No justice for post-election sexual crimes victims, ten years later

Agnes Odhiambo

The prosecutor’s office has failed to follow-up on cases of rape and sexual assault during the 2007/8 post-election violence, including cases reported to the Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence (CIPEV). And the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Jacinta Nyamosi recently talked of how the Kenyan government has handled investigations into these attacks on thousands of women. Her comments contradict the government’s official position that it has been impossible to prosecute sexual crimes due to lack of evidence.

Nyamosi, who also heads the Sexual and Gender-based Violence Division at the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, testified last week in a case before the High Court filed by four civil society organisations and eight sexual violence survivors. They are challenging the government’s lack of response to sexual offences committed during the 2007/2008 election violence.