Truth-seeking in Kenya: Assessing the Effectiveness of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya

by | Aug 10, 2025 | ANUL, ANUL 2013 I2

Truth-seeking in Kenya: Assessing the Effectiveness of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya

Authors Evelyne Asaala & Nicole Dicker

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: LLB (Hons) (University of Nairobi), LLM (University of Pretoria), PhD Candidate (University of the Witwatersrand); Lecturer, School of Law, University of Nairobi; BA LLB (Hons) (University of Sydney), MAAPD (Australian National University), PhD Candidate (University of Sydney)
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2014, Issue 1, p. 133 – 164

Abstract

This article considers the effectiveness of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya (TJRC). The recent submission of the final report of the TJRC to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on 21 May 2013 sets up the TJRC as topical and ripe for analysis. The TJRC was established in response to the harrowing two-month period of violence that devastated Kenya in the aftermath of disputed presidential elections in December 2007. Post-election violence resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Kenyans and left hundreds of thousands displaced; many suffered abductions, illegal detentions, torture and ill-treatment, sexual violence, and property violations. The TJRC was established in order to promote peace, justice, national unity, healing, and reconciliation among the people of Kenya; to respond to the legacy of human rights violations marring Kenya’s development. Yet significant delays, allegations of corruption (including embezzlement of TJRC-designated funds), serious concerns surrounding the character and human rights record of the TJRC Chairperson, Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, and dubious political will for and alleged interference with the TJRC process, has diluted the success of the TJRC. Applying criteria for assessing truth commission effectiveness, this article critiques the effectiveness of Kenya’s truth-seeking project, and emphasises the importance of full implementation of the recommendations of the final report of the TJRC.

The Role of Mediation in the Resolution of the South Sudan Crisis

by | Aug 10, 2025 | ANUL, ANUL 2013 I2

The Role of Mediation in the Resolution of the South Sudan Crisis

Authors Priscilla M Musikali and Lois M Musikali

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: LLM (Can) (Leeds); Senior Lecturer, Africa Nazarene University Law School
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2014, Issue 1, p. 165 – 200

Abstract

This article is a study of the function of mediation as a dispute resolution mechanism in the attainment of independence in South Sudan. The motivation for this article is an interest in the newly formed State, and a fascination with the manner in which the State was able to transform its situation from conflict to peace. Only a few jurisdictions have been able to secede from their parent states, namely Eritrea from Ethiopia, and the controversial secession of Kosovo from Serbia. This article is therefore a great opportunity to explore how South Sudan, with the help of other actors, was able to secure peace and secession through mediation. It will prove, with accompanying evidence, that without the input of mediation as a conflict resolution mechanism, the birth of South Sudan may not have been possible. It will demonstrate that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement played a central role in securing independence and autonomy through a referendum that expressed the will of the people of South Sudan. It is important to note that any peace process results from conflict and the need for a minority group in a State to be free: hence this article will concentrate at length in analysing the factors that motivated the war, as well as the need for self-determination. It will also explain why the recognition of the new State of South Sudan has not been debated. The use of mediation and peace agreements has been employed in peace processes in jurisdictions such as Cambodia; and this article will distinguish the agreements in South Sudan and Cambodia, to determine if South Sudan is unique and had the benefit of learning from previous peace agreements. It will argue that mediation and peace agreements are successful ways of providing lasting peace, self-determination and independence to oppressed minority groups. Moreover, the function of international law in mediation will be illustrated throughout the article.

The ICTR’s Contribution to the Future of International Criminal Justice and the Fight against Impunity in Africa

by | Aug 9, 2025 | ANUL, ANUL 2013 I1

The ICTR’s Contribution to the Future of International Criminal Justice and the Fight against Impunity in Africa

Author Morris Kiwinda Mbondenyi

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: LLB (Moi); LLM, LLD (University of South Africa); Senior Lecturer in Law; Head, Africa Nazarene University Law School
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2014, Issue 1, p. 1 – 35

Abstract

Since its inception in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has made some remarkable positive impact in the course of executing its judicial mandate. With its success in arresting, trying and convicting some of the people who were most responsible for international crimes committed in Rwanda in 1994, the Tribunal is widely acclaimed as one of the most important international justice bodies since Nuremberg. Yet in its almost two decades of operation, the Tribunal has registered both accolades and criticisms in almost equal proportions. This article analyses the contribution of the ICTR in securing the future of international criminal justice and also the fight against impunity in Africa. The article does so against the backdrop of the different options that now seem open for Africa in this regard. The central argument of the article is that the experience of the ICTR has taught Africa and the world at large that ad hoc institutions cannot be solely relied upon to effectively enforce international criminal justice. The continent should therefore unequivocally resolve to challenge impunity and atrocity crimes through the adoption of other approaches that are suitable to effective enforcement of international criminal justice. The article proposes some of those approaches.

The 2010 Constitution and the Application of International Law in Kenya: A Case of Migration to Monism or Regression to Dualism?

by | Aug 9, 2025 | ANUL, ANUL 2013 I1

The 2010 Constitution and the Application of International Law in Kenya: A Case of Migration to Monism or Regression to Dualism?

Authors Tom Kabau and J Osogo Ambani

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: Senior Lecturer in Law, Africa Nazarene University Law School. PhD (Designated) in Public International Law (University of Hong Kong); LLM (University of Nairobi). Previous Research Fellow, Utrecht University; Lecturer in Law, Moi University School of Law. Doctoral Candidate in Law and LLM (University of Pretoria)
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2014, Issue 1, p. 36 – 55

Abstract

Articles 2(5) and 2(6) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, recognise international law as a valid norm within the legal system. Despite the Constitution establishing a basis for a more progressive application of international norms within the legal system, recent jurisprudence from a superior court of record seems to relegate the role of international legal instruments. This could contribute to an eventual regression of the role of international instruments to a position similar to the dualist approach under the repealed Constitution. The uncertainty and lack of consistency in the emerging jurisprudence on the position of international law within the legal system is aggravated by the fact that there is ambiguity in terms of the hierarchy of legal norms. There is the necessity for a superior position for international law within the legal system due to its more progressive human rights regime. However, the absence of statutory provisions or consistent judicial philosophy that unambiguously provides for the supremacy of international law over conflicting domestic legislation could contribute to the relegation of the role of international law. Given this backdrop, this article addresses the following issues: whether there is a normative and theoretical basis for the application of international law within Kenya’s legal system; whether the emerging jurisprudence with regard to the application of international law in Kenya is worthwhile; and whether there is a hierarchy of norms within the Kenyan legal system and the position of international law in such order.

Locating the Right to Development in Kenya

by | Aug 9, 2025 | ANUL, ANUL 2013 I1

Locating the Right to Development in Kenya

Author Anthony Wambugu Munene

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: LLB (University of Nairobi), LLM (University of Pretoria); Assistant Director, Kenya School of Law
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2014, Issue 1, p. 56 – 75

Abstract

Perhaps one of the most critical of all human rights is the right to development. Yet since its emergence in the 1970s and through its evolution it has been the subject of both academic and political controversy. Over the last four decades, the right to development has come to be a fundamental human right with the human person being identified its central subject and beneficiary. With the coming into force of the new Constitution on 27 August 2010, international law became part of the law of Kenya. The Constitution’s expanded Bill of Rights lays down a progressive framework for the realisation of rights and realisation of the full potential of its subjects. Its net effect is to lay a foundation for the realisation of the right to development. This article locates the place of the right to development in Kenya’s new constitutional dispensation.