Kenya rights organizations criticize president’s remarks on controversial sugar company ownership dispute News
Rmanyiza, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kenya rights organizations criticize president’s remarks on controversial sugar company ownership dispute

The Law Society of Kenya, Amnesty International Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission and Humanity Activism Knowledge Integrity (HAKI) Africa jointly raised concerns Tuesday over recent statements made by the President of Kenya regarding individuals involved in the legal battle over the ownership of Mumias Sugar Company.

The organizations collectively stated:

The Constitution of Kenya guarantees every person the right to access courts and the right to have every dispute determined in accordance with the laws of the land. The declaration by the President, therefore, appears to suspend the Constitution and substitute the rule of law with the rule and wishes of the Executive. This is clearly unconstitutional and an attempt to return the Country to the dark days of a repressive regime that violated the human rights and freedom of the people of Kenya.

Other human rights organizations such as Defenders Coalition, Constitution and Reform Education Consortium and Muslims for Human Rights expressed similar concerns. The groups demanded that the President issue a public apology and maintain the fundamentals of the rule of law.

In a speech on Tuesday, the President of Kenya issued a warning to individuals involved in the ongoing legal dispute over the ownership and control of Mumias Sugar Company. He made these remarks when visiting Vihiga, where he also alleged the company belonged to the Kenyan people. In response to criticism, the President, speaking on Wednesday, restated his previous remarks, reaffirming his position that those he referred to as “sugar cartels” had no place in the country.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Supreme Court ruled corporations due equal protection rights

On May 10, 1886, the US Supreme Court ruled in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company that corporations were "persons" within the terms of the Fourteenth Amendment, and therefore were due rights of equal protection under state law.

Nelson Mandela became first black president of South Africa

On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first black President of South Africa. Before becoming President, Mandela was an anti-Apartheid leader in segregated South Africa. He served twenty-seven years in prison before his release in 1990, after which he was elected president of the country. Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Read a biography of Nelson Mandela from the Nobel Foundation.