial lawyers. LAED also uses these trainings to reward and motivate our Volunteer Advocates.In 2012 had two trainings. The first one was conducted in Machakos in May 2012 and was a training of trainers.

Mr. Nathan Kivungi directing clients during the legal aid clinic at kituo’s head office.


The second training at the Kenya School of Law. Having trained trainers, we are looking forward to becoming fully independent from the American team.

Micro justice projectThis is a project of Kituoin partnership with University of Tilburg in Netherlands.The project seeks to provide better access to justice for fair and just outcomes for the poor living in urban and rural areas. The preference of the micro justice approach as opposed to bottom up justice( which means investing in laws, court and other justice formal institutions) is that outreach can be increased and sustainability can be promoted by using evidence based rules and tools, huge steps in accessibility, understandability and increase of dissemination of legal information and tap alternative sources of funding. The specific objectives of the project are:

a) To sustainably provide affordable access to legal information that enables people to solve their legal problems by making use of modern information technologies e.g. internet and mobile telephones e.t.c.

b) To sustainably provide affordable access to just and fair outcomes that work for the legal problems of the poor by using tools based on best practices e.g. dispute resolution skills among others.

Under these objectives, a number of project activities are to be carried out towards its implementation which includes:

i) Sharing rules and legal informationii) Information technologies for disseminationiii) Facilitators with state of the art skills for

dispute resolutioniv) Business modeling for sustainability of

services.v) Impact assessments

The first project activity on sharing rules and legal information was done between February and March 2012. This involved collecting of views of advocates and lawyers on legal issues through a questionnaire that was developed by Tilburg University together with Kituo Cha Sheria. This was successfully done in Nairobi, Eldoret and Kisumu and

a total of over 100 advocates filled in the questionnaires. The views were to guide the conceptualization and implementation of the project.The second project activity on information technologies for dissemination focused on the relevant technologies to be used in the project. These involved testing of the technology developed and trainings on the various social media technologies that will aide in access to justice for the poor and among them were trainings on face-book, short messaging services and twitter. Under this project activity, the following activities were done between 30th April and 12th May 2012:

i) Sms testing with paralegals - This was done with the paralegals from the three justice centers of Kamkunji, Kibera and Korogocho and a total of 15 paralegals were involved. The objective of the activity was to do a testing of the new SMS technology developed by the University of Tilburg. The workings of this technology is a system whereby any person can text a legal question and send to a specified number to be developed and a lawyer or VA can access the question and answer back to the person. This was one of the innovating access to justice ways developed and it would lessen the costs in accessing to justice and make it more reliable. After a long day test, the system finally worked.

ii) Social media training for Kituo staff - The main objective of the micro justice project is to ensure access to justice through information technology. To ensure this is successful, there was need to equip the facilitators of access to justice with state of the art skills on the use of information technology.

iii) Training of ten (10) law students - On 7th and 8th May 2012, ten law students drawn from Nairobi University, Kenyatta University and the Kenya School of Law were trained on the skills they would use in a study focusing on how the people living in urban slums view


the whole idea of access to justice and legal empowerment. The study was done in the months of May and June 2012 where a total of 300 interviews were done in Kibera and Kamkunji and compiled results shared to the representatives from Tilburg University. This was done through a standard questionnaire developed by Tilburg University together with Kituo Cha Sheria. The whole aim of the interviews was to get the ideas of the urban poor on access to justice and the problems they encounter as this would guide the whole project of micro justice in its development and implementation.

iv) Evaluation of the pro-poor strategy with the Chief Justice - on 8th April 2012, keyKituo staff members the Chief Justice with the aim of discussing the pro poor strategies on access to justice. The Judiciary Transformation Programme has been developing the strategies which are about to be released although it had taken long and Kituo’s major concern was whether the pro poor strategies have been included. Among the issues that arose during the discussions were:

a) The introduction of small claims court which would ease backlog of cases for small claims which would otherwise require direct procedures and short time. The idea was for the judiciary through the Chief Justices’ office to set the court administratively.

b) The issue of the judges focusing at the creation of jurisprudence rather than resolving disputes. That the desire of any litigant is to have their cases settled and not really to create jurisprudence. This calls for the judges to focus to solve disputes hence reduce the backlog and not create jurisprudence.

c) The need for a two day workshop with Judiciary Transformation Programme to analyze the access to justice strategies to increase better understanding

an application towards hastened dispute resolution.

The discussions on prop poor strategies were very fruitful and among the issues that came up were as follows:ØThe use of tribunals and small claims court –

what he poor need when they come to court is justice to be done and not the procedures that the justice systems are made of. The present backlog of cases and the complicated procedures serve to intimidate the poor who cannot afford the services of counsel and delay justice. The small claims court and the tribunals serve to hasten the hearing of cases so that small claims don’t queue the same was as other cases.

ØThe use of paralegals – paralegals can serve as intermediaries of facilitating acces to justice and creating faster and effective ways. Jin Ho gave the example of the use of paralegals trained by and under the guidance of a judge to settle disputes among communities and have the settlement certified by the judge. He stated that this has worked and could be one of the strategies. It was also stated that this would be done with caution and there was need to regulate the conduct of paralegals so that the quality of services they give is monitored and guarded.

ØThe regulation by Law Society of Kenya of advocates remuneration scales and the conditions on undercharging – that this undermined the ability of the poor to access legal services. The particular provision of making it a criminal offence by an advocate to under charge should be abolished.

ØThe maximum amount of rent protected – that the use of dwelling houses costing a maximum of Kshs. 2, 500 protected by the Rent Restriction Act is too minimal to cover the poor and that the poor hardly live in rental houses costing less than 2, 500 per month. This amount should be increased and that there is a proposal to amend the Act and increase the amount to Kshs. 15, 000 and this would cover most of the poor.


ØIssues around Article 50 of the Constitution on the right to counsel – the judiciary will need to establish a fund to actualize this right. This will cover other costs like those for photocopying of witness statements for accused persons because this is a right.

ØCourt procedures – there is more to be done on case management to reduce the backlog of cases as much of this goes to court procedures. Among the other recommendations on the court procedures was the development of court information system, the need to have judgments delivered in time and for judges to stick within the 42 days provided and that appeal processes in the registries to be made simple.

ØTraining of judicial officers in conjunction with Judiciary Training Institute- there was need to take the judicial officers through two day training on the pro poor strategies shared by Jin Ho Verdonschot.

v) Visit to Shimo la Tewa Prison by the team from Tilburg - team from Tilburg University visited the Shimo La Tewa justice Centre in Mombasa on 10th and 11th May 2012. This was aimed at bringing on board the paralegals from Mombasa and assessing the legal needs other than those in Nairobi.

Paralegal Training and Engagement In February, the LAED team conducted a training exercise for prisoners at Kamiti Maximum prison. 38 inmates and 4 warders were trained in the two weeks that we pitched camp in the prison. After the training, a justice centre was set up, manned by the inmates themselves and we are thrilled to note that our paralegals have drafted pleadings for some prisoners who ended up being acquitted.Plans are also steadfast to recruit other inmates to meet the shortage of supply for legal services and training on research skills.

Partnership with Central European University and the Open Society Foundation.The partnership between KITUO and the Central European University saw one LAEP legal intern get fully funded scholarship to study a Masters in law (LLM) in international Human Rights Law at the University in Budapest, Hungary IN August 2011. The lawyer returned to KITUO in the year under consideration as part of the arrangement and continues to work towards the mission of KITUO for the next at least one year..

Local, Regional and International Partnershipsa. Cornell University

b. Harvard University

c. NALEAP

d. International Senior Lawyers Project

e. Department of Prisons

f. Tilburg University

g. Misereor

h. Ford Foundation

i. OSIEA

j. Open Society Foundation (OSF)


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1.0 IntroductionThe Legal Aid and Education Programmemade a significant progress during the year 2012 regarding the provision of legal aid and education, the empowerment of thepoor and marginalized and court presentations especially in Public Interest cases. A lot was done in one or more of the following ways: providing civic education, legal advice, solving problems through Alternative Dispute Resolution and representing clients in the courts of law.

2.0. In house Client AttendanceThe Legal Department attended to new and return clients on a weekly basis. As from Monday to Wednesdaynew clients were attended to whereas on Thursday and Friday the Department attended to return clients. In total 550 new and 634 return clients were attended to during the year 2012 totaling to 1,184. The matters included land, employment, landlord and tenant, contract, children and professional negligence cases. The clients were provided with legal aid and advice and those who needed to be prepared pleadings or represented in court were accorded that support. In terms of gender 69% of clients attended to were women while 31% were men.

2.1 Alternative Dispute Resolution MechanismsThe Legal Aid Department has undertaken alternative dispute resolution as a means of addressing cases concerning labour, land, housing and succession. With land and succession matters being very sensitive and emotive, ADR has been particularly helpful in resolving labour disputes. The Department has negotiated settlements for clients in a number of cases. The Department successfully settled 20 cases out of court. A total of KShs 392, 845 has been awarded to our clients in out of court settlements. Some of the cases dealt with under ADR mechanisms are outlined outlined below: Elizabeth Kimeu -vs- Simon Muia (Succession)In the case the widow had been disinherited of her late husband properties and a total of Kshs 85,000/= by the brother in law and after mediation at the office, the said sum and house hold items were returned to her.Stephen Baya Kamuna -vs- Patricia KalundaMwambu (Land)Our client Stephen had bought land and a house thereon with the agreement that he pays Kshs 600,000/= and a balance of Kshs 400,000/= at a later date. This was not possible because after sometime he lost his job and was unable to pay up the balance. He communicated this fact to the seller who promised to refund his down payment minus the default fee. The seller defaulted and the client reported the issue to HakiYetu, a human rights organisation. The

matter was further referred to Kituo. We carried out a successful mediation that resulted in an amicable solution on how the money will be refunded to our client.Dimian Moraa Keng’ara-vs- Ibrahim (Land lord and Tenant)In the matter, our client had been issued with a notice to vacate but on the other hand the landlord was not willing to refund a total of Kshs 14,700/= that our client had incurred towards acquiring the electricity meter. The money was later on refunded after a demand later had been written to the Landlord and a successful mediation thereafter.Queen Mueni Mulaa -vs- Boniface Juma (Maintenance)In the matter, the father had refused to maintain his child and counter claimed the same by disputing paternity. The matter was to proceed for DNA test but after negotiations at the office the DNA test was dispensed with and the father agreed to contribute Kshs 2,000/= monthly towards maintenance of the child.David Mulanya Ouma-vs- Fey Reinhard Karl (Employment)Our client had been terminated without being paid his final dues. After some attempts to settle the matter out of court failed, the matter had to be filed in court. Before the matter was listed for hearing, the employer decided to engage us in negotiations and finally a consent was recorded occasioning our client being paid Kshs 100,000/= as his final dues.

3.0 LitigationThe legal department in the quest of realizing justice for its clients where diplomacy had failed invoked the courts. In this connection, a number of cases were filed and came up for hearing, ruling, judgment and or/ mention.

3.1 Court AttendancesThe Department filed 64 cases out of which 28 were employment matters.Herebelow are a summary of some of the matters;Hussein Mwazecha -vs- JeffariMwazechaKadhis Succession. No. 206/11It’s a succession matter which involves two brothers who their deceased father left 2 Swahili houses and several plots. The petitioner was seeking orders to stop the respondent from any dealings regarding the deceased estate, and they appoint any independent estate agent to manage and collect all rental proceeds and to bring all title documents.Tsola Mzungu Kalama and others vs Samuel Nduati Mwangi and Kwale International Sugar Co. Ltd Civil Case No. 220 of 2011 “KIDOMAYA CASE”This is a public interest litigation matter involving some community members who have lived in a piece of land for

Legal Aid and Education – Coastal Region


over 12 years. Their claim is for adverse possession.Joseph Ashioya& 164 others; Industrial Cause No. 703/11This is an employment matter whereby the company was put under receivership by KCB which appointed Price Waterhouse Coopers as receiver Managers. Our clients were never lawfully declared redundant by their former employers. The matter was filed in the Industrial Court in Nairobi. With the setting up of a court in Mombasa, the matter has been transferred for hearing.FloncescaAsimit SRMCC at Kilifi; Children Case No. 40/11This is a suit for maintenance, our client the plaintiff had a relationship with the defendant who is a British citizen during which period the defendant acknowledged and acquired parental responsibility of the child. They separated due to wrangles concerning their joint business and since then the defendant has refused to make any contributions towards the maintenance of the child.Safari Nzala& 3 others CR 120/11 at Kilifi.It’s a criminal matter which involves some community members at Takaungu in Kilifi. This is a matter whereby residents were against Mombasa Cement Factory taking up their land, the company had ganged up with the provincial administration and made fake claims against our clients.

