TJRC rebuffs calls to bypass President, release report

By ALLY JAMAH

KENYA: Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission has rejected fresh calls by civil society leaders to bypass President Uhuru Kenyatta and release their much-awaited report directly to the public.

CEO Tom Aziz Chavangi said doing so was against the TJRC Act, which he says expressly requires them to submit the report to the President, before making it public.

“We are keen to have Kenyans see the contents of our report and to discuss it but we cannot break the law in doing so. We have to go through the President,” he said, yesterday.

He said Section 40 of the TJRC Act required the commission to submit its report to the President at the end of its operations detailing its findings on historical injustices and human rights violations and making recommendations. 

The law demand that upon submitting the report to the President, TJRC shall publish  it  in the Kenya Gazette and in at least three local newspapers  so as to reach as many Kenyans as possible.

Follow the law

“There is no option of bypassing the President in releasing the report. We don’t want to be accused of violating the law. My main focus for now is to secure the report to avoid it being tampered with before being handed over,” he said.

On Sunday, civil society leaders criticised President Uhuru, saying his delays in officially receiving the report and making it public was inexcusable. They said TJRC should release the report directly to public.