Victims want Parliament to apologise for injustices
What you need to know:
- In the State of the Nation address in March, the President acknowledged that previous regimes had sponsored massacres, undertaken political assassinations and detained citizens without trial, and sought forgiveness on their behalf.
- “We call upon the Speaker of the National Assembly to also offer a public apology to Kenyans for grave historical legislative crimes,” he told journalists in Nairobi at the close of a workshop with representatives of the victims.
Victims of historical injustices Friday called upon National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi to apologize on behalf of previous parliaments for making laws that enabled the crimes.
Through the National Victims and Survivors Network, survivors and relatives of victims of State-sponsored atrocities said that Parliament should take responsibility for the past injustices.
This comes in the wake of recent apologies for the crimes by President Kenyatta and Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.
In the State of the Nation address in March, the President acknowledged that previous regimes had sponsored massacres, undertaken political assassinations and detained citizens without trial, and sought forgiveness on their behalf.
Mr Wafula Buke, the head of survivors network, Friday said that a lot more needs to be done to serve justice to the victims.
“We call upon the Speaker of the National Assembly to also offer a public apology to Kenyans for grave historical legislative crimes,” he told journalists in Nairobi at the close of a workshop with representatives of the victims.
He said that previous parliaments created an enabling environment for the governments to oppress perceived dissenters.
In the 1990s, for instance, the government of President Daniel Arap Moi clamped down and tortured supporters of multipartyism.