3.2 Public Interest LitigationIn litigation, the office focused on public interest litigation. Thus far, 7 cases of public interest were filed. In brief public interest cases were as follows:

3.2.1 Ng’ombeni community environmental matter:The community in Ng’ombeni filed a suit to challenge the

quarrying project being undertaken by the Defendants. The community contends that the quarrying project is against their right to a clean and healthy environment. Although the Court declined to grant a temporary injunction, one of the Defendants withdrew some machinery due to the suit and pressure from the Community to end the project. The matter had to await pre-trial hearing and establishment of the Land and Environment Court. An environmental audit was conducted confirming that the allocation of land for the quarrying project was illegal. The environmental experts await payment of balance of Kshs 40,000 of their fees.

3.2.2 Kidomaya Community adverse possession matter:Over 1000 families have been in occupation of parcel of land for over 20 years which is registered in the names of one Samuel Nduati Mwangi and Kwale International Sugar Company Ltd. Through Kituo Cha Sheria the community filed a suit for adverse possession against the registered proprietors. Service of summons was problematic but it was done and the matter has proceeded for hearing. The community has a chance to finally legally own the land on which they occupy and potential land related conflict has been averted. The case has come for hearing of the Plaintiffs’ case. The matter comes for further hearing in December during which the last witnesses for the Plaintiffs’ side shall testify.

3.2.3 Packaging Manufacturers Employment CaseThis matter seeks to challenge the constitutionality of the Income Tax Act with respect to casual workers. It also seeks the upgrade of our clients’ terms of service with the Respondent Company. The matter is ongoing. It awaits

Attendants during the TJRC hearing at Kilifi, Mombasa.


hearing once judges of the Industrial Court are deployed in Mombasa by end of the year.

3.2.4 Joseph Ashioya& 185 others vs. KUSCO (2006) This matter seeks to recover terminal benefits of our clients who were absorbed following acquisition of their company by a Ugandan Company. The Company has now conceded to compute terminal benefits for all those who worked for the acquisition. They however have declined to pay those who worked for the old company. As such the matter has proceeded with respect to the latter. The matter raises issues on time limitation in labour cases. We had an opportunity to amend pleadings based on the salary arrears and terminal benefits of each of the claimants. The matter now awaits hearing once the Industrial Court judges are deployed to Mombasa.

3.2.5 Registered Trustees of the Mombasa Catholic Archdiocese vs. Prudence Wakio and 101 OthersThe Catholic Church seeks to evict a poor community that has been residing on the parcel of land from 1954 before the Church acquired the same through a donatives transfer from a politician. Mediation meetings held in our office failed. Informers amongst the community tipped the Church of our intention to file suit following a fact finding mission. The Church hence instituted the suit before we could. We have filed a defence and intend to file a suit for adverse possession. The matter is fixed for hearing on 18th December 2012.

3.2.6 Pongwe Case:The Pongwe community has filed a suit for adverse possession against the Kwale International Sugar Company that has consistently been issuing threats of eviction and maliciously destroying their property. The Court issued interim orders to restrain the Defendant from evicting the community pending hearing and determination of the application. The ruling was delivered on 4th December 2012 in favour of our clients. The Court has issued an injunction restraining the KwaleInternational Sugar Company from evicting the community pending hearing and determination of the case.

3.2.7 Basil Criticos Case in MurabaniThe community in Taveta wishes to file a suit for adverse possession against the Former MP of Taveta Basil Criticos who owns huge tracts of land in Taveta. The court pleadings are ready and the matter will be filed soon.

3.2.8 Takaungu Case: This case has been in court since 1991. Recently, the High

Court of Mombasa decided in favour of the Mazrui family. In their case, the Mazrui family disputed their removal from the ten miles coastal strip. The Court held in their favour as the State upon evicting the family, had not compensated the family for their removal. As Kituo we wish to intervene in favour of the indigenous communities in Takaungu, Kilifi area who now risk eviction in their ancestral land. Due to the complexities of the case, we wish to involve senior advocates who are part of our panel of experts on public interest litigation.

4.0 EMPOWERMENT OF POOR AND MARGINALISED COMMUNITIESIn 2012 we carried out legal aid clinics to create awareness and empower the community on their rights. More specifically, the legal aid clinics were carried out in the following areas on the specific themes:

1. Labour Day 2012 in Mombasa on Employment- six (6) clients attended

2. Kituo Cha Sheria Birthday, Shimo la Tewa Men’s Prison- 53remandees advised on Criminal Law and Trial Process

3. Kibarani, Matsangoni and Mwezang’ombe in Kilifi-Land and Land adjudication procedures in partnership with Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC)

4. Mwakirungeand Kongowea on Land and Women’s Land Rights

5. Taveta-Land laws 6. Mtwapa (Land laws) in commemoration of

the International Day for Peace in conjunction with Kenya Community Support Network (KECOSCE), Transparency International and community paralegals from Kituo’s community justice centre’s in Lamukhani, Kisauni and ex-Shimo inmates.

7. Mombasa Law Courts during Mombasa Law Society Legal Awareness Week-

5.0 PARALEGAL TRAINING: AMKENI-UNDP HAMASA MAGEREZANI PROJECTLegal aid in the year 2012 embarked in implementing a project dubbed Hamasa Magerezani with the aim of empowering the prison fraternity which included the Prison Administrators and the inmates.Several activities were carried out in Nyeri, Mombasa and Malindi counties where participants were empowered in the areas of Rights of an arrested person and the criminal trial process, leadership and integrity, Bill of rights as it relates to voting, People’s representation at the County and National Levels and electoral laws as enshrined under the Elections Act, the Political Parties Act and the Constitution of Kenya.


Under the project, Nyeri (Men and Women), Malindi (Men and Women) and Shimo la Tewa (Men and Women) prisons’ administrators and inmates were given civic education on the electoral process and on leadership and integrity.

We also undertook essay competition to the inmates in the men’s prisons in Nyeri, Malindi and Shimo la Tewa. The essay competition was not conducted in the women’s prisons due to the challenge of literacy levels amongst majority of the female inmates. This challenge had not been anticipated at the time of developing the project proposal. The best three essays entitled “The Kind of Leader We Want” won awards in ceremonies conducted in prisons. In November 2012, the AGCP in conjunction with Legal Aid Programme conducted an interactive civic and voter education training session held in Nyeri Men and Women’s Prisons. The training lasted three days i.e. 19th November to 21st November 2012. The aim was to raise awareness around the prisoner’s right to vote, good governance, people’s representation, electoral laws and offences, leadership and integrity, Bill of Rights and criminal trial process. On the graduation day, a press conference was held wherein we directed that the IEBC establishes voter registrations within all prisons in Kenya just as in the 2010 constitutional referendum. We highlighted that in the event of failure by IEBC to do within seven days, we would proceed to court for redress. The petition was drafted and is ready for filing.

On the 24th of October the programme held a training at Shimo La Tewa Men’s Prison under the Hamaza Magerezani project. The training was conducted in conjunction with the AGCP with the assistance of two Volunteer Advocates. The training focused on the Electoral laws and process.Twenty (20) paralegals were trained on the Bill of Rights, Leadership and Integrity, Electoral Laws and Representation of the People at the National and the County level. The inmates were also educated on the bill of rights and the right to vote as enshrined in the article 83 of the Constitution. The activity achieved its objectives of having informed and empowered inmates on the contents of the Constitution particularly Chapters on Bill of Rights, Leadership and integrity and representation. Additionally there was increased awareness among the inmates on the new electoral laws and new elective positions and increased participation of inmates in general election.

6.0 THE URBAN REFUGEE INTERVENTION SUPPORTED BY UNHCR6.1 Baseline Survey on Refugees in CoastThe Legal Aid Department in conjunction with AGCP designed a mapping toolkit to be applied in the baseline survey of refugees in Mombasa. The baseline survey was

finalised this year. The process targeted refugee areas of presence including Changamwe (Jomvu)-Mainly Somalis, Likoni, Shanzu- Mainly Congolese and Kisauni (Old town and Barsheba). § Some refugees were trained as enumerators to assist in

data collection.§The survey provided significant gaps in refugee

interventions in the region for capitalization by Kituo as it engages in refugee affairs.

6.2 World Refugee DayIn 2012, in conjunction with UNHCR and Kenya Red Cross, Kituo’s Mombasa regional office celebrated the World Refugee Day in Mombasa for the first time. The Refugee Day began with a procession from the Municipal Council of Mombasa to the Red Cross hall. The meeting was conducted in the hall. The importance of this meeting was to inform the refugee community of institutions that work in their interest. The event also brought together the refugee population in the coastal town and created awareness to the public on their existence and rights.Lastly, court representation is ongoing. A total of 25 cases involving refugees have been handled by the Department. The legal representation has in most cases required that a refugee status determination be conducted. As such, Kituo cha Sheria has partnered with UNHCR and the Department of Refugee Affairs in arranging for their refugee status determination. The court cases sometimes are reported through the magistrate. Under the UNHCR refugee project in Mombasa, court users in Coast region were trained throughout the year on refugee law and protection. The court users committees that benefited from the training included Wundanyi, Mariakani, Voi and Taveta. The training also served as an awareness raising on issues concerning refugee protection. Each training took one (1) day and involved around 20 members of court users. There are several positive outcomes arising from the trainings. Firstly, the courts have been reluctant to issue deportation orders without calling upon the Department of Refugee Affairs. Also, institutions for referral of refugee cases such as Kituo have been mapped rendering it easier for the courts to know where to send cases for legal representation. From the trainings of court users, it has emerged that the courts encounter difficulty in finding Ethiopian and Eritrean interpreters.

7.0 ENGAGEMENT WITH VOLUNTEER ADVOCATES AND OTHER PARTNERSOur engagement with volunteer advocates has grown. Having participated in the Mombasa Law Society Legal Awareness Week, we were able to recruit a number of advocates into our volunteer advocates’ scheme. This platform also provided us with an opportunity to increase


the visibility of the organisation within the legal fraternity. Forty (40) volunteer advocates were trained on the Legal Aid Bill and the Industrial Court Act in Mombasa. The need to have a permanent Industrial Court in Mombasa was highlighted as a concern. With the Industrial Court Act requiring the presence of a judge in all counties, it will be important for the Chief Justice to appoint one such action. This activity was conducted under the ACT! Judicial Reforms Project.On 12th October 2012, the Department hosted a meeting for the public interest litigation caucus under the SAFE project. Although the meeting was not well attended, the participants were able to discuss pros and cons in litigating the case on Takaungu and Basil Criticos case. The senior counsels thought that adverse possession would work well for the community in both cases. It was agreed that the Legal Aid Department would draft the pleadings and share them in the next meeting for the panel of experts.

8.0 KENYA TRANSITION INTIATIVE/CHEMONICS LAND RESEARCHThe Legal Aid Department implemented a short term in-kind grant from USAID Kenya through Kenya Transitional Initiative/Chemonics. The grant official kicked off in the month of August and the aim was to identify and outline successful land cases filed and concluded within the new constitutional dispensation. The draft report was finalised and sent to the KTI for perusal. In November 2012, the report was disseminated and launched in a colourful ceremony that was graced by the Chief Magistrate of Mombasa Law Courts namely Hon. Stephen Riechi, two Honourable Magistrates namely Mr. R. Odenyo and Ms. Ruguru, the Coast Representative of the Law Society of

Kenya, Ms Grace Okumu and Benjamin Njoroge, Council Member of Mombasa Law Society.

