---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Pambazuka Editor <[email protected]> Date: Wed, May 11, 2011 at 1:36 AM Subject: Pambazuka News 528: Special Issue: Justice for the people of Kenya To: pambazuka-news <[email protected]>
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 528: SPECIAL ISSUE: JUSTICE FOR THE PEOPLE OF KENYA The authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839 CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Books & arts This week there will be two issues of Pambazuka News. The current issue has been edited by AwaaZ magazine and is published as a special issue. In addition, the normal issue of Pambazuka News will appear as usual on Thursday night. We apologise in advance if we are over-filling your mailbox this week. Editors /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 1 Features JUSTICE FOR THE PEOPLE OF KENYA Zahid Rajan and Zarina Patel This special issue of Pambazuka News, published in association with AwaaZ (http://www.awaazmagazine.com), chronicles ‘justice’ as its main theme. This is particularly in the context of the enactment of the new constitution and by extension to seek justice for the people of Kenya. The issue covers a range of articles related to the struggle for justice in the overall context today: In the judiciary, in the courts of the people under public litigation cases and the eviction of the poor from their homes; in the environment – in this case Lamu; for sexual minorities – in this case the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex) movement in Kenya today; the relationship between the Kenyan Somali and the Kenyan state; the rights of women; and in the press. We have also examined the constitutional community justice systems in Kenya in comparison to the formal legal systems today. In addition there is an article on the historical perspective on the Politics of Law in Kenya. We have also chronicled the life of the late Chief Justice of Kenya Hon, Mr Justice C B Madan. We hope that this story will have an impact on the current process of appointing a new Chief Justice in Kenya under the new constitution. The late Justice Madan was a ‘Champion for the supremacy of the rule of Law’, which we so badly lack today in Kenya. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73117 ****** EVICTIONS, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE CONSTITUTION The Muthurwa case Yash Pal Ghai and Jill Cottrell Ghai Kenyans evicted from their homes to make way for new developments routinely have their social and economic rights violated. But these rights are enforceable under the country’s new constitution, which gives people easier access to the courts than ever before. Justice Musinga’s judgement on the Muthurwa case sets ‘the right approach to, and standards of, constitutional interpretation’, write Yash Pal Ghai and Jill Cottrell Ghai. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73114 ****** MARGINALISATION OF LAMU PEOPLE Are some 2008 IDPs being settled in Lamu? Abdalla Bujra Amidst widespread rumour that the Kenyan government is buying up land in Lamu District to resettle people displaced by the 2008 post-election violence, Abdalla Bujra calls on the government to issue an ‘urgent statement’ on the matter, or risk increasing tensions in Lamu, whose people are afraid that they will lose their land and livelihoods. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73118 ****** JUDICIAL REFORMS: THE DIFFICULTIES AHEAD George Kegoro Kenya’s chief justice Evan Gicheru retired at the end of February last year, as mandated by the country’s new constitution. With no replacement appointed yet, George Kegoro asks what lies ahead for the judiciary. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73115 ****** JUSTICE FOR THE LGBTI COMMUNITY IN KENYA Gullit Makobe ‘Before I became a Human Rights Defender, I had to safe guard my living space in a closet. I knew I was safe – nothing could or would harm me – I felt untouchable. I had a place to call home, and I held on to it never jeopardizing the privileges. But all that changed when my family learnt about my sexual identity,’ writes Gullit Makobe. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73116 ****** INTERGENERATIONAL CHANGE, THE KENYAN SOMALI AND THE KENYAN STATE Abdinasir Amin The relationship between Kenyan Somalis and the Kenyan state is ‘tumultuous at the best of times, and indifferent at the worst of times’, writes Abdinasir Amin. Although little has changed for the better since Amin’s grandfather’s time, Kenya’s new constitution brings hope for genuine acceptance in the future. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73113 ****** A CALL TO ACTION FOR THE RIGHTS OF ALL Tom Avant Kenya’s new constitution is ‘the law of the land now’, writes Tom Avant. ‘Equal rights for all Kenyans are no longer just a dream’, as long as citizens learn to 'demand respect for those rights’ from their elected representatives. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73112 ****** JUSTICE: LEITMOTIF OF KENYA'S CONSTITUTION Yash Pal Ghai While the theme of justice is central to Kenya’s constitution, writes Yash Pal Ghai, it cannot in and of itself guarantee its own effectiveness. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73088 ****** CONSTITUTIONAL COMMUNITY JUSTICE SYSTEMS IN KENYA Jedidah Wakonyo Waruhiu, Florence Gachichio and Ezra Rotich Kenya has for many years been running two legal systems in parallel, the common law and community justice systems. With the country in need of ‘common guidelines’ around the administration of community justice, Jedidah Wakonyo Waruhiu, Florence Gachichio and Ezra Rotich discuss the challenges facing the system. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73087 ****** MAKING THE CONSTITUTION OF KENYA THE CONSTITUTION FOR KENYANS Public interest litigation Jill Cottrell Ghai While the Kenyan courts have some way to go before they achieve the sort of impact that the Indian courts have had, the country’s new constitution should work towards making the courts of Kenya the courts for Kenyans, writes Jill Cottrell Ghai. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73086 ****** ‘TODAY, I HAVE COOKED MY OWN GOOSE’ Personal reflection on our father, Justice Madan Kamla Madan Dhall and Anil Madan In celebration of the late Chief Justice CB Madan QC, his children Kamla Madan Dhall and Anil Madan reflect on the life and experiences of their father. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73085 ****** DON’T MESS WITH A GOOD THING: KENYA’S INCONSISTENT MEDIA Tom Maliti Kenya’s media regularly reveals itself to be inconsistent in its reporting of issues of justice, writes Tom Maliti. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73084 ****** POLITICS OF THE LAW IN KENYA: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Ramnik Shah Despite official rhetoric about the separation of powers, colonial-era judges were routinely ‘used as an instrument of policy’, with this relationship between administration and judiciary essentially sustained after independence, writes Ramnik Shah, in a discussion of Kenya’s post-colonial legal system. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73083 ****** JUSTICE MADAN FONDLY REMEMBERED Ramnik Shah Ramnik Shah reflects on the life of Justice Madan, a ‘homegrown Kenyan jurist of the highest order’, and his ‘immense contribution to the political and legal history of Kenya’. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73119 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 2 Books & arts ACCESSING JUSTICE: REPRESENTATION AND OUTCOMES Review of ‘Marginalized Communities and Access to Justice’ Priscilla Nyokabi Kanyua Edited by Yash Pal Ghai and Jill Cottrell, ‘Marginalized Communities and Access to Justice’ is ‘a useful tool for human rights actors’, writes Priscilla Nyokabi Kanyua. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/73120 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ Fahamu - Networks For Social Justice http://www.fahamu.org Pambazuka News is published by Fahamu Ltd. © Unless otherwise indicated, all materials published are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. 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