LSK boss Faith Odhiambo speaks on abduction, torture of protesters and threats to her life

Every day for the past three weeks, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Faith Odhiambo’s phone has been ringing off the hook.

She wakes up to alerts and cries for help from Kenyans illegally arrested and tortured, and families whose kin have had their lives cut short during what began as peaceful protests against the punitive Finance Bill, 2024, but have now morphed into anti-government demonstrations.

Ms. Odhiambo spoke exclusively to Citizen Digital about the protests, subsequent abductions, torture and the multiple extra-judicial killings that have occurred amidst the largely peaceful demos.

Finance Bill, 2024 sparked widespread anger among Kenyans, leading to protests majorly led by the country’s younger population, referred to as Gen Z.

After weeks of mobilisation that was majorly done online, the youth finally took to the streets across the country to oppose the Bill in totality, with their irreducible minimum being; ‘Reject, Not Amend!’

“I understood how heavy this Finance Bill was going to be, I had seen the complaints online but I did not think it will get to the magnitude of what we witnessed. So when it happened, my first thought was ‘how can I help?’” Ms. Odhiambo told Citizen Digital Reporter Ann Nyathira.

The LSK boss emerged as a key advocate for those oppressed, and quickly took on the role of representing Kenyans who were arrested illegally by police, thereby becoming a hero to many of the prostests who went ahead to christen her ‘The People’s Chief Justice.’

She went ahead and called on her fellow colleagues to assist and ensure police conduct during the demos was monitored. Their mission was to ensure people are allowed to peacefully picket without harassment, arrest or trumped up charges.

“During this time, particularly, I felt the biggest contribution that the legal profession can give with regards to all those who were on the streets was to give legal assistance,” noted Ms. Odhiambo.

As she visited different police stations and worked tirelessly to trace Kenyans who were abducted, Ms. Odhiambo was faced with the fear and a painful reminder that Kenya could have been heading back to the almost forgotten dark days of the Nyayo regime.

The extrajudicial killings in different parts of the country starkly illustrated how decades of reforms could be lost, with the advocate expressing deep concern for her own security amidst her advocacy efforts.

“This was the day I was first tear gassed; they initially refused to allow advocates to access people who had been arrested. They arrested people who were armed with their phones, bottles of water and some with vuvuzela. What has kept me going despite the fatigue is the goodwill messages from Kenyans.” she narrated.

“People say when you are in trouble call Faith, but we still have safety concerns; some of my council members have had to go into safety houses for a while. It just takes courage, we have had incidences where armed people came after us and I have been stalked around for a while. One of our officers who mans our toll free line almost got attacked in the middle of the night, luckily the authorities arrived on time and the perpetrators ran away.”

According to Ms. Odhiambo, Kenyans who were thought to have organised and moblised the protests were abducted and interrogated on issues regarding the demos in isolation, with some of them even intimidated into silence using threats on their families.

“Some had their private parts pressed and hurt. These are things that happened during the Moi days. We will represent all the victims and ensure the people involved are accountable and they get the justice they deserve,” she noted.

Looking forward, the lawyers’ body boss believes that the Head of State together with the State agencies must be held to account and must follow the law that governs the country.

“The Head of State, the Inspector General of Police, officers that were leading some of these battalions and the shooters that were identified and those that were not must be held accountable and command responsibilities,” she said.

“As for the shooters, they can be identified by ballistics and I hope we can get an independent international body to offer ballistics services because the same police who are perpetrators cannot investigate themselves.”

She called on the President to listen to Kenyans and their demands, further urging him to empathise with the parents who painfully lost their children.

So how does the country move forward from here?

According to Ms. Odhiambo, Kenyans now have a powerful opportunity to demand for a better nation.

“We cannot achieve reconciliation and peace without justice. To bring back the nation as a