9.0 NETWORKINGWithin the year, there were a number of activities to ensure that networking objective is realized. This was in terms of media engagement, case follow ups and round table deliberations.

10.0 CHALLENGES1. Inadequate funding leading to some activities not being undertaken as they solely depend on availability of funds.2. Inability of clients to raise filing fees.3. Clients coming from far and wide pose a challenge in aspects of representation as well as their ability to follow up their cases.4. Rising demand for legal services vis-a-vis the number of staff to attend to them.5. Office space and equipment.

11.0 RECOMMENDATIONS1. Fund raising to boost the funding of the activities2. Set up a fund for clients who cannot afford the minimum court fees.3. Strengthen the VA scheme and the PIL caucuses through awards and motivational trainings who in turn take up some matters from Kituo.4. Make arrangements for a new office with adequate space to all the staff.

Tim Kiringi(left) handing over a cheque to a client at Mombasa office


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The Forced Migration Program is specifically devoted to the welfare of refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons residing in urban areas in Kenya.

The program extended and was launched at the Mombasa Regional Office in January 2012.

In January 2013, the Nairobi –based program relocated its offices from Eastleigh to Jogoo Road on the east of Nairobi City. This relocation was informed, among other factors, by the new offices proximity to the following important points:-

a) Makadara Law Courts where a majority of court interventions are done

b) The Department of Refugee Affairs registration centre in Shauri Moyo.

c) The Industrial Area Remand Prison.

d) Shauri Moyo, Jogoo road, Kamukunji, Buruburu, Makongeni and Industrial Police Stations.

Our services at the Forced Migration Program

The centre offers a range of services in legal protection and guidance to its clients. This include legal advice, legal representation, Bi-monthly legal aid clinics in communities far from the office, assisting refugees in obtaining work permits, birth and death certificates, identity cards and other documentation, referral services to our other partners , investigations of systematic human rights violations against refugees, identifying and litigating on public interest issues touching on refugees, detention monitoring, monitoring cases of insecurity and Gender Based Violence and research and training on human rights and refugee law.

Contextual Background to the Project ImplementationIn October 2011, the Kenya Defence Forces rolled into Somalia with a view to pacifying the country by ridding off terrorist elements believed to have established themselves there. Consequently, the year 2012 witnessed what was interpreted by many as incidences of increased retaliatory terrorist activities such as the use of improvised explosive devices, explosions and kidnappings in the Dadaab refugee

camps and in towns such as Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Nairobi and Mombasa. This situation created a hostile asylum environment laden with xenophobia leading to highhandedness on the part of security agencies when dealing with refugees and asylum seekers. Insecurity in the camps led to threats by some agencies to withdraw services. The government appeared to take a pro-security approach within the protection environment by suspending registration in Dadaab (except for existing arrivals), the non-recognition of Kambios refugee camp and the suspension of issuance of Movement Passes since February 24.

Consequently, the review of the Refugees Act 2006 almost ground to a halt towards the end of 2012. The media carried reports to the effect that the Government intends to relocate refugees from Dadaab to Somalia. The period also witnessed the full replacement of the Immigration as well as the Aliens Restriction Acts with the Citizenship and Immigration Act without accompanying amendment to the Refugees Act , particularly regarding those sections in the Refugees Act (Section 13) forming a defence to prosecution for unlawful presence by making reference to the rescinded Acts aforesaid. This lacunae posed a challenge in Court interventions, at the initial stages, particularly before judicial officers who had not undergone sensitisation in this field.

Further, new influxes arising from renewed conflict in South Sudan and the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo were experienced. But of more significance during this period was the publication of a directive by the government of Kenya on the 18.12.2013 that all refugees of Somali origin do relocate to Dadaab Refugee camp and those of other nationalities do relocate to Kakuma camp with immediate effect. This was further compounded by the advice by the government of agencies serving refugees in urban settings to transfer such services to camps.

PartnershipsIn the implementation of this Project, the program co-operated with the government and various stakeholders, among others; the UNHCR, the Department of Refugee Affairs, Refuge Consortium of Kenya, International Rescue Committee, The Kenya Magistrates and Judges

The Forced Migration Programme (FMP)


Association, Heshima-Kenya, Windle Trust, CISP, GIZ, JRS, HIAS and the Kenya Police for the benefit of Persons of Concern.

Program Activities

A. Mobile Legal Aid ClinicsIn Nairobi, bi-monthly Legal Aid Clinics to cover areas far off from Eastleigh were conducted. Kituo conducted 17 legal aid clinics for refugee communities living far from the office. The clinics were conducted in Umoja, Jamhuri, Githurai, Kasarani, Waithaka, Section 3, Rongai and Mlolongo. A total of 699 PoCs were reached in these clinics. The clinics were preceded with mapping out activities which entailed Police visits, mobilization of the target participants, contacting other facilitators from partner organizations and preparing materials.

Mapping out facilitated the collection of important facts such as the target population as well as the possible issues that are likely to emerge with a view to avoiding unnecessary delays. It not only helped in deciding on the strategic places that the mobilization need to be done but also provided an opportunity to visit the area police stations with the view to discussing refugees rights and their treatment by police officers. Accordingly, Umoja, Kayole, Kasarani, Githurai, Waithaka Sandton, Kabiria and Thika Police stations were visited during the mapping exercise.

The objectives of Legal Aid Clinics were, among others, to ensure prompt legal advice to persons of concern in attendance, possible representation of PoC in Court, to achieve increased linking up of representatives of refugee communities in the said areas to the provincial administration and the police for a more cordial relationship and timely intervention at police stations and other administrative centres.

The clinic in Umoja attracted refugees from the Great Lakes region (Congolese, Rwandese, and Burundians). Their main issues of concern touched on the Cessation

Clause for Rwandese refugees and education rights for refugees’ children.

Refugee Community Sensitization Fora

The Program held Ten (10) fora for the empowerment of the refugee community on various aspects of the law as well as other related issues of survival within the host country. 139 PoCs were reached.

The objectives of the activity entailed achieving increased awareness among urban asylum seekers and refugees on their rights and obligations, achieving increased involvement and cooperation among the host community and asylum seekers/ refugees, sensitization of PoCs on Refugee law, achievement of increased linking up of representatives of refugee communities in the said areas to the provincial administration and the police for a more cordial relationship, informing refugees in the target areas on the services offered to refugees by partner organizations, prompt legal advice to persons of concern in attendance, dissemination of Kituo cha Sheria and other partners’ information brochures, fliers and other relevant information to persons of concern attending the said forums, advocating on emerging issues and possible identification of cases for representation in court.

The most important aspect of these events was to make sure that every refugee and asylum seeker understood the legal rights and freedoms that accrue while providing an opportunity for participants seek clarifications on issues that affect them, as well as to have their personal legal issues addressed. To achieve this, the sessions started with a questions-answer session followed by a short training on refugees’ rights. Thereafter, clients with personal legal issues got personalized attention from Kituo’s officers

The refugee law training in Githurai attracted an even balance of Somalis, Rwandese, Burundians, Congolese, Ethiopians and Sudanese refugees whereas the one in Waithaka attracted refugees from Congo, Burundi and Rwanda.


As such, the concerns from the participants were just as diverse. However, recurrent issues included security and lack of identification documents especially the Rwandese, Burundians, and Sudanese PoC.

B. Legal Counselling

The Centre offered legal advice to 3, 034 walk-in clients in Eastleigh. Others reached during outreach clinics and community fora bring the total number to 3,733. Kituo represented 106 cases of arrest in various courts of law. 59 of these cases were charged with unlawful presence. We secured the discharge and release of 78 PoCs.

NUMBER OF CLIENTS ATTENDED TO AT THE CENTRE

In the reporting period, the program received 3, 034 walk-in clients seeking legal advice and interventions on various aspects.

WALK IN CLIENTS

Month 2012 Legal Advise Others (Ga-zette Notice, General Inquires)

TOTAL

New Clients

Returned Clients

January 107 131 13 251

February 127 124 9 260

March 146 171 18 335

April 103 112 11 226

May 151 105 4 260

June 67 73 9 149

July 552 131 16 399

August 144 156 7 307

September 157 145 16 318

October 152 127 13 292

November 150 78 4 232

December

Total 3, 034

Cases of Arrest and Prosecution

The program represented 106 cases of arrest in various courts of law. 59 of these cases were charged with unlawful presence. Our lawyers secured the discharge and release of 78 PoCs.

Increasingly, the judiciary became aware of asylum seekers’ right to access territory and did not order repatriation for asylum seekers charged with unlawful presence on a high scale. Judicial officers occasionally called upon our office to take up ongoing cases in their courts. This trend is attributable to the previous training of judicial officers on refugee rights.

Arrests & Prosecution for unlawful presenceMonth ASYLUM SEEKERS/REFUGEES

Total ar-rests

Discharged Detained/de-ported

Ongoing cases

January 21 18 -- 3

February 18 12 -- 6

March 12 12 -- --

April 4 -- 1 3

May 37 36 1 --

June 1 -- -- 1

July 118 114 -- 4

August 4 4 -- --

September 51 -- 51 --

October 7 5 -- 2

November 3 1 -- 2

December

TOTAL 276 202 53 21


Court Attendance

Staff made 88 Court attendances to 14 different Law Courts as shown hereunder:

COURT Number of visits

Supreme CourtMakadara 34NyeriKibera 17Nakuru Kajiado 10NanyukiCity Court 1Business premises TribunalChildren’s courtMilimani 18Kadhi’s courtMachakos 6Kiambu 2TOTAL 88

C. Police Station Interventions

The program conducted a total of 39 visits to 16 Police Stations namely, Pangani, Buruburu, Huruma, Kayole, Shauri Moyo, Soweto, Central, Industrial Area, Jogoo Road , Chief ’s camp, Eastleigh Police Post, , Savannah Police, Ruai Police, Mwiki Police, Thika Police, Makongeni Police (Thika) and Ruaraka Police Station detention monitoring and intervention, sensitisation as well as generally creating a rapport with the officers.

These visits were largely monitoring visits to talk to the OCS and DCIO on refugee rights and documents and also on the work Kituo does and the role of the police in refugee protection. Our officer visited each station twice for monitoring purposes. The other visits were a response to reports of arrest by relatives of affected persons.

Participants during the Juja legal aid clinic.


POLICE STATION

Pangani Shauri Moyo

Soweto Central Buru-buru

Kayole Industri-al Area police

Jogoo Road

Chief ’s Camp

Others TOTAL

Number of Visits

15 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 13* 39

*Eastleigh Police Post, , Savannah Police, Ruai Police, Mwiki Police, Thika Police, Makongeni Police Thika, Ruaraka Police Stationʅ No. of interviews of PoCs-15

Advocacy Meetings ORGANISATION UNHCR KITUO

Head Office

IRC GIZ CISP Others TOTAL

Number 12 19 4 4 12* 51

*Refuge Point, LSK, KMJA, HAART, Heshima Kenya

Visits to other Organizations Organization DRA Immigration Prison/Remand JKIA Others TO-

TALNumber 5 2 12 2 6* 27

*Sheria House, children’s Department, Birth Registry

Thika police station officers and F.M.P staff during a fact finding mission on training of prison wardens and police officers.


D. Recruitment and Training of Paralegals The centre recruited and held a four- day training for 30 refugee community volunteer workers after which they were taken though a rigorous 4-day paralegal training before inducting them as paralegals in Nairobi. The training was held at The Nomad Hotel, Eastleigh.

The centre, thus, has an established network of paralegals who are doing monitoring, reporting and awareness creation within the communities. This will effectively assist in community protection monitoring.

Impact: So far these paralegals are already an effective link between us and the refugee community and there is greater interaction between Kituo and the refugee community thus there is greater interaction between Kituo and the refugee community.

E. Community fora for sensitisation of PoCs on refugee rights and obligations

The centre held two community fora/ workshops to sensitise refugee communities on their rights and obligations and on GBV matters. A total of 139 PoCs were reached and sensitised in this regard.

Clients were referred to partners for services that are not provided by Kituo such as medical care, provision of material support, psychosocial counselling etc.

