Following the conclusion of the policy research on petty offences and practices affecting populations at National Level and in Kisumu, Mombasa and Nairobi county levels, ICJ Kenya alongside its national and regional partners has convened a National Conference on Decriminalization and Re-classification of petty offence in Kenya on 24th and...
“Rogues” and “Vagabonds” No More: Ending Africa’s Imperial Legacy of Absurd Petty Offenses
By Louise Ehlers At 3 a.m. one March morning, Mayeso Gwanda, an informal trader, left his home in Blantyre, Malawi, and traveled to the nearby Limbe market. He carried with him the plastic bags he sells in order to earn a living. As he made his way along the road,...
Malawi: Challenging Constitutionality of Rogue and Vagabond Offence
In March 2015, the applicant was arrested by police whilst on his way to the market where he works as a street vendor. He was charged with the offence of being a rogue and vagabond. Section 184(1)(c) of the Penal Code provides that “every person in or upon or near...
Moi, Mayeso Gwanda, j’ai fait invalider une loi coloniale vieille de 192 ans qui terrorisait le Malawi
"Il faut maintenant débarrasser l'Afrique d’autres lois similaires." Ce témoignage de Mayeso Gwanda, vendeur à Blantyre, au Malawi, a été recueilli par l'Open Society Foundations, un réseau de fondations créé en 1979 par le philanthrope et milliardaire américain George Soros. Je m’appelle Mayeso Gwanda, je gagne ma vie en vendant...
Petty offences chocking the justice system, audit reveals
By Paul Muhoho The criminal justice system is jammed with less serious offences that contribute to unnecessary delay in prosecutions and congestion in detention centres, a special audit reveals. The less serious offences exclude murder, violent robbery, manslaughter, sexual offences and economic crimes offences. In an alarming disclosure, 452 children...
Gwanda: Vendor who changed the law
Lawmakers have moved at a snail's pace to change some draconian laws and history will record that it took a vendor to get the Constitutional Court to invalidate a section of rogue and vagabond that oppresses the poor. Yesterday, we met Mayeso Gwanda selling plastic bags as usual in the...
No more ‘Vakabu’ offence, Malawi court rules Rogue and vagabond law ‘unconstitutional’
The High Court in Blantyre has ruled that rogue and vagabond offence is unconstitutional. The determination was made by a panel of three judges comprising High Court judges Zione Ntaba, Michael Mtambo and Slyvester Kalembera, meeting as a constitutional court. Astreet vendor Mayeso Gwanda took the matter to Constitutional Court...
Somali Association of South Africa v Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (48/2014) ZASCA 143 (26 September 2014).
Summary: Asylum seekers and refugees’ entitlement to apply for licences to trade in spaza and tuck-shops – no blanket prohibition against self-employment either in terms of the Constitution or applicable legislation – s 22 of the Constitution not a bar – right to dignity implicated – vulnerable position of asylum...
Demystifying Petty Offences
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06sF9IW2E2M K24's Ian Wafula takes a look at Human rights violations in regards to petty offences, challenges and understanding your rights. Lorraine Ochiel (ICJ Kenya), Kimani Waweru (City and Street Vendors Empowerment Programme) and Cate Mburu (Bar Hostess Empowerment Programme) from the CSO Petty Offences Taskforce partner organizations provide an...
Kenya’s anti-gay laws lead to harassment, LGBT persons say, want change
By LYDIA MATATA, @lydiamatata. Activist and musician Joji Baro (George Barasa) hides his shoulder-length hair under a grey mavin. The 25 year-old likes to put make-up on his delicate face and walk with a bit of a strut. But Joji Baro chose boyish clothes today and admits that he cannot...
More petty offenders to be released after presidential pardon
By SIMON NDONGA, NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 21 – More petty offenders are set to be released on Friday after President Uhuru Kenyatta pardoned 7,000 inmates who were about to finish their jail terms. The first batch of prisoners was freed from the Nairobi West Prison late Thursday and more are...
Freed petty offenders back in police custody
Two petty offenders released last week on Presidential pardon are back in police custody on suspicions of committing fresh crimes. The two — one from Nyeri and the other from Laikipia West — were lucky to escape lynching by enraged mobs. In Nyeri, George Kimani, who was released from King’ong’o...
President Kenyatta releases 7,000 petty offenders
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday made good his promise and released 7,000 petty offenders in what he said was a move to free up space in jail to accommodate government officials involved in high-level corruption. Coming in the week when his government has been in the spotlight over the fight...
Sex workers trained as paralegals protect colleagues from police harassment
By LYDIA MATATA, @lydiamatata. Esther served a three-month jail sentence when she began sex work aged 16. Unable to produce any identification documents, she was arrested with other sex workers during a raid on a hot spot in Nairobi. That was five years ago, but Esther says harassment from law...
Hawkers Diaries: Tale of suffering and years of deceit
By JOSEPH MURAYA, NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 17 – It is survival of the fittest for the hundreds of hawkers operating within Nairobi – mostly those within the Central Business District- as they grapple with deceit from politicians, lack of operating grounds and consistent attacks from the county askaris , largely...
