cc Exploring the Mau Mau reparations case and Kenya’s subsequent decades-long struggle with the politicisation of land, Leigh Brownhill advocates the importance of social reparations and individual compensation for atrocities committed under British colonial policies, programmes, soldiers and settlers. British land reform policies implemented to punish the Mau Mau ultimately contributed to the impoverishment and social inequality of wide segments of Kenyan society. Although Brownhill believes that individual reparations for Mau Mau survivors and their families are necessary and appropriate – particularly with regard to Kenyan women continuing to carry the burden imposed by British counter-insurgency – she argues a more inclusive, social reparations-based approach will curb inequality in a way faithful to original Mau Mau principles.

© Contrasting governments' public willingness to show revulsion to the practice of torture with their reluctance to offer redress for their own pasts, Nicole K. Parshall discusses the actions of the British colonial authorities during the suppression of the Mau Mau movement in 1950s Kenya. While acknowledging that the need for truth and reconciliation around state-perpetrated atrocities has seen increasing recognition in recent years around the world, Parshall argues that the reluctance of the UK government to face up to its past actions represents a clear example of not practising what you preach.

Iran will supply four million metric tonnes of crude annually, as part of a range of deals signed last week, officials said on Tuesday. The agreed supply from Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, is roughly equivalent to 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) by Reuters calculations. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited East Africa’s biggest economy last week, where he and his Kenyan counterpart, Mwai Kibaki, also signed a grant and loan agreement totalling 800 million shillings ($10 million), among others.

The Gender Festival is an open forum that brings together feminist and gender-focused groups, other civil society organizations/institutions, activists and other development actors working at various levels. These organizations reflect, share experiences, build capacity, strategize and plan collectively. This has also served as a networking forum for stakeholders in and out of the host country on the questions of gender, gender equality, feminism, sexuality and the intersections between these and power (both public and private).

Indexkenya.org is an online index of articles published in Nairobi newspapers. The focus of the articles indexed includes culture, law/governance, reproductive health, and other topics about which information is difficult to obtain. The index will ultimately include details of articles published since 1980. The actual content of an article is not provided, rather online citations describing the articles. Hard copy of any article indexed can be ordered directly from the Kenya Indexing Project. This database will be updated on a regular basis.

A new report by REDRESS and Reprieve, Kenya and Counter-Terrorism: A Time for Change, details the horrific stories of the arbitrary detention of 150 victims in Kenya from 21 different nationalities. Many of these were tortured and ill-treated; many were rendered to Somalia and then transferred to Ethiopia. There are also allegations of interrogation by foreign intelligence services, including British agents. Many of the victims have now been released, but the whereabouts of others are still unknown.

Kenya’s dalliance with previous unlikely allies blossomed further last week when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad turned his tour of the country into a window of business opportunity. As he flew out, the Iranian leader’s imprint on the country’s struggling economy left no doubts about the Middle East nation’s determination to raise its trade and investment portfolios, which hitherto were dominated by the West.

Its saddening to read of by fellow human beings, trying to cover up there sins,why can the same organ of government(the police)do the job they are supposed to do,which is to protect people. It now talks volume when one Kiraithe (police spokesman) say that they dismiss the finding of extra judicial killings, rather than take the opportunity to change now and be judged by history they played a role to change ...

. Maybe Kibaki should be taken to the Hague because this are the likes of Charles Taylor and Mugabe. Using the force to kill innocent kenyans for no good reason: a case should be filed to the ICC so that the evil minded people we have can learn, Its clear that the Idiot spokesperson mutua new about the killing and he kept his word "we will deal with them".

– in all its many forms – is abhorrent to all who believe human life is a gift of God and therefore infinitely precious. Every attempt to intimidate others by inflicting indiscriminate death and injury upon them is to be universally condemned. The answer to Criminal gangs (Mungiki or death squads) however, cannot be to respond in kind, for this can lead to more violence and more terror. Instead, a concerted effort of all people is needed to remove any possible justification for such acts.Acts of violence are criminal acts, and should be addressed by the use of the instruments of the rule of law.

. so long, but yes we shall overcome. Organize we must, Agonize not as much. But we are headed to a predictably dark segment of our nation's search for itself, perhaps we may get out of the tunnel a better people. the darkest hour is before dawn they say. Yes, now state assasinations are targeted to the powerful as much as they are targeted at the hapless, the powerless, and the very downtrodden. and this is why i say we are entering a new phase of our eventual liberation. because the state has ceased to think and is haphazard in the deployment of its instruments of violence. but the silencing of the lambs may not stop the bleating of the sheep. we shall overcome.

Regarding , the only way to eradicate organised crime is from the top, not the bottom as we are being led to believe. Get rid of the organisers (not one token one) and the protectors in whatever place govt. or otherwise and we will get rid of this menace. Other countries are always ready to forego the small fry in order to trap the big wigs, not so us. We kill even innocents in our fake quest to eradicate the menace.

Following the assassinations of two human rights activists and a student earlier this month, Kenyan citizens and civil society organisations have called for the government to reiterate publicly its commitments to ending violence, disarming and demobilising armed groups and militias, and restoring fundamental rights and freedoms. In an open letter and an 11-point demand to the president and prime minister, signatories highlighted the government’s non-implementation of these commitments, demanding, among other actions, an independent investigation into the assassinations.

cc A government conference encouraging citizens to tell them about ‘the Kenya we want’ via censored media channels is unlikely to yield positive change, suggests feminist activist Awino Okech. Okech calls for Kenyan women to self-organise and engage with political structures using the frameworks provided by feminism or, she cautions, history will not judge them kindly for failing to take on the issues of their time.

cc While Kenya is formally a democracy, it lacks the political culture for this form of governance to thrive, says Makau wa Mutua. Wa Mutua argues that the successful investigation into and accounting for of British atrocities committed against members of the Mau Mau liberation movement currently being led by the Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC) will trigger the process of national healing necessary to the sense of national identity and common purpose Kenya needs in order to succeed as a democratic state.

We are writing to express our concern over the lack of progress in the police investigation into the brutal murder of journalist Francis Kainda Nyaruri. In January, the Committee to Protect Journalists urged the police to investigate Nyaruri’s murder, whose slashed and decapitated body was found January 29 in Kodere Forest near his hometown of Nyamira.

The widespread condemnation of the report condemning the police execution of suspects exposes our hypocrisy. How can we, who are demanding a new democratic constitution, be unwilling to defend such fundamentals of democracy like the right of all to a fair trial, the separation of powers, and even the right to life?

732 students from 70 schools will not receive their results for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations done last year. The results were released on Wednesday by the Minister for Education Prof Sam Ongeri. Their results are held over cases on cheating.

On February 4, Friends of Lake Turkana, a Kenyan organization representing indigenous groups in northwestern Kenya whose livelihoods are linked to Lake Turkana, filed a formal request with the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Compliance Review & Mediation Unit (CRMU) - the AfDB's internal accountability mechanism - to investigate and intervene in the Bank’s plans to finance the Gilgel Gibe III hydroelectric project in Ethiopia.

A recent study by the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-K) - a women’s rights advocacy organization that works for gender equality through legal aid - reveals that disabled women are up to three times more likely to be victims of physical and sexual abuse than their non-disabled counterparts.