Ustawi Kenya Org

Ustawi Kenya Org NGO that champions for democracy and good governance, human rights and climate justice.

30/03/2026

We’ve seen it happen slowly, almost quietly; encroachment into Ngong Forest, clearing of indigenous trees in Karura Forest, and now a proposal to take part of Nairobi National Park to create parking space linked to Bomas of Kenya. It may sound technical. Procedural. Even justified on paper. But for many of us, it feels like something we deeply value is being chipped away, piece by piece. These are the places where people go to breathe, to walk, to feel a sense of belonging. They are ecosystems that protect our air, regulate our climate, and hold biodiversity that cannot simply be replaced. Once lost, they are gone.
Article 42 of the Constitution guarantees every Kenyan the right to a clean and healthy environment. Article 69 goes further, it places a duty on the State to protect forests, biodiversity, and natural resources for present and future generations. This is not optional.
The Environmental Management and Coordination Act, under Section 58, requires that any project with potential environmental impact must undergo a proper Environmental Impact Assessment, not as a formality, but as a safeguard.
The Forest Conservation and Management Act 2016 also demands due process, including meaningful public participation, before any changes to protected forest areas can happen.
During the recent public participation processes around the proposed developments, many citizens and conservation groups raised concerns; about the scale, about the intent, about the long-term impact. Questions were asked. Objections were made.
Yet, from the outside looking in, it feels like those voices did not carry the weight they should have. Because public participation is not just about calling a meeting and taking attendance. Under Article 10 of the Constitution, it is a national value. It must be real. People must be informed, heard, and most importantly; taken seriously.

23/03/2026

Public participation has become a standard feature of governance.At the village level, community members show up. They attend barazas. They sit through meetings. Names are recorded. Attendance is confirmed.On paper, participation has happened.But in reality, something critical is missing: understanding.Across many communities, people leave these forums without clarity on what was discussed, what decisions were made, or how those decisions will affect their lives. Budget discussions are presented in technical language. Processes are rushed. Opportunities to ask questions are limited or discouraged. So people listen.They nod.
And then they go home.
This is where the failure lies not in attendance, but in comprehension.Because participation without understanding does not empower communities. It excludes them, quietly, systematically, and repeatedly.When people do not understand:
• They cannot question decisions
• They cannot track how resources are allocated
• They cannot follow up on promised projects
• They cannot hold leaders accountable
And over time, this creates a dangerous cycle: Communities disengage, not because they do not care, but because the system was never made accessible to them.Inclusion in governance must go beyond simply inviting people into the room. It must ensure that people are able to meaningfully engage with what is happening.
This means:
• Using clear, accessible language instead of technical jargon
• Breaking down budgets and plans in ways communities can understand
• Creating space for questions, dialogue, and feedback
• Following up with communities after decisions are made
In Gachuba, through community trainings on rights and responsibilities, we have seen what shifts when understanding is prioritized. People begin to ask questions. They start connecting decisions to real-life outcomes. They follow up. They engage.This is what real participation looks like.Because governance is about being informed.

16/03/2026

As we mark Women’s Month, conversations around gender equality often highlight progress in education, leadership, and economic participation. Yet one group of women remains persistently invisible in these narratives: women with disabilities.Their experiences sit at the intersection of gender discrimination, disability-based exclusion, and often poverty. This intersection creates what may be described as double or even triple jeopardy—a layered set of barriers that limit participation, access to services, and the realization of fundamental rights.
The global framework exists. The United Nations’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) explicitly recognizes the rights of women and girls with disabilities. Article 6 acknowledges that they are subject to multiple discrimination and calls on states to ensure their full development, advancement, and empowerment. But translating these commitments into lived reality remains an unfinished task.
Women with disabilities face profound barriers in accessing basic services that many take for granted.Healthcare systems often lack accessible infrastructure or communication formats. Reproductive health services may exclude them entirely, driven by harmful assumptions about sexuality and motherhood. Legal and justice systems frequently fail to accommodate their needs, leaving many without effective recourse when rights are violated.Even development programmes that aim to empower women often fail to incorporate disability inclusion in their design.
Women with disabilities are significantly less likely to access education, vocational training, or formal employment.Where opportunities exist, they are often limited to informal sectors with minimal protections. The result is a cycle of dependency that is not caused by disability itself, but by systems that fail to accommodate diversity.
Research consistently shows that women with disabilities face higher risks of gender-based violence than other women.