Hawkers Diaries: I paid my way through college as a street vendor yet here I remain
By JOSEPH MURAYA, NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 21- Before we started our interview with Samson Mwangi at his hawking base of operations, he was very categorical that we must first help him in, “getting a job since I got skills. I know Media is powerful so you people can help me.”...
Hawkers Diaries: I quit being a hawker after my friend was killed
By JOSEPH MURAYA, NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 18 – For three years Mbugua (not his real name) doubled as a street hawker in Nairobi and a student of the University of Nairobi in a bid to boost his pocket money and assist his parents in paying fees. His operating location was...
Kenyans living with mental illness get lost in the criminal justice system
By LYDIA MATATA. Samuel Macharia Njoroge, 42, refers to his earlier years as the dark ages. “This is a period that I faced a lot of hardship and stigma while undergoing psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation both residential and out-patient for quite some time. I was in and out of it...
Decriminalisation of Vagrancy Laws in Malawi
The goals of the project include law reform initiatives aimed at the decriminalisation and/or declassification of minor nuisance-related offences in Malawi and the region; and the reduction in human rights violations by law enforcement agencies when enforcing minor nuisance related offences. Background The Malawi Penal Code provides for various nuisance-related...
Meeting with Hawkers
ICJ Kenya held a forum to engage with hawkers on the decriminalization and declassification of petty crimes. This was informed by their recent subjection to cruel and inhuman treatment by City Council ‘askaris’ as well as the killing, over time, of numerous hawkers during the violent street battles between the...
Drama as Nairobi Hawker Ducks Under Matatu to Avoid Arrest by City Askaris
A Nairobi hawker on Monday opted to hide under a matatu to avoid arrest by City Inspectorate askaris. In a video doing the rounds on social media, the woman is seen and heard weeping in fear under the public service vehicle as the driver and conductor plead with her to step out....
City hawker ducks under matatu to evade arrest by city askaris
By NAIROBI NEWS REPORTER A journalist has captured a heart melting moment when a woman hawking onions in the city centre dives under a matatu to escape arrest by city askaris. The middle aged woman is seen staying still under the matatu minibus until matatu operators beckon her to come...
KTN Documentary Exposes Nairobi Askari Violations
KTN News recently aired the a four part series of an investigative documentary on how the Nairobi County Government Askaris extort, arrest, harass, maim and inhumanely treat hawkers. According to the investigative piece titled Kanjo Kingdom, the amount of bribes paid to the Askaris per year exceeds Ksh 1.52 billion, money...
Why is Nairobi County Government allowing ‘Kanjo’ askaris to get away with human rights abuses?
By Daisy Okoti. Kenya’s leading investigative journalists, Muhammed Ali and John Alan Namu recently unveiled a disturbing series of the inhumane treatment in which hawkers in Nairobi suffer at the hands of the Nairobi County Council officers. In the three-part video footage, the investigative report shows just how the officers,...
Petty Offences
The Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on Accelerating Prison and Penal Reform in Africa of 2003[1] endorsed recommendations calling for reducing the size of prison populations in Africa. The Plan of Action recommended the “Decriminalisation of some offences such as being a rogue and vagabond, loitering, prostitution, failure to...
Key Concepts of Petty Offences
Bail: The temporary release of an accused person from prison pending trial, sometimes on condition that a sum of money be paid to the Court to guarantee the accused persons appearance in court. Bond: A written and signed promise to pay a certain sum of money on a certain date,...
Time to give street families a chance, not judge
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 2 – It is a tale of untold suffering when you have to live on a day-to-day basis with the normal life challenges while you are still carrying a blanket tag of ‘criminal’ given by the same society that is supposed to protect you. The City of...
Short Survey on Laws Criminalizing Petty Offences in National Jurisdictions across Africa
Dear Esteemed Colleagues,The Pan African Lawyers Union, in collaboration with a consortium of Civil Society Organisations*, is conducting a survey on criminalisation and penalisation of petty offences across Africa. These laws are often vaguely drafted, overly broad, and mostly used to target specific marginalised communities or groups. Victims of such...
Arrests for petty offences
The ICCPR guarantees everyone the equal enjoyment of civil and political rights in the Covenant,[1] the right to liberty and security of person,[2] and not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.[3] The deprivation of liberty must be done in accordance with a procedure established by law.[4]All persons deprived...
SOUTH AFRICA: Police Target and Shuts Down Refugees Shops
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mihfRxJd2V0 By Jama Judah. "About 10 of us were supported by that shop," he said. "We're being fed by the community, through the mosque, but we need help." JOHANNESBURG, Police in South Africa's northern Limpopo Province have shut down hundreds of shops run by refugees and asylum seekers during an...
Hawker shot dead by Nairobi City Council askari
By Cyrus Ombati. NAIROBI, KENYA: A hawker was Tuesday night shot dead and two others wounded in a confrontation with City Council askaris along Tom Mboya Street in Nairobi. The man was killed near Fire Station at about 9 pm as he and others chased a council askari from down...
Outdated vagrancy laws must go
ByLouise Ehlers | July 22nd, 2013 Data gathered during the audit of pre-trial detainees in Malawi suggests that the yearly exposure of the population to prison on remand could be as high as 1 in 100. One of the key concerns raised in the audit was that a significant number...