Molo activists in fear after colleague's mysterious death

The killing of Molo activist Richard Otieno alias ‘Molo President’ seems to have lifted the veil on the challenges that have been facing human rights defenders in Molo.

Molo sub county which is one of Nakuru county’s food basket has come under the spotlight over increasing human rights violations and poor governance.

Increasing cases of intimidations, threats and murders against Voices of dissent especially in recent times have placed the rural municipality as the new epicentre of hostility against human rights defenders and champions of leadership and social justice.

Ann Nyokabi for instance, a human rights activist working with Groots Kenya reveals the challenges she has had to endure in her three years of activism.

As a defender of women and girl rights, she has faced hostility from the community in Molo which she says is mainly patriarchal, while championing for the rights of women to own land.

From scorn to actual insult, the activist has been castigated several times by elders for appearing to incite the women against the cultural norms.

“I receive a lot of hostility from the elders who feel I am misleading the community. I however work with the local administration including chiefs to succeed in the cause,” says Ms Nyokabi.

In her fight against gender-based violence, Nyokabi reports being intimidated and threatened by perpetrators with deep pockets who try to compromise the justice system in a bid to escape the law.

The riskiest affair, according to her is the fight against bad governance and push for accountability.

“The politicians in this region are not ready to accommodate anyone who appears to question their performance and they instead find ways of silencing you down,” she says.

She confirmed that the politicians use the police to intimidate activists by having them summoned or charged with tramped up charges.

The death of Richard Otieno put the rest of the activists on high alert fearing for their lives.

“We used to work with Richard and most of us feel we could be on the list of wanted people. Our push for his justice has also continued to expose us to more risk,” adds Nyokabi.

Mr Kamau Ngugi, the executive director of the Defenders Coalition expressed the organisation's devastation over the hostility against human rights activists in the sub county.

According to him, the leadership of the cosmopolitan region is intolerant to criticism and wants to silence them through intimidations, threats and even murders.

He regretted that the politicians and criminals have capitalized on the ethnic tensions to cause conflicts while neglecting the area in terms of development.

“Molo is suffering from bad leadership which has forced people to complain and criticize the leadership. However, the leaders are not ready for that and would want to repress any voice against them,” notes Mr Ngugi.

He condemned the violence against the human rights defenders and called for respect to the rule of law.

The organization is keen on documenting the cases and training the defenders on the need to remain objective in their causes while also protecting themselves from possible security threats.