09/03/2026

Over the weekend, heavy rains swept across several counties, leaving behind flooded homes, damaged infrastructure, and tragically, the loss of lives. Families were displaced, businesses destroyed, and communities forced to confront yet another cycle of devastation. Seasonal rains are a predictable part of our climate. But when rains consistently translate into deaths, displacement, and destruction, we must begin to confront a hard truth: Floods may be natural ,disasters often are not. The underlying causes are not mysterious. Drainage systems are inadequate or poorly maintained. Urban expansion has pushed settlements into riparian zones and flood-prone areas. Environmental degradation continues to weaken natural water management systems. And too often, planning and enforcement fail to keep pace with rapid development. The result is a pattern we have all come to recognize:
Heavy rains fall → rivers overflow → homes flood → emergency response follows → aid is mobilized → the country mourns → and then we wait for the next rainy season.
But disaster management should not be defined by how well we respond after tragedy. It should be measured by how effectively we prevent it. Mitigation requires more than emergency relief. It demands long-term planning and coordination:
• Strengthening urban drainage infrastructure
• Protecting riparian zones and wetlands
• Enforcing land-use regulations
• Investing in early warning systems
• Supporting communities living in high-risk areas to relocate safely
At Ustawi, our thoughts are with the families and communities currently navigating loss, displacement, and uncertainty in the wake of these floods. We recognize the immense strain such moments place on households and local communities, and we stand in solidarity with those working to rebuild their lives.

04/03/2026

When a woman is harassed or assaulted, the first questions are often moral:What was she wearing? Why was she out late? Why was she online?
But the Constitution is clear. Under the Constitution of Kenya, security of the person is a right , not a reward for good behavior.If streets are dark, public transport unsafe, protection orders unenforced, and digital harassment dismissed, that is not a morality problem.It is an institutional failure.
Kenya is deeply shaped by faith and culture. Religious and traditional leaders influence norms, voting patterns, and policy appetite. They can be powerful allies in prevention.But public safety cannot be negotiated through doctrine. It must be delivered through systems.
That means:
• Budget allocations
• Enforcement mechanisms
• Survivor-centered response
• Accountability metrics
Women should not have to meet moral expectations to qualify for protection.Safety is not earned.It is owed.
This Women’s Month, the real question is not how loudly we celebrate women ,but how structurally we protect them.

03/03/2026

Every March, we celebrate women.Panels are organized. Statements are issued. Hashtags trend.But celebration without accountability is symbolism.Under Article 27 of the Constitution of Kenya, equality is not aspirational, it is a constitutional obligation. The two-thirds gender principle is a binding governance architecture.Yet key questions remain:
• Has Parliament operationalized the gender principle?
• Are national and county budgets meaningfully gender-responsive?
• How many GBV and femicide cases result in convictions?
• Are prevention systems adequately funded?
If Women’s Month is to be credible, it must function as a structured accountability checkpoint. Recent national conversations on femicide, including findings from presidential working groups , underscore a hard truth: gender-based violence is systemic. And systemic problems require institutional solutions.This means:
• Resourced prevention frameworks
• Survivor-centered justice systems
• Budget transparency
• Political will
If civil society, government, and media reposition Women’s Month as an accountability season, we shift from performance to policy.And that is how gender equality moves from rhetoric to results.