Kituo produced and distributed brochures, copies of the Refugees Act, copies of the Gazette Notice No. 1819 of 2008 which extends the validity of Refugee IDs issued by the government and were to expire in 2009, fliers explaining refugee rights published in English, Kiswahili, Oromo and Somali.

Kituo made 8 appearances on radio and 2 in the print media in the run –up to the celebration of the World Refugee Day. In the Star Newspaper was a Supplement on the 20th

A break-up session during the training of lawyers on refugee law in Nyeri”


June for World Refugee Day. The radio stations included Koch FM, Pamoja FM, Ghetto FM, radio Umoja, Pwani FM, KBC and the BBC. The radio shows highlighted the work of Kituo, rights, duties and offences for refugees. The shows further highlighted the activities being conducted around World Refugee Day and answered questions related to asylum, access to documentation and promoting peace between refugees and host community members.

Implementation of Program in Mombasa

The Mombasa office secured the acquittal of 13 POCs charged with unlawful presence. The office attended 13 networking meetings focussing on sustainability, benefits and empowerment of refugees. In Mombasa, a strong partnership with the DRA on refugee matters has been forged, impending training of Court Users, State Counsels and Police Prosecutors discussed and joint preparations for the World Refugee day conducted.

On 3rd May 2012, the Mombasa office convened a Court Users Committee meeting in Wundanyi focusing

on refugee protection. Twenty (20) Court users were in attendance. A similar session was held in Taveta on the 13th June 2012 targeting Twenty (20) participants. A third session was held on 14th June 2012 in Voi where 21 participants attended.

For the first time in Mombasa the World Refugee Day was celebrated owing to Kituo’s initiatives under this project in partnership with other stakeholders such as the DRA and the Kenya Red Cross.

On 2nd April 2012 the DPP’s office - Coast region, affirmed its support and assistance on the upcoming programme of the training of the Police Prosecutors and State Counsels on refugee matters.

It is the Programme considers, as part of its core mandates, the pushing for the formulation of a proper national refugee and asylum policy as well as the full implementation of legislation governing refugee matters in accordance with international standards.

Attendants during a community sensitization exercise on refugee rights and obligations.


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Advocacy Governance and Community Partnerships (AGCP) Programme, is one of the core programmes of Kituo Cha Sheria (KITUO) that enhances equity and justice for all through outreach and empowerment of the poor and the marginalized communities by organizing them into formidable advocacy forces. AGCP promotes good governance and advocates for the adoption of pro-poor policies and legislations both at the grassroots and national level which are geared towards ensuring recognition and fulfilment of rights.

AGCP GOALSGoal 1: Building strategic partnerships with

communities.Goal 2: Increase access to Justice for the poor and

marginalized.Goal 3: Promote good democratic governance at

all levels.Goal 4: Advocate for and monitor the

implementation of pro-poor policies and legislations on land, labor, housing, access to justice and peace.

Goal 5: Strengthening programme leadership and team building.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GOALS IN THE YEAR 2012

Goal 1: Building Strategic partnerships with communitiesIn addition to the already 5 existing community justice centres in Nyando, Kamukunji, Kibera, Kisauni and Shimo La TewaMens’sPrsion, Kituo established another 5 community justice centre in Korogocho, Kamiti Maximum Prison, Kitui, Msambweni and Shimo La Tewa Women’s Prison. AGCP can proudly state that Kituo now has 10 community justice centres that are strategically located in different communities to provide legal aid services.Below is the graduation Ceremony and Public Launch of the Kamiti Justice Centre:

AGCP also ventured out of its traditional community area of operations and conducted visits to the Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kirinyaga and the Bulla Fot Community in Garissa. In the Mwea visit, AGCP together with Legal Aid

conducted a fact finding mission in Mwea to investigate claim by the farmers that their rights were being violated by the National Irrigation Board. From this mission the farmer’s grievances were as follows:

• Their children being sent away from the scheme upon attaining the age of majority.

• The certificates of allocation issued by the N.I.B do not guarantee ownership since this can be revoked at will by the manager

• The certificates cannot secure loans from the banks.

• Since N.I.B stopped giving them inputs, they cannot now afford to plant hence impoverishment

• They live in dilapidated houses since they are not allowed to renovate them or build better structures.

• They share the water for drinking with the water for irrigation since they are not allowed to dig boreholes. This has become a health risk wit deceases like typhoid, malaria, cholera and dysentery being on the rise.

• The fear and uncertainty for the future is rife since the people do not know when they will be evicted from the scheme since they have no tenure and the future of their children is bleak due to lack of education.

Through the Legal Aid department, a PIL case was filed on behalf of the Mwea farmers. In this suit Kituo seeks to have the Irrigation rules that the National Irrigation Board uses to be declared unconstitutional.

Thiba farmers from Mwea giving their views: This is one of the five schemes of rice farmers in Mwea. When they settled in the area the farmers were each issued with four acres of land to plough rice. They were also given a plot to reside in the villages. The certificates issued by the colonialists as licenses are the ones the National Irrigation Board (NIB) uses to date.

In 2006, the Bulla fot Community in Garissa approached Kituo Cha Sheria seeking legal aid and representation after they were in several occasions evicted by government officers from their ancestral land in Garissa District. The number of the people affected were about 3, 000. Kituo did a fact finding mission and established that there were grave human rights violations as to the manner in which the evictions were done. The community was forcefully evicted from their ancestral land that they had lived in since time immemorial although they did not have any titles to the land as the lands hadn’t been demarcated. There was

Advocacy, Governance and Community Partnerships Programme (AGCP)Introduction


no consultation with the community and no notice was given to them before the evictions. Furthermore during the evictions, the people were subjected to untold human suffering and they lost property during the process. It therefore turned that the whole process was arbitrary, unfair, illegal, unprocedural and unlawful.

Kituo filed a case on behalf of the Bulla Fot Community and on the 16th of November 2012, a ruling was issued in which the judge found that the Bulla Fot clients were entitled to compensation and rederess for their grievances. AGCP together with LEAP held a community forum in Garissa in which they elaborated on the implication of this ruling and what it means for the residents of Garissa.

On the 26th of June, AGCP in partnership with the LandiMawe Youth Group in MukuruKwaYaba, celebrated and observed International Torture Day. Present were community residents, community paralegals the area DC and OCS. Most community representatives highlighted the torture cases residents had informed them about; mostly to do with police torture. The area DC and OCS committed to work together with the community to act on cases of torture and residents were encouraged to report any torture cases at the Kamukunji Community Justice Centre for advice and further action. A legal aid clinic was also held in this areas to assist poor residents’ access justice.

Goal 2: Increased Access to Justice for the poor and marginalizedUnder this reporting period, AGCP continued to give Justice Centres technical support to address cases at the centre. The Justice centres Cases collectively

handled 2000 cases, solved through ADR, referrals to Kituo, advocates and issuance of demand letters.

To meet the above goal, AGCP organized learning forums on access to justice with different thematic focuses. A public thematic forum dubbed Access to Justice in Pursuit of the Right to Housing was organized in which the following took place:

• Reflections on housing situation generally, and specifically the challenge of housing low income groups and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in handling housing conflicts

• Participants taken through content of the proposed legislations i.e. Draft Housing Bill 2012 and the Eviction and Resettlement Guidelines and Bill 2012.

• Participants made aware of the various ongoing processes in the housing sector and how they can effectively get involved.

From this forum it was agreed that Kituo pay a courtesy call to the then Minister of Housing, Hon. Soita Shitanda to bring to his attention issues raised in the forum such as the delay in the adoption of housing legislation and the slum upgrading programme.

Kituo was consequently incorporated in the committee working on the Slum upgrading policy and established a working relationship with the Ministry of Housing to

Participants during the peace policy demonstration.


articulate issue affecting communities on the groundMoot Court held on exploring the Criminal Trial Process in Kenya at the Kamiti Maximum PrisonA moot court was held at the Kamiti Maximum prison with aim of creating awareness on the criminal trial process in Kenya and self-representation techniques. This Moot Court was conducted by the newly trained Kamiti paralegals who had prepared adequately for this learning forum. All inmates in Kamiti were invited to watch and learn from the Moot Court.Questions by inmates on their individual cases and general questions dealing with the criminal trial process were addressed by Hon. Justice Ochieng’.Kamiti inmates listen keenly to the Moot Court proceeding presented by Kamiti paralegals and

Kituo Access to Justice Day with a debate on the motion ‘The Judiciary Transformation Framework is too ambitious’AGCP noted that there was no day had been set aside locally or internationally to celebrate Access to Justice. It was therefore decided that the 11th day of September would be set aside to celebrate this day. Under this reporting period, the first Access to Justice Day was held with a debate on the motion ‘The Judiciary Transformation Framework is too ambitious.’Kituo staff and community paralegals participated in the debate while the larger public participated in an Essay Competiton ‘Access to Justice in Kenya’ and an Art Competition with the same theme. 20 Essays and 7 art pieces were entered for this competition.This event was attended by the Judiciary -Chief Registrar, Ms. Shollei, Head of the Judiciary Transformation Framework – Prof. Joel Ngugi, Office of the DPP- Patrick Kiage, Hon. AG- Prof. GithuMuigai and Hon. Eugene Wamlawa- Minister of JusticeThis day, participants discussed the Judiciary Transformation Framework within the access to justice debate.

Access to Justice Day

Goal 3: Advocate for and monitor the implementation of pro-poor policies and legislations on land, labour, housing and access to justice

Under this goal and reporting period, AGCP worked closely with various community groups to advocate for pro-poor policies. The following was achieved through this working partnership:

• Presented community views and memoranda to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Land and Natural Resources and the Constitution

implementation Committee- Community views from 4 justice centresKamukunji, Kibera, Nyando andKorogcoho) presented in form of oral and written memoranda on 3 Land Bills namely: the Land Commission Bill 2012, Land Registration Bill, 2012 and the Land Bill, 2012. Community views from 1 justice centre (Kamukunji) in the form of written memorandum to the CIC on the Draft Community Land Bill.

• Presented position paper to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Land and Natural Resources: Oral presentation of position paper on 3 Land Bills namely: the Land Commission Bill 2012, Land Registration Bill, 2012 and the Land Bill, 2012 presented in partnership with 3 Non-state actors - Katiba Institute, Mazingira Institute and AkibaMashinani

• Presented a written memorandum to the TJRC on Access to Justice presented in the form of oral and written memorandum

• Wrote a letter to the CJ requesting for the inclusion of community paralegals in Court User’s Committees. The CJ consequently allowed for 6 paralegals from Kibera ,Kamukunji and Korogocho to be members of Court Users Committees in Makadara and Kibera Law Courts. These paralegals present challenges faced in accessing justice to the Chief Magistrates.

• Presented Community views to IEBC on the proposed new boundaries. Community views in the form of written memoranda from 3 Justice Centres (Kamukunji, Kibera and Korogocho) presented to the IEBC.

• Letter written to the CJ, to intervene in the matters of 42 appellants from Kamiti Maximum Prison who are yet to receive their judgments. The CJ later paid a visit uto the priosn to address the issue of delayed judgments with the inmates.

• Letter written to Min. of State for Immigration and Registration of Persons to issue national ID’s to prisoners so that they can participate in the upcoming elections. Following lack of response after 4 weeks , demand letters were written and issued indicating possibility of going tocourt over this matter to ensure that prisoners are not excluded from the voting process The Ministry of State for Immigration and Registration of Persons responded through a letter, saying it has taken up the issue with the Commissioner of Prisons and had advised the Commissioner to instruct officers in charge of Prisons to liaise with


all District Registrars of Persons for the purpose of processing application forms for prisoners who do not possess IDs. Kamiti Maximum Prison informed Kituo through a letter that the processing application forms for prisoners who do not possess IDs had commenced in Kamiti and that 700 prisoners had so far been registered.

• Letter written to the IEBC to register prisoners as voters and gazette prisons as polling stations.Following lack of response after 4 weeks , demand letters were written and issued indicating possibility of going tocourt over this matter to ensure that prisoners are not excluded from the voting process

• A letter addressed to the Chairman, Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC) to champion the adoption of the Housing Bill, and the review of the Housing Policy. The Chairman, Law Reform Commission, observed the Housing Bill to be a priority and promised support for the Bill.

