Article 37 of the 2010 constitution guarantees the right to protest in Kenya. Every Kenyan has the right to, peacefully, assemble, demonstrate, picket, and present petitions to public authorities. Most peaceful protests and demonstrations are forms of liberation struggles. Liberation is the act of setting someone free from imprisonment, slavery or oppression. The first kind of such liberation struggle in history was in Egypt in 205 – 186 BC by the Priest of Horus.
The first liberation struggles were by the Mau Mau freedom fighters to free Kenyans from oppression, intimidation, mistreatment, and slavery by colonial masters and to retrieve land grabbed by the colonialists. In Kenya, there have been two known historical liberation struggles of this kind. The two Kenya liberation struggles were associated with Oppression, Intimidation, Harassment, and other atrocities by the authorities.
The second liberation struggles in Kenya were prompted by the oppression from the one political party in Kenya, KANU, and the then faulty old constitution that had made Kenya a de jure one party State. Out of those two liberation struggles, multipartyism and a new constitution were found. But despite the success of the two liberation struggles, there has been unbelievable corruption in Kenya. There has been poor and corrupt distribution of public funds. There have been frequent mysterious political murders in Kenya, and frequent disappearances of Kenyans in the nation that have often been associated with bad politics.
This, therefore, calls for a third liberation struggle to free Kenyans from rampant corruption, mysterious political murders, the uneven distribution of the nation’s resources, and the mysterious disappearances of Kenyans associated with Kenya politics. Although successive Kenya Presidents have been abusing and violating the constitution to stop peaceful protests and peaceful demonstrations, Kenyans should be aggressive enough to safeguard their constitutional rights to protest against corruption, the mysterious murders, the mysterious disappearances of Kenyans, and the unequal distribution of the nations public funds.
Dr. Isaac Newton Kinity
Counselor and Human Rights Activist.
Former Secretary General
Kenya Civil Servants Union.
Connecticut, USA.
