By Raphael Obonyo

As the world marks Human Rights Day today, it is critical for Kenya to carry out an audit of the successes and misses, we have witnessed in promoting human rights since we enacted the new Constitution in 2010, especially now that we are just a few months away from the General Election, when violations are likely to be rampant as history shows.
Although the role of the civil society has declined in defending human rights violations in the last two decades, the role of the courts after the 2010 Constitution has significantly changed the terrain, emerging as the only custodian of justice. Rejection of the 2017 presidential election, two-thirds gender rule in Parliament and declaring the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) an illegality, are among the rulings that have stood out.
However, the Executive has disobeyed several court orders, with no serious consequences, meaning that a strong, vigilant mechanism; is needed for the public to hold the government accountable.
All is not lost. There is an upcoming trend that we should appreciate in this year’s celebrations and a good foundation, for civic duty in checking the government excesses.
In recent years, community-based movements of young human rights defenders, are emerging in the informal settlement in Kenya to promote social justice in their communities. Although with mixed results, these movements have faced challenges in promoting social justice that has remained elusive out of many years of policy neglect and the state’s incapacity to provide social amenities because of growing populations in slums.
The intention of these movements is to establish spaces; known as Social Justice Centres (SJCs), where communities come together to organise, discuss and reflect on the human rights violations they endure- to document and clamour for change.They aspire for a life of dignity for all; commitment to human rights and social justice, and champions for development and change in communities.
They established the first SJC in 2015 in Mathare; one of Nairobi’s sprawling slums where police violence was rampant. In the past six years, other communities have followed in Mathare’s footsteps. They have since established more SJCs in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu towns among other counties.
Such initiatives show that young people can lead movements that change the hearts of people, and make history. They are slowly reverting the apathy the youth have in participating in governance, which has a direct impact on influencing the space they live in.
Throughout history and across the world, young people have been central in standing up for what is right. Young people have risked everything to struggle against oppression and discrimination, and affirm fundamental rights and freedoms.
They played a key role in the civil rights movement in the United States, the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, the women’s rights movement in many countries and anti-colonial and liberation struggles.
In Myanmar, Esther Ze Naw Bamvo and Ei Thinzar were a vision of strength, honour and justified anger; as they led people on the very first anti-military protest in Yangon, just five days after the February 1 Coup, that violently robbed Myanmar of its freedom.
The fierceness of Myanmar’s women has long been suppressed by its military, so the brave new generation sent a surge of pride and ignited hope for the future.
Zambia’s opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, won elections due to the support he got from young people. Hichilema, 59, of the United Party for National Development won by a landslide 2.8 million votes, trailed by incumbent Edgar Lungu’s 1.8 million ballots.
Young people have always been major drivers of political, economic and social change. In the last few years, they have been at the forefront of grassroots mobilisations for change. Youth participation is essential to achieve sustainable development for all.
As the legendary John Lewis once remarked, young people must not be afraid of getting into good trouble, necessary trouble, for the sake of justice.
—The writer is a public policy analyst