• Petitioned the Hon. CJ on the preliminary measures to implement the Judiciary Transformation Framework and enhance access to Justice for the poor and marginalized during the occasion the Judicial Marches.The CJ responded to Kituo’s request in the petition that a circular/guiding note be issued directing inclusion of paralegals in all court user committees across the country by saying that the practice already exists but the Judiciary insists on applications being made and he considers them on that basis. He promised that such applications will be favorably considered. On the issue of Art. 50 (7), in which Kituo had requested for an interpretation of the role of intermediaries in trials to include paralegals, The CJ responded by saying that he cannot interpret Article 50 (7) in a vacuum. He believes that role belongs to the High Court if that is the interpretation Kituo wants or before the court in the application is made during a trial. He added that he cannot perform a judicial function administratively. Kituo is currently exploring avenues through which to get an interpretation of Art 50 (7) to include paralegals.

• Written presentation on the Judiciary Budget Process; what should be prioritized.

• Community participation in the development of the legal aid bill: A Consultative meeting with Nairobi based paralegals on the draft Legal Aid Bill was conducted and facilitated by Professor Kindiki and Hillary Muthui Deputy Coordinator, NALEAP. Through this forum paralegals had an increased understanding of the Draft Legal Aid Bill, discussed and dialogued in an open and in-

depth manner the proposed Draft Legal Aid Bill, identified existing gaps in the Draft Bill. Views were then consolidated and forwarded to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the National Commission on the Administration of Justice.

Goal 4: Promote good democratic governance at all levels

AGCP carried out activities to strengthen communities living in the informal settlements of Nairobi to withstand political manipulation that leads to violent conflict. AGCP undertook several activities in the informal settlements of Nairobi, specifically integrating civic education activities within the program in a manner that has benefited the program towards restoring peace and embracing dialogue as a tool of communication. To this end, the following activities have been successfully undertaken;

a) Launching of Kenya Tuna Uwezo program in the informal settlements- the name of the program, “Kenya Tuna Uwezo” came as a surprise to the residents of the informal settlements who kept on asking, “Tukonauwezowakufanyanini”. This statement alone had a lot in it and indicated that people in the informal settlements felt quite vulnerable and the idea of having the sovereign power that has been granted too by the constitution was unimaginable. However, capacity building activities and dialogue programs have over the past one year has strengthened the community member s to a level where they can easily interact with authorities as different levels without fear and intimidation.

b) Voter education training; where the trained ToTs were taken through the laws, systems and processes under a new constitutional order to increase their knowledge and enhance participation in the electoral process.

c) Peace caravans- advocated for maintenance of peace, tolerance and cohesiveness before, during and after elections this contributed to objective number one of strengthening social network of community members to collaborate productively on community issues.

d) Monitoring and observing of election activities by cohesion champions- created a platform for community networks to participate meaningfully and have a voice on national issues that would shape the countries future. The activity contributed to objective one aim.


e) Mock elections-exposed the local residence to the procedures of casting six ballots for the first time in the History of Kenya under new constitutional order.

f) Marking of the International Day of Peace – on this day, the Kibera Women For Peace and Fairness together with KTU partners marked the day to show solidarity with Tana Delta families and children that had been displaced and others dying in the attacks. The activity contributed to objective 2 of the project as KTU mainly facilitated the project that was organized by the group.

g) Marking of the International Day of the Girl child-this day was marked by USAID and KTU partners to highlight the importance of educating the girl child. Ralia Mohammed was profiled as a young leader who is ambitious and has the vision to strive against all odds living in a community where crime is the order of the day and getting three meals a day is not easy. Profiling of Ralia who lives in the informal settlement of Nairobi helped in encouraging other children who live under such conditions that they can make it if they are willing and are committed to achieving their aspirations

h) Printing of stickers and T-shirts with Peace messages- the sticker with the message, “ My Open Heart Is My Pledge For Peace” and T-shirts with Kiswahili message, “ Dumisha Amani, KataaUchochezi( Front), Kenya Tuna Uwezo( Back) gave the people a sense of entitlement and realization that the power to protect and grow our country is in their hands.

Other partners that the program as engaged with;a) BBC SEMA KENYA- has created a platform that has meaningfully engaged our community networks into meeting with well-known public figures and interact/ debate on matters of concern to the community and nation at large.c) University Students Association- together with the students University association, the program carried out a successful peace campaign and free medical drive in the informal settlements of Kibera.d) Provincial administration-through the office of the District Commissioners, District Officer and chiefs, several advocacy and capacity building activities were conducted in the informal settlements where the respective authorities offered security to oversee maintenance of law and order during events.e) Community radio stations- hosted and assisted in airing out information on the electoral laws and procedures including urging the community to maintain peace and tolerance during the election season that saw Kenya go through a peaceful election.f) Kenya Clean Campaign Initiative- assisted in creating awareness in large scale on citizen’s roles and responsibility towards peaceful elections.

Participants during a paralegal training session.


PEACE JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION PROJECT

ICC outreach activities

With the support of GIZ and REDRESS, PJRP conducted outreach activities (information sessions on the ICC cases) and completion of victim participation forms in the following regions; Molo, Nakuru, Naivasah, Kitale, Eldoret, Kericho, KipkelionBomet. Kituo reached and informed at least 642 Kenyans (victims and public) through the public forum/briefing sessions on the ICC process.Report on the database of victims: PJRP created a database in which it has entered all victims that it ever registered who suffered harm in during the 2007/2008 Post Election Violence.A total of 1326 victims information have been entered in the data base. Out of this, 772 were male and 554 female.

Situation areas from where victims’ information has been entered in the PJRP data base

Alleged crimes committed

The in formation of the alleged crimes has also been entered in the data. The crimes committed have been categorized as follows;

i. Persecution ‐ 276 victims

ii. Torture ‐ 149 victims

iii. Rape ‐ 38 victims

iv. Murder ‐ 22 victims

v. Destruction of property ‐ 848 victims

vi. Forcible transfer ‐ 1054 victims

vii. and other inhumane acts ‐ 37 victims

crimes committed

persecution torture rape murder destruction of property forcible transfer other inhumane acts


Application to be granted leave to submit Amicus Curiae observations at the ICC on victims participation at the ICC: PJRP filed an application seeking leave to submit amicus curiae observations in relation to the modalities of implementation of the new system for victims’ participation and representation established by the Chamber in its decision on victims’ participation and representation, issued on 3 October 2012 in the two Kenyan cases.

On the 15th of November, 2012, the Chamber considered thatKituo is an appropriate organization to submit observations as amicus curiae in relation to the implementation of the system of victims’ representation and participation.The Chamber considered that Kituo’s observations may assist the Court in ensuring the effective implementation of the envisaged system.

Kisumu Peace Festival

The overall objective of participating in the peace festival was to create awareness and disseminate information on the peace policy and the Transitional Justice mechanisms available in Kenya.

The specific objectives were to:

a) Conduct legal Aid and Education on Kituo’s thematic areas and transitional justice.

b) Advocate for peace through awareness creation on the peace policy

Results of the activity:• 196 clients visited the kituo tent.• Land-22• Child maintenance-1• Advocates complaint- 1• Succession- 2• Domestic violence-2• Criminal-1• Labour-10• Housing-1• General inquiry about Kituo Cha Sheria-154

Publication of articlesPJRP officers published an article on victim

participation at the ICC on the Access Bulletin- published by REDRESS (Victims’ Rights Working

Group Bulletin, Fall 2012, Issue 21). This article focused on the victims situation in Kenya and called for meaningful, effective and timely participation of victims in the ICC process in addition to putting the Kenyan Government to task to play its role in ensuring the respect of the rule of law and adherence to due process for victims.

AGCP COASTAL REGION1. 0 KITUO LINKS COMMUNITIES WITH ON-GOING REFORM PROCESSES 1.1 The Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) Public HearingsThe Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission held it’s last lap of public hearings in Coast Region between January and March and KITUO was very instrumental in the process through the following;

• Mobilizing communities through community representatives in Lamu, Tana River, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kwale and Taita/Taveta counties to participate in the TJRC public and the women thematic cluster hearing forums.

• Use of talk shows in Radio Rahma, Pwani fm and Baraka fm to mobilize communities to participate on TJRC hearings and creating awareness on the mandate of the TJRC.

• Playing a monitoring role over how the process was conducted in Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale and Taita/Taveta counties and sharing the report.

• Assisting some of the communities KITUO assisted in packaging their grievances such as Lamu-Kiwayuu case ,Tana Delta-TARDA Case and Mombasa-Kisauni Land case and Taveta Mwachabo adjudication scheme.

1.2 Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Consultative Forums

During the same period, Communities from the targeted areas of Mombasa, Taita/Taveta and Kwale Counties were also mobilized to participate and give their views on the county consultative forums organized by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.


1.3 The Commission of Implementation of Constitution

Communities from Taveta and Mombasa were mobilized to participate in CIC county consultative forum aimed at getting community views on the Land Bill.

1.4 Judges and Magistrates vetting BoardDespite the late communication, Kituo through the programme mobilized paralegal networks, particularly from Kwale through Lamukhani and Shimo La Tewa paralegals, to participate in consultative forums organized by Judges and Magistrates vetting board to get inputs from the community on making the vetting process effective and successful.

2.0 URIP COMES TO COAST! It is all about protecting the Rights of Refugees in Coast.

The Urban Refugee Intervention Programme that KITUO partners with UNHCHR in Nairobi indicated its intention to devolve to the Coast. To lay a foundation for this KITUO undertook the following;

2.1 Baseline survey on Urban Refugees in CoastKITUO partnered with International Rescue Committee to carry out a survey on urban refugees

in Mombasa. The process targeted refugee areas of presence including Changamwe (Jomvu)-Mainly Somalis, Likoni, Shanzu- Mainly Congolese and Kisauni (Old town and Barsheba). Kituo identified enumerators from the refugee community to assist in data collection. Again the exercise was used to boost the awareness among refugee communities and strategic stakeholders on Kituo’s engagement on refugee affairs. In addition, the survey provided significant gaps in refugee interventions in the region for capitalization by Kituo as it engages in refugee affairs.

2.2 Engagement with Refugee rights Stakeholders• Magistrates: KITUO held a meeting with

Mombasa Chief Magistrate on access to justice particularly among the refugees. Through the meeting, Kituo shared its work around refugees and the Magistrate promised to have refugee cases brought before the judiciary represented by Kituo to enhance effective representation of the refugees. Again the Magistrate shared the need to have the Magistrates trained afresh on the Refugee Act an exercise that Kituo subsequently undertook and SRM Kwale

• Department of Refugee Affairs: For the period, a curtsey call was made to DRA office in Malindi. Through the visits Kituo shared the

Attendants during prisoners and prison wardens training on during the Hamaza Magereza Campaign at Eland hotel.


concern of existence of variety of identification documents given to aliens. A recommendation for a possible review was given at the same time, the office informed Kituo of the intended plan of opening DRA office in Mombasa.

• Prisons: Similarly a visit was also made to Kwale targeting Kwale prison.

• Partners: There were UNHCR briefing sessions held in Mombasa office and this served to raise lacunas in refugee intervention work both locally and nationally that AGCP could step in to address, particularly around advocacy on policy areas on issues affecting refugees.

2.3 Public Forums on Refugee Rights• National symposium on Local

Integration of refugees: The programme took part in a National symposium on Local Integration of refugees at the Nyali beach Hotel Mombasa that was organized in programme partnership of NURRIA with the European Commission and IRC.

• International Day of Refugees 2012:

For the first time Kituo in conjunction with Red Cross and Department of Refugee affairs held the first refugee day commemoration themed “A Refugee forced to flee is one too many’’ which encompassed marching from Traesury Square to the Red Cross hall were there was a lecture and entertainment from various groups which was captured by media.

3.0 INNOVATING JUSTICE: THE COMMUNITY AND PRISON JUSTICE CENTRES.The Initiative of Justice Centers is an innovative way of making access to justice available to the poor by using paralegals to deliver legal services. This is a concept that is supported by UNDP Amkeni and involves empowering the organization of community and prison paralegals, setting up justice centers, training inmates, prison warders and community representatives on legal, human rights and criminal justice procedures so as to provide legal aid to the poor who cannot afford legal fees.