01/03/2026

Between 2022 and 2024, over 1,600 women in Kenya lost their lives in cases linked to gender-based violence and femicide. That is not a statistic. That is a national emergency.

Last year, a Presidential Technical Working Group travelled across all 47 counties collecting data, listening to survivors, and examining why violence against women remains so persistent despite existing laws. Their findings were clear:

• We lack a central national database on GBV and femicide
• Support systems for survivors are underfunded and inconsistent
• Many cases involve intimate partners
• Femicide is not defined as a distinct offence in our Penal Code

The report has been submitted. The recommendations have been made. The question now is simple:Will we act or will we wait for another headline?

Ending GBV is not just about awareness campaigns every March. It requires:

*Legal reform
*County-level funding for shelters and recovery centres
*Faster investigations and prosecutions
*Community accountability
*Political will

Women deserve safety in their homes, workplaces, campuses and communities. This is not a “women’s issue.” It is a governance issue. A justice issue. A constitutional issue.

This Women’s Month, let’s move beyond sympathy. Let’s demand implementation.

Silence protects perpetrators. Action saves lives.




23/02/2026

As Kenya steadily approaches the 2027 general elections, the country’s political atmosphere feels increasingly charged. What began as subtle positioning has now evolved into full-throttle mobilization, weekend rallies, and factional realignments. Three years after the 2022 elections,an election framed around uplifting the mama mboga, empowering the bodaboda rider, and restoring economic dignity,the national conversation appears to have shifted from delivery to division.

Today, the political landscape is crowded. Established coalitions jostle alongside emerging factions and movements, each branding itself as the true defender of citizens’ interests. From formations like Linda Ground and Linda Wananchi to broader opposition coalitions and newly energized political outfits, the country is witnessing a proliferation of camps, each staking claim to the future. Yet beneath this visible competition lies a quieter, more consequential question: how is the ordinary Kenyan actually feeling?

For many households, the answer is layered with frustration and fatigue. The cost of living remains a dominant concern. Food prices, fuel costs, school fees, and healthcare expenses continue to stretch family incomes. Small businesses struggle under taxation pressures, limited access to credit, and inconsistent regulatory environments. While macroeconomic indicators may suggest stabilization or incremental growth, these gains often feel abstract to citizens whose daily reality is defined by survival and sacrifice.

It is this disconnect between political rhetoric and lived experience that defines the current moment. During the 2022 campaign season, economic empowerment was not just a slogan; it was a promise of systemic transformation. The bottom-up economic narrative resonated because it acknowledged informal traders, small-scale farmers, and youth entrepreneurs as central to Kenya’s growth story.

Last week, Amnesty International Kenya Kisii Branch, Keroka Law Courts,Ustawi Kenya Org, and Tucheze Mtaani convened a h...
16/07/2025

Last week, Amnesty International Kenya Kisii Branch, Keroka Law Courts,Ustawi Kenya Org, and Tucheze Mtaani convened a high-level dialogue with Chiefs and Sub-Chiefs from across Nyamira County to reflect on the role of grassroots administration in preventing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and addressing emerging social injustices.

The convening focused on critical thematic areas, including:

⚖️ The administration’s role in combating GBV and protecting survivors;

❌ Condemning the rise and use of kangaroo courts that undermine the rule of law;

📜 Understanding the constitutional right to bail and bond for the accused;

🕊️ Exploring the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms in resolving community conflicts and enhancing access to justice.

We are proud to work alongside administrators who are committed to dignity, accountability, and justice, especially at the local level where the first response to human rights violations often begins.

This initiative is part of our ongoing effort to promote:

Community-centered justice,

Survivor-led GBV response mechanisms,

Legal empowerment at the grassroots.

🤝 We welcome justice actors, and partners seeking to support scalable, transformative programming in:

Access to justice,

Community safety and protection, and

Gender-responsive governance.

📢 Let’s work together to build safe, just, and inclusive communities—from the grassroots up.

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