Kenya

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Kenya
362 articles

Cybercrime legislation in Kenya and Nigeria curtails fundamental freedoms

The African Internet Rights Alliance (AIRA) has urged two Special Rapporteurs to publicly call on Kenya and Nigeria to ensure that their cybercrimes laws do not restrict fundamental rights and freedoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kenya’s new data protection law comprehensive and protective

Seven years in the making, Kenya’s newly passed Data Protection Act, 2019 looks set to protect individuals’ privacy and regulate the processing of personal data.

Disability rights at centre of discussion at Kenya Internet Governance Forum

Disability rights were at the centre of the Kenya Internet Governance Forum with participants discussing obligations for the state and for private companies for persons with disabilities.

(L-R) Director Wanuri Kahiu, actresses Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva attend the photocall for 'Rafiki' during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, 9 May 2018, Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Rafiki: Ban lifted on Kenyan film that challenges stereotypes at home and abroad

The High Court of Kenya has temporarily lifted the ban on Rafiki. Judge Wilfrida Okwany delivered the ruling on 21 September 2018, stating “I am not convinced that Kenya is such a weak society that its moral foundation will be shaken by seeing such a film.”

Employees at a food court watch a presidential campaign video on a smartphone in Nairobi, Kenya, 5 September 2017, YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images

Kenya’s draft Computer and Cybercrimes Bill could dramatically chill freedom of expression online

ARTICLE 19 undertakes an analysis of Kenya’s Draft Computer and Cybercrimes Bill 2017, to assess its compatibility with international human rights standards.

Opposition politician Miguna Miguna shows his Kenyan Identity Card to the media, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, 26 March 2018, SIMON MAINA/AFP/Getty Images

Journalists assaulted by police officers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

Journalists reporting on the standoff between returning opposition politician Miguna Miguna and immigration officials disputing his right to enter were harassed and abused by Kenyan police officials.

Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai makes introductory remarks during the "Peaceful Protest 101" side event at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council, in Geneva, 10 March 2017, Maina Kiai via Flickr, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Protest is a right: Reflections from Maina Kiai, former UN Special Rapporteur and lifelong advocate for human rights

The links between freedom of expression and freedom of assembly have never been closer. Journalist Samuel Gebre interviewed Kiai in Nairobi for IFEX, first in December 2017, and then again in January 2018, and shares some of these insights from a passionate individual who has dedicated his career to the promotion of human rights, globally as well as in his native Kenya.

Supporters of Raila Odinga watch him on TV in Kisumu, an opposition stronghold in western Kenya, on 25 October 2017, YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images

RSF urges Kenya to end broadcast ban on four TV channels

Four privately-owned TV channels and around ten radio stations were taken off the air for defying a ban on covering opposition leader Raila Odinga’s mock inauguration as president, a suspension that RSF says violates the right to inform.

Supporters of the Kenyan opposition coalition leader Raila Odinga hold a banner with his portrait as he prepares to have himself sworn in as the 'people's president' in Nairobi, 30 January 2018, TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images

Kenya cuts TV transmissions over coverage of Raila Odinga’s “swearing in”

Officials from Kenya’s broadcast regulator, accompanied by police, switched off transmitters on 30 January 2018 while TV stations were broadcasting live coverage of an opposition party event in Nairobi.

A woman poses for a photograph between posters of Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice-President William Ruto at a temporary photo studio during the re-elected President's inauguration ceremony in Nairobi, 28 November 2017, YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images

Media company hired by Trump created Kenyan president’s “anonymous” attack campaign against rival, investigation finds

A new investigation reveals the role of an American data-based digital advertising company in the highly divisive online re-election campaign of Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta.

Supporters of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta celebrate in Mombasa, 20 November 2017, after the Supreme upheld Kenyatta's re-election in a repeat vote, AP Photo

Data, democracy, and Kenya’s contested elections

The powerful reach of Cambridge Analytica – the data analysis company that helped Donald Trump’s campaign claim victory – has become a source of concern in Kenya.

Supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga run away from police during clashes in Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya, 12 August 2017, Reuters/Goran Tomasevic

Kenya: Journalists assaulted, detained while covering post-election violence

In the week following Kenya’s national election, CPJ spoke with 10 journalists who said they were assaulted or harassed in the course of their reporting.

Members of civil society groups protest the killing of electoral commission information technology manager Christopher Msando, at a demonstration in downtown Nairobi, 1 August 2017, AP Photo/Ben Curtis

Harassment reaches new heights during Kenya elections

Tensions were high in Kenya following a polarizing campaign between the two leading presidential candidates.

A young man listens to a radio to hear news on election results in the Mishomoroni area of Mombasa, Kenya, 6 March 2013, REUTERS/Joseph Okanga

Royal Media group journalist Emmanuel Namisi threatened, assaulted in Kenya

Emmanual Namisi said the men who attacked and threatened him were angry at a story he had written alleging they played a role in the death of a woman at a political rally three nights prior.

A riot policeman attempts to fire a tear-gas canister towards journalists covering anti-corruption protests in Nairobi, Kenya, 3 November 2016, REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

The ghost of elections past

During Kenya’s election campaign, attacks against journalists are so common that perpetrators often discuss them openly.

Dong Samuel Luak, a South Sudanese activist, who has been detained in Kenya and is at risk of unlawful return back to South Sudan., © 2011 Private

Disappeared: South Sudan activist Dong Samuel Luak & opposition official Aggrey Idris

Three months, 90 days, more than two thousand hours without news of Dong Samuel Luak, a well-known South Sudanese activist, and Aggrey Idris, an opposition official, who disappeared off the streets of Nairobi on January 23 and 24.