3.1Kisauni Constituency and Development Initiative-KICODIIn 2012, KICODI continued to give legal advice to community members with the prominent cases handled being on land, landlord-tenant and children cases. For the period between January to August of 2012, in terms of offering legal advice to the community the centre attended to a total of 69 Matters, as classified hereunder:

High Court…………………………………1Children’s court…………………………….7Land restriction tribunal……………….…...16Police………………………………………..6Provincial administration……………………2Municipal council……………………………4ADR………………………………………...33Total………………………………………..69

Other Undertakings by the Centre;

• The centre hosted the UNDP-Amkeni team that had come to document this centre as a success on access to justice.

• A meeting was held with USAID representatives to deliberate on gender issues and trends in Coast region.

• In partnership with KECOSCE (The Kenya Community Support Center) they did a civic education on the new systems of governance in the Junda ward of Kisauni constituency.

• The Center received a total of Ksh. 70,000 from Action Aid International after presenting a concept to conduct civic education on land reforms, the new system of governance and other legal matters.

• Three interactive sessions were held in the centre to discuss the salient features of the Industrial court Act and come up with the critiques and some of the key recommendations forwarded by the centre to the taskforce were the need to devolve the Industrial courts (which has since devolved) to reduce the copies of documents from 6 copies each to 3 copies and to have a clear definition of subordinate industrial courts.


3.2 Shimo La Tewa Prison Justice Centre. • Cases handled by Prison Paralegals: In the

period between January to August of 2012 the justice centre appeals followed by the paralegals in various courts are as classified hereunder:

Remand Cases Acquittals Convictions

59 27 30

Appeals-High Court DismissedAllowed/Reduced Sentences

19 6 10

Appeals-Court of Appeal

DismissedAllowed/Reduced Sentences

38 18 20

TOTAL CASES 116

• Magistrates vetting board: The board collaborated

with kituo in a session that provided a chance for the inmates to be taken through the work of the board and given the forms from the judges and magistrates voting board and taken through what was required to fill and submit the form.

• PIL case on prisoners right to vote in general elections: During this year a ground was set for the PIL case on inmates’ right to vote in general elections. Although the orders came in late most of the paralegals Identity Cards were detained at various stations and Kituo liaised National Bureau of Statistics under the Ministry of Immigration to issue new IDs.

• Power of Mercy Committee: During this time a monthly visit to advice the paralegals was held twice with the first one focusing preparing the paralegals for their appeals and getting recommendations on the procedures around the power of mercy committee. As a result a total of 70 applications were made to the committee.

• Chief Justice visits Shimo La Tewa Prison: The paralegals had a chance to present a memorandum to the chief justice regarding various issues like sexual offences cases involving minors, the death penalty and the inactive power of mercy committee.

• National Registration Bureau: The programme held a meeting on the 24/07/2012 with Mr.Aggrey Masai who is the Coast regional director at the National Registration Bureau as pertains the prison reforms agenda under the Hamasa Gerezani project and how to liaise with his office in the process of registration of the inmates as voters.

• Ministry of Immigration: Kituo intervened by writing to the ministry about prisoners required to pay 300 KES processing fee which the ministry gave a waiver as a result.

• Civic Education During the period the programme was able to do an interactive training workshop at the Shimo la Tewa main prison inmates on the bill of rights and the right to vote as enshrined in the Article v article 83 of the constitution.

• The centre gets featured by BBC: The centre got to be featured in November by the BBC World news who have expressed in doing a documentary on the justice center and what it has achieved as far as the project started being implemented.

• Visit by Micro Justice Team: Micro-justice team and shared success stories of Shimo La Tewa access to justice project. The team also paid a courtesy call to shimo project. The visitation was instrumental in sharing opportunities available for paralegal in associating with the Micro Justice and cementing partnership with the team.

• The Centre is Nominated for the Innovating Justice Award 2012: The IJ Awards are aimed at stimulating innovations in the justice sector by providing new breakthrough solutions to Rule of Law challenges and the prison paralegal project in Shimo La Tewa received a recognition by the Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law and was invited to the city of Justice-The Hague


committee secretary Mr. Gachiri, Gender and Equality Commission Chairperson Winnie Lichuma, Resident Judge Lady Justice Nzioka, and other prison Officials. The platform was used to raise pertinent issues touching on the welfare of the inmates and enhanced working relationship with various stakeholders represented.

3.4 Lamukani Community Justice Centre (NEW!)Lamukani CBO is the latest entry to the community justice center initiative and their main objective is to enhance access of justice to the poor and marginalized in Kwale County.

• Paralegal Training: The year under preview saw the training of a total of 20 paralegals comprising of 12 men and 8 women from the centre. There were about 5 youths among the group. The comparative advantage of inclusion of the youths being their techno savvy qualities. Among the participants included Islamic teachers (Ustadhi), retired teacher, village elders, women leaders and youth leaders.

• Laying strategies for the justice centre operations: Apart from the important topics for community based paralegals, quality time was spent laying a strategy for strengthening the Center and it included drawing of work-plans, resource mobilization strategy and staff attendance rota to guide the activities of the Centre after the training.

The Innovative has been featured in the new publication Innovating Justice: Developing new ways to bring

fairness between people by HiiL3.3 Shimo La Tewa Women Paralegals: The new Kids in the Block!

• Setting the foundation for a new centre: In an effort to make justice accessible and also engender the prison paralegal project, consultations were held with officer in charge, Shimo la Tewa women Prison regarding the inception of a new justice centre and training of inmates as paralegals.

• First Paralegal Training for Shimo La Tewa Women Prison: As a starting point a paralegal training was conducted whereby a total of 12 comprising of 6 inmates and 6 wardresses were trained. The apex of the training culminated to graduation that brought on board key stakeholders including power of mercy

M-sheria training at Ole Odume apartments.


• Sharing of Ideas between Centres: A KICODI representative was invited to share with Lamukani on the experiences and challenges of community justice centres . The platforms were also ideal for networking between the two centers and promote healthy competition between the centers.

• Grand Graduation Ceremony and Launch of the centre: The graduation of 20 paralegals and launch of the justice center was held at the Lamukani Office in Kinondo, Msambweni constituency. The guest speakers were key stakeholders such as the area chief, the land adjudication officer Kwale, the representative from the base titanium company, religious leaders and acting coordinator Kituo cha Sheria. The ceremony was graced by the presence of the community too and the awarding of the certificates was the climax.

3.5 Malindi and Nyeri Prisons• Inmates: Although there are no centres here yet,

during the period the programme in collaboration with the legal department was able to do an interactive training workshop at the Malindi and Nyeri main prisons. The interactive training session in Malindi GK Prison was the first of its kind by Kituo cha Sheria in the facility. It was aimed at civic education of the inmates on the bill of rights,

voter Education on the new electoral laws and empowerment of the inmates on criminal law and procedure. A day was also dedicated to training of some inmates at the Nyeri main prison on the Bill of rights and introduction of paralegal training program in brief.

• Prison Administrators: During the period the programme in collaboration with the legal department was able to do an interactive training workshop of prison administrators in Nyeri County touching on Bill of rights, leadership and integrity and the electoral laws. Some few participants were drawn from Nyeri, Nyanza, Western and Nairobi prisons.

4.0 ADVOCACY AROUND LAND RIGHTS AND SECURE TENURE4.1 On Going Community Land Cases

• Kidomaya Community-Kwale: The programme engaged the Kidomaya-Kwale community representatives and took them through basic organization of the community through such initiatives as reviewing their constitution and registration procedure to ensure an organized group for effective follow up of the PIL case.

Shimo la tewa Prison paralegal during a function organized by Kituo inside the facility


• Mwachabo settlement scheme: A follow up on the Mwachabo settlement scheme was done with a view to initiate actions and interventions that will translate to community land rights tenure. This time around the approach taken was more engaging as a meeting was organized between the team and the opinion leaders, the local administration including the District Officer, judicial committee, religious leaders and area councilors to tackle emerging triggers of conflict in the settlement.

• Taveta Communty vs. Basil Criticos case: Community in Taveta were mobilized for follow up of getting the relevant documents and statements in Taveta as regards the PIL case Kituo filed over disputed ownership of a parcel of land by Basil Criticos. The team in Taveta during the inventory also held a meeting with D.C and other community members having land related concerns and also met the communities in Mrabani area over the PIL case Kituo is preparing to file over disputed ownership of a parcel of land by Basil Criticos.

• Shangaivishi Trust Land Case: The programme mobilized community for a follow up in Mwakitau area of Taita County and constituted a committee of the local community members which was tasked with the responsibility of finding supportive information on the public litigation case which is on the “Shangaivishi Trust Land Case”. This activity is in line with the capacity building of the marginalized communities to effectively fight for their rights.

• Malindi Boat Operators: Kituo has been handling the case of Malindi Boat Operators association over a land dispute between the community and the KWS over the lease of Malindi Marine Park (the only public beach in Malindi) to a private developer who has since erected paramagnet walls in the area under dispute and blocking Boat users’ access and usage of the parcel. The programme in collaboration with the legal aid department in partnership with Action Aid conducted a field

visit to Malindi over the Malindi Boat operators as planned PIL. The meeting was aimed at gathering the latest facts on the ground before decisions are made on filling the case. Meetings were held with KWS officials, Malindi Community representatives including the Boat operators.

• Ziwa La Ng’ombe: A meeting was also held with 9 representative members of Ziwa La Ng’ombe settlement scheme on eviction and demolition threats by lands office, to pave entry way to a private developer’s plot. A Petition has been drafted and is to be forwarded to the lands office for clarity on the threats issued through physical planner.

4.2 Fact Finding Missions• Takaungu Community in Kilifi: The

programmme in partnership with legal aid department carried out a fact finding on land in Takaungu area of Kilifi as regards the Mazrui Vs Takaungu case that Kituo is taking up under Public Interest Litigation. The process was mainly through a meeting that was held with the local committee who were tasked with the responsibility of ascertaining ownership, which they did through supportive documents and photos. This is in line with lobbying and advocating for the cases of the poor people in the community as regards land.

• Mariakani: The program in partnership with legal aid department carried out a fact finding on land in Mariakani on a multi-purpose dam that is set to be constructed. The process was mainly through a meeting that was held with the local committee who were tasked with responsibilities to gather the relevant documents and evidence of any type that will help Kituo in filing a public litigation case on the said matter.

• Pogwe: Fact finding was conducted in pongwe, Kwale County in partnership with Legal aid. The aim of the activity was to touch base with the community concerns and verify the facts for possibility of representing the community on a


land matter against KISCOL. Through the meeting the community members were empowered on the court process in taking up the matter, organizing themselves in a registered group strategically for follow-ups of such cases and also for advocacy on their own human rights issues. Supportive statements were also collected from selected individuals.

4.3 The SAFE ProjectThe programme has been partnering with PACT/USAID to implement the SAFE project in Coast Region that seeks to promote peaceful elections together with other actors like Ujamaa Centre, CJPC and KECOSCE. The following are highlights of the project;

• Development of strategies targeting Kwale County community on their contribution towards the realization of sustainable peace given the upheaval that have been attributed to Kwale county given that Mombasa Republican Council (MRC.

• The programme participated in monthly consultative meeting organized by USAID and PACT and brought together the SAFE partners, to deliberate on conflict issues affecting the Coast region and developing mitigation measures.

• Development of a media strategy on the framework, opportunities and challenges of the media campaign on land and devolution in the Coast.

• Inventory of land in settlement schemes: Through the team met with the Adjudication committee members and Communities and civil societies working on land issues in the areas and a number of key informants. This is information has been used in initiating actions and interventions by Kituo towards secure community land tenure as a solution to land conflicts in Coast.

• The program in collaboration with legal aid department did a civic education in Migombani-Likoni, Matsangoni-Kilifi County and in Changamwe and Bomu-Mombasa County on issues of new framework of governance and land reforms under SAFE project. The community was

empowered on the new systems of government and need for active community participation in it.

5.0 DEMYSTIFYING DEVOLUTION THROUGH TARGETED PUBLIC AWARENESS5.1 Devolution Sessions with Youth GroupsThe programme was invited to facilitate a session on devolution for youth in Enjoying everyday’s life college, in Mombasa. A total of 23 youths comprising of 11 female and 12 males were empowered. Through the session the youths indicated the interest in volunteering work round Kituo areas of work to enhance their theoretical competence in aspects of governance and community engagements.

The programme in partnership with the LAED also held a forum with 16 including 5 females and 11 male members of the Ng’ombeni Youth Development Group (NDEV-G) in Msambweni on devolution. From the session, the groups begun working on strategy to work with other youth groups to ensure the youths influence election of credible leaders and influence youth participation of the youths in the upcoming elections. The youth group was introduced to Radio Kaya representatives to enhance the group’s advocacy.

5.2 Devolution sessions with communities with pressing land concerns

• The programme in partnership with legal aid sensitized the communities from 6 targeted areas in including, Kwale, Mombasa, Taveta, Kilifi, Malindi and Tana Delta, on constitution emphasizing on devolution as heralded by new constitution. A total of 505 community members comprising 256 men and 249 women were empowered on the opportunities, inherent challenges accruing from Kenya’s devolution framework and myths around devolution were dispelled. As a result of the forums initiatives of formation of citizen forums that will be key participation approach were mooted in some areas.

• The programme in partnership with legal aid department conducted civic education on land and devolution in Mwanda, Mghange and Mwakitao


area of Taita-Taveta County in partnership with CJPC. The community was empowered on the new systems of Government and need for community participation in it. The attendance in Mwakitao was 105 community members and in Mghange was 70 and Mwanda 50.The emerging issues from the outreach was that there is lack of information in the community hence need for more awareness creation that will even build the capacity of the communities for engagement with the upcoming Government structures and National land policy.

• The program in collaboration with legal aid department and CJPC did civic education come legal aid in the Sagalla area of Taita County. The outcome of the activity was legal counsel given to the emerging individual legal issues and the empowerment of the community on the new system of governance and matters of land. The key emerging issue is that there is lack of information in the community about the upcoming government structures and the hence need for more awareness creation that will even build the capacity of the communities for engagement and active participation. The programme intends to do a follow up by further civic education.

5.3 Radio Talk Shows on Devolution• The programme hosted radio talk shows in

partnership with the legal aid team at Baraka fm, Radio Salaam, Radio Kaya, Sifa Fm and Anguo Fm to sensitize the community on devolution and land matters. The focus was on civic education of the concept and framework of the devolved governments as per the new statues and the need for communities to participate in the implementation of the new structures of Government. On land they focused on creating awareness on the new land Acts that have been recently passed in the parliament. The programme will be using the sentiments from the callers to come up with a community manifesto. The manifestos will be used for community development blueprints to be used in engaging aspirants for realization of people centered devolution.

5.4 Devolution ManualThe programme compiled information for the development of a self training manual on devolution. The tool to be launched in 2013 will be used by TOTs and other organizations in empowering the community on devolution. The draft is now available and validation exercise with diverse stake holders has been done.

FMP Paralegal graduation


Land And Devolution Snapshot

• The programme participated on over 30 radio talkshows on land and devolution.

• The programme was instrumental in the development of the Coast land charter for aspiring leaders in conjuction with Kenya Land Alliance.

• The programme developed a critique on the land bill which was shared with the parliamentary select committee on land and natural resources .

• Hosting the Coast Land and Non State Actors (CLNSA). The agenda that was discussed in the meeting was the way forward for the Community Land bill, evictions and resettlement bill, the future of the network..

• Media Caucus: The agenda of the meeting was the creation of a synergy with the media on the issues of land matters that are peculiar to the region and how they can both strengthen their advocacy on it by working together to achieve civic education and land reforms.

• Land Inventory: One meeting was organized by the programme to plan for the upcoming land inventory in Taita/Taveta County in partnership with CJPC (Catholic Justice and Peace Commission). The meeting was used to map mobilization strategy and

approach in the joint activity. • The programme engaged with Mombasa

Republican Council officials to get a feel of their issues and highlight strengths that can be utilized by the group to resolve some of their concerns in an amicable manner. Through the engagement, the group indicated cooperation by seeking Kituo’s help in an extrajudicial killing matter in Kilifi. They were given the legal advice on how to tackle the issue. Towards the end of the year a public forum was held in Nairobi with land experts invited to steer a discussion on possible solution to the MRC issue.

LABOUR RIGHTSThe Kenyan Law and the Work Booklet The programme in partnership with Legal aid reviewed and compiled Kituo’s labour booklet. The draft was availed for validation with various stakeholders. The programme held one session with paralegals to test the suitability of the document for local readership. Stakeholder Validation/Labour Day DinnerThe programme in partnership with legal aid department held validation session of the labour booklet with key relevant stakeholders comprising of Union officials,

A peaceful demonstration during the peace campaign.


Employees NHIF officials, and VAs and Media houses representatives. A total of 96 delegates participated in the process. Through the exercise key inputs were made in enriching the handbook while participants were also empowered on their labour rights.

Data Base developed for Workers Unions in CoastDuring the year the programme has engaged workers union representatives as entry points to the advocacy around labour rights in Coast. The robust data base consists of the representatives from Dock workers Union, Kenya Local Government Workers Union, Seafarers Workers Union, COTU, KUDHEIHA and Shipping Workers Union.

OTHERS UNDERTAKINGS BY THE PROGRAMME

• The programme trained youth in Kikambala on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The meeting was organized by Kwetu Training Centre.

• The programme also made a presentation for Clerics from CICC empowering the Clerics on the draft peace policy as part of their advocacy campaign in support of the policy.

• The programme also assisted UN Women in mapping of potential civic educators from all the 6 counties in the region to be trained as TOTs to carry out civic education in the region on issues of elections.

• 2 program officers underwent training on (Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Learning) facilitated by PACT in MERL in Nairobi.

• The Programme participated in Yes Youth can strategic planning workshop. The group that consists of (Youth Bunges) is among the local structures supported by USAID.

• The program participated in a public forum that was dubbed “Enhancing benefits of Regional Integration

in Kenya’s development agenda”. The program presented its contribution to the discussion in terms of the the advancement of the bill of rights that Kenya boasts of.

• The Programmme engaged with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights-KNHRC

new office in Mombasa. The engagement was used by KNHRC to understand the human rights issues in the region and obtain inputs on how they can be of relevance and complement the efforts of the CSOs in the region.

• The Programme took part in a Symposium on Criminal Justice Practices in Nakuru from 3st July-2nd August in Nakuru with the theme of “Criminal Justice Reforms in the new Constitutional Dispensation: Challenges and opportunities in the Alternative Measures to Imprisonment.”Participants were from the judiciary, prison authorities, civil society and international experts. The issues discussed were Prison Congestion, Bail information, the place of victims in criminal justice system and possible remedies to this.

• One Radio Talk show on the ICC was held in Baraka FM to enlighten the community on the ICC process following the confirmation hearings and the implications of the same.

• Through the programme staff Mr.Titus Ogalo attended a three day conference in Kampala, Uganda on community Based paralegals. The objective of the conference was to share experiences, deliberate on issues affecting community based paralegals and forge a regional network that will go a long way in pushing for recognition of community based paralegals to enhance access to justice. A process of preparation of a declaration aimed at achieving recognition of paralegals was the greatest output of the conference.

• The programme participated in meeting with the Chief Justice for civil society organizations in Coast hosted by Haki Yetu and on behalf of the partner Kituo presented a memorandum. Some of the key issues which emerged were: the need to devolve the Industrial Court, case backlogs (special mention given to the Takaungu case), high bonds given to the poor and selective implementation of court orders and especially those favoring the poor.


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This programme played its role of supporting other key programmes in the areas of Research, Communication, Documentation and Information Technology. Through research KITUO’s was able to enhance its policy advocacy and litigation intervention as well as inform public debates on critical areas of KITUO’s thematic concerns. Through the use of Information Technology (IT) KITUO made great strides, in engaging technology in various forms to increase efficiency and production in its business processes. There was increased use of computer applications within the programmes and administrative staff, aimed at improving on productivity. There was also a remarkable improvement in communication and research through use of the Internet and email. Data and resource sharing was emphasized through use of computer networks and centralized computing, i.e. use of Servers. The programme also contributed in enhancing KITUO’s profile by show-casing its continued role, relevance and work. This was through the various publications, reports, pamphlets, social media and website content.

During the period under review, the programme undertook several

activities.

a) ResearchKituo has a resource centre with about 1,200 classified books and statues. There are also several pamphlets, brochures and reports within Kituo and its stakeholders which are used as reference material and in research. Statutes are updated frequently and new ones purchased as soon as accented in law by the president in order to keep the centre up to date. The program also provided for online sources through subscription and reliable internet access.

These research sources provide material that enables Kituo to contribute towards finding solutions to issues and problems faced by its clients in the core areas of intervention. Some of the issues and problems have complex causes and effects that require sound and critical analysis in order to identify viable, realistic and relevant solutions. Effective advocacy is informed by high quality research and Kituo relies on these sources among others to generate ideas, innovations and strategic directions around the core areas.

Research, Communication and Documentation (RCD)/Information Technology (IT) and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)Introduction

Nathan Kivungi, Tobias Mwadime and Debra Ojuka consulting during the AGM at the Pan Africa hotel.


b) Production and Dissemination of Kituo’s Publication and DocumentariesThe programme was responsible for the production of Kituo’s publication and documentaries, some of which are highlighted in the tables below.

Documentaries

Name Content Date

1 World Refugee Day Celebrations to mark the world refugee day 20/06/2012

2 Lang’ata women’s prison paralegal graduation

Graduation of Prison Paralegals at Langata Prison 30/11/2012

3 Access to Justice Day Celebrating access to Justice day 11/09/2012

4 Public interest Litigation colloqui-um 1 & 2

Public interest litigation colloquium at Sarova Panafric 30 & 31/09/2012

5 Public interest litigation colloquium dinner

Public interest litigation colloquium dinner at Sarova panafric 29/09/2012

Publications:Publication Content

1 Legal Aid and Education Buletin Vol 3…Adverse possession (The case of land in kenya

A buletin from the Legal Aid and Education programme

2 A simplified Guide on the Devolved System in Kenya A simplified manual on the Devolved System in Kenya

3 Newletters Kituo news and events published every four months

4 Annual Report 2012 Summary of Kituo achievements and major outcomes in the year 2012

5 A handbook on Dhobi women and their rights A labour rights booklet focusing on Dhobi women group

6 Refugee Handbook 2013 A booklet on refugee rights

7 Refugee Identification Documents (Samples) A booklet showing samples of identification documents refugee require

8 Advocacy for the Legal Aid Bill, 2012 A booklet on the Legal Aid Bill 2012

9 The Kenyan worker and the Law An information booklet on labour law

10 Mfanyakazi Mkenya na Sheria Kitabu cha habari kuhusu haki za wafanyakazi

The publications and documentaries were distributed to our various publics including our grassroots communities, volunteer advocates, donor agencies, civil society organizations, community justice centres and individual clients. Some were distributed through the website and social media sites.

The program has also been in charge of production and dissemination of Information, Education and

Communication materials including banners, T-shirts, brochures and fliers. These are normally very useful during advocacy campaigns on various issues. They also serve the individuals and communities by providing them with information on their rights and act as invaluable tools that empower them to claim these rights as well as enable them engage with policy makers and ensure government accountability.


c) Communication/Profiling Kituo’s Work

Effective communication plans allow organizations to reach both internal and external clients, stakeholders including the state and non-state actors, development partners and the general public. Kituo explore the use of media and communication as an investment towards a successful operations in empowering the poor and marginalised communities effectively access justice and realize their human and people’s rights. The year ending December 2012, the Research, Communication and Documentation Programme embraced the application of sound media and communication strategies to act as a link in profiling the organization successes stories with regard to programme interventions that yielded in among others; influencing public choices in topical issues of national importance under, maintenance of relevance in Kituo areas of niche, increased public confidence on human rights protection and empowering community participation in areas of access to justice.

Media and communication has also played an integral function in the realization of Kituos strategic interventions for the year ending December 2012.This has created an enabling consistency in donor support and focus on organization goal and values. Particularly, the use of media in communication has helped the programme realize strategic objectives that seek to enhance positive visibility and reputation, image and profile of KITUO as a premier CSO in its core thematic areas. In the 1st quarter, the programme planned to put in place an effective and operational media strategy by December 2012. In so doing the programme developed a media and communication strategy that embraces branding, inventory for media contacts, stakeholder’s participation and feedback, interactive platform for topical issues among others. Some of the methodologies deployed include the use of both print media, social and or electronic media. Under the programme, Kituo has now developed an interactive, tweeting, Facebook and Skype account to digitally link online clients.

Some of the stories profiled in the year 2012 included but not limited to; The International day for peace that took

place at Kibera Salvation Army church, Legal Aid Clinics including refugee training at Kituo headquarters, Forced Migration officers and Mombasa Office, The Kamiti moot court, Interactive training session and open day for Shimo La Tewa Prison, National symposium on local integration of refugees in Kenya, The Katiba day celebrations that took place at Ufungamano hall, The 3rd public interest litigation colloquium held and celebrating Kituo’s birthday and Access to Justice Day

Kituo is also very active in social media through its Facebook, Twitter and Youtube accounts. Kituo’s facebook fan page is very active with very new content. We are also on Twitter, and to follow Kituo on twitter, check out KituoSheria” and follow us.

d) Information Technology Backup and Security All KITUO digital information is backed up in order to improve on security and ensure a quick recovery incase of disaster. All PCs are protected from viruses, worms and unauthorized access by Karspersy Antivirus software which is licensed and updates regularly. KITUO also operates a local Domain that validates all users before gaining access to our local resources, like printers and servers information.

e) Monitoring Evaluaion Learning and Reporting (MERL)

Kituo embraces MERL as a continuing function in providing the management and programme team of ongoing intervention with early indication of progress or lack thereof in the achievement of results. It involves observing change, analysing feedback, kilometre checks, regular assessment and routine reflection. For the year ending 2012, Kituo deployed an in-house Monitoring and Evaluation expert to assist put in structures and systems that would help improve our reporting requirements, celebrate success stories and document impact. During this period, a number of tools were developed namely; the occurrences book, event records sheet, M&E Plans. Others improved were project logical frame works, results chain management tools, key performance indicator table, reporting standards among others.


Kituo has since then, applied the two models in monitoring and evaluation one being the implementing monitoring and result based monitoring and evaluation. For the year ending 2012, Kituo participated in the Civil Society of the Year Award and emerged the 1st runners up in capturing results, an M&E function.

Tracking key results from various programes(A) The Forced MigrationDeals with projects dealing with statelessness, asylum seekers, deportees and refugees and continues to monitor the implementation of the Refugees Act 2006 and the Constitution on refugee’s rights.Activity: National Symposium on Durable solutions held in Mombasa 23rd to 24th August 2012.M&E Analysis on the Feedback forms receivedTotal Number of Registered participants including staff was 40.The total numbers of respondents were 19.

Fig. 1 the training increases the level of interaction with KCS and interaction in the refugee trainings

Fig 3. Participant’s knowledge on UNHCR refugee/asylums documentations

Fig 4 & 5. Participant’s knowledge of DRA roles & workshop objectives respectively


Objective 2: Evaluating the workshop design and mode of presentation

AGM


COMMENTS1. All the sessions were viewed as outstanding and

interactive 2. Allocate more time for discussions and improve on travel

arrangement

3. The recommendations need further assessment. If realistic,

the MFP needs to advocate for actions for implementation.

The detailed M&E analysis was sent to MFP for

implementation.

4. FMP felt it was challenging to implement the activity with

half cost budget. In monitoring terms, this may have a

negative impact to the Earned Value Analysis1

(B) Advocacy Governance and Community Partnership Programme (AGCP)

The programme basically coordinates Kituo’s outreach and advocacy initiatives including instruments of justice.Activity 1: Commemorating Access to Justice Day and Kituo Cha Sheria Key Action PointsRecommendation on key action points

1. Improved follow-up on the position of the Legal Aid Bill, 2012 there might be need to change strategy for advocacy

2. Need to get a draft copy of the Attorney General’s Bill, 2012 and the Director of Public Prosecutions Bill for Critique

3. Identify PIL case on provision of legal Aid for those charged for Robbery with violence offences

Activity 2. Courtesy Call with Minister for Housing 8th August

2012

The proposed actions were objectively to help;1. Fast track the adoption of the Housing Bill, 2012

2. Review the housing policy, 2004 and further monitor its implementation

1 It is the measure of a project’s progress,forecast its completion date and final cost, andprovide schedule and budget variances along the way.

3. Fast track the implementation of the Draft eviction & Resettlement Guidelines

4. Review and consolidate the landlord-tenant legislation

Agreed Action Points with the Minister of Housing1. KITUO to litigate against Ministry of Finance

over non-compliance with Article 21 & 43 of the new Constitution- still pending

2. KITUO to initiate drafting of slum upgrading regulation/ guidelines- still pending

3. KITUO to be part of the Ministry of Housing Taskforce/Committee instituted to develop slum upgrading policy- No communication

4. Both partners to have quarterly meetings with Housing coalition on issues of housing- No communication

5. KITUO to actively participate and showcase their activities at the International forums on matters housing e.g. the UN Habitat and be invited to join the delegation to the world Urban Forum to be held in Brazil which the minister is to seek invitation for Kituo’ representation- No communication

6. Petition AG for unnecessary delay in drafting of bills and Petition parliament to introduce a motion against AG on point 6 above- still pending.

Recommendation

Need to follow on the proposals above with urgency and seriousness it deserves. Media engagement and lobbying are recommended for this call.


Legal Aid and Education Programme (LAEP)Activity: Public Interest Litigation 3rd Colloquium held at Panafric Findings on the variables

The presentations/discussions were highly informative and appropriate with clarity in theoretical analysis supporting the thematic references.

The analysis of the Colloquium in terms of;a. Strengths

• Invitation of high profiled facilitators/presenters/speakers with diversity in experienced and approach

• Fairly good mobilization/networks• Active participants• Inclusiveness of paralegals• Partnership with key stakeholders ie.

Government b. Weakness

• Poor observation of time• Failure to involve the magistrates to get the

contribution of subordinate courts• Inadequate time during plenary• Provision of stipends• Failure to disseminate handouts on time

Aimee Ongeso and a prison officer at Lang’ata prison during the paralegal graduation.


• Failure to include more actors like the power of mercy committee, the children officers, MPs to give more views on legal aid

c. Opportunities for improvement• Adequate allocation of time to the presenters

and conduce the program for have impact on objectives

• Increased mobilization to critique the Legal

the human, financial and physical resources committed to the project/program vis a vis donor requirement. It further assists in the provision of feedback at the various stages of the project to the donors, implementers and beneficiaries of the project. This help building linkage and donor relation and lastly supports decision making and understanding of dynamics of the project or program being implemented both internally and externally.

Aid Bill. Gender parity is addressed herein as key instrument

• Engage the participants through group activities unlike lectures

• Involve KMJA in the next colloquium, police, the Ministry of Justice and other key players in the criminal justice system

d. Individual rating

Why monitoring and evaluation?

Kituo finds Monitoring important in a number of ways. among them; identifying the constraints or bottlenecks that hinder Kituo project in achieving its objectives and enabling corrective action, ensuring accountability where the project planners and implementers assess the benefits and costs that accrue to the intended direct and indirect beneficiaries of the project, strategic management essential for drawing lessons from the project implementation experience and using the lessons in the planning of other projects, enabling demonstration of results/impact and document project achievements especially on advocacy and litigation. Operational management/ Implementation by tracking progress and provide information needed to co-ordinate


Justi

ce C

up


Human Resources

In the year 2012, KITUO had a total of 50 employees (23 male and 27 female). There was an increase from previous year where the number was 46.

Department Male Female Total

Legal Aid 5 7 13

AGCP 2 4 6

URIP 6 7 13

RCD 1 0 1

Civil Peace 1 3 4

Admin & Support 8 6 13

TOTAL 23 27 50

Internships

KITUO continued to offer trainings to up-coming lawyers and other professionals in collaboration with other institutions. KITUO had a total of 10 local interns during the year, attached to URIP, Legal department and AGCP and Support department `Kituo Celebrates its 39th Year of Access to Justice

Kituo cha Sheria marked its 39th anniversary with style and zeal on the 9th of July 2012 under the banner “39 years of walking the talk on access to justice” in the pursuit of its mandate to empower the poor and marginalized to effectively access justice and realize human and people’s rights.

As part of the birthday celebrations preceding the actual birthday event, the Housing forum was held on 5th of July at Ufungamano House that was attended by paralegals from community justice centers, law students and the public.

Kituo held a Public lecture on the 6th of July at the Sarova Panfric Hotel to discuss the durable solutions on Refugees Rights and protection in Kenya. Three legal aid clinics were held in Korogocho-chief ’s camp, Eastleigh (Mama Futuma Hall) and Shimo la Tewa Prison on the 9th of July as part of the 39th anniversary celebrations where free legal advice was given to the public.

The main birthday event was a dinner hosted at Sarova Panafric Hotel. The event was graced by various dignitaries among them Hon. Eugene Wamalwa (Minister for Justice) Mr. Gichira Kibara (PS Ministry of Justice) and Dr. Rono a representative from Attorney General’s office. More than 200 invited guests attended the occasion which was very successful.

Team Building Event at 14-Falls (Thika)

The year 2012 was very unique in that Kituo cha Sheria as an organization undertook an exercise to understand team dynamics and how a team works together. Kituo also looked forward to developing monitoring and evaluation tools and indicators for change and adopting Draft HIV/AIDS policy at work place.

On the 21st November Kituo held an in house workshop to discuss sexual relationship at work. On the 22nd November a project cycle Management with focus on monitoring and Evaluation took place. This was followed by a team building activity at the Taj Gardens falls and visit to 14 falls, Thika

AGM

The Annual General meeting (AGM) was held on the 5th of December 2012 at the Panafric Hotel and it was well attended. In the Executive Director’s report the work of Kituo in 2012 were highlighted. The chairman of the BoD (Mr. Ken Nyaundi) thanked all the staff and AGM members (New and Old) for their work to ensure that Kituo lives up to its mission and vision of access to Justice for the poor and marginalized. He also paid tributes to three out-going board of Director members- Mr. Kamotho Waiganjo, Mr. Albert Kamunde and Ms. Priscilla Nyokabi whose terms had ended.

Development Partners

During the year 2012, KITUO received support from a number of partners among them Misereor, The Ford Foundation, PACT, CHF, GIZ, UNHCR, IRC (European Commission) , UNDP Amkeni, Redress, OSIE, OSI among others.

Kituo takes this opportunity to extend gratitude to all our partners for the generous support for 2012.

Staff end of the year Party

The staff end of year party was held on 18th December 2012 at Kituo Gardens. The staff enjoyed games, Luncheon and a dance to cerebrate the successful end of the year 2012.

Finance and Administration


Procurement – Power Generator

The procurement and tender committee acquired a power generator for the organization. The Famiar model generator has enabled the staff to continue working in the event that there is power outage. This has further impacted on activity implementation and deliverables.

Staff Benefits

KITUO continued to extend employee benefits to all employees who were ellegible during the year. Medical cover for all employees and their dependence was covered with APA insurance Company Ltd while Provident Fund for pension contribution continued to be managed by CFC who are the fund managers.

Salaries and statutory payments

All the staff were remunerated as per their terms of engagement (contracts) during the year 2012 and all statutory deductions were remitted on time to relevant bodies. KITUO also filed the returns with the NGO Coordination Board for compliance with the NGO Act and other government regulations.

Audit

KITUO continues to undertake its audit of its books and accounts semi - annually. For the year 2012, the Audit was undertaken and completed as agreed with the partners and it was completed in April 2013.

Kituo staff during the team building at fourteen falls Thika.


langa’ta women graduation ceremony

Kituo staff at fourteen falls during the team building.

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ANNUAL REPORT JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2012 - Kituo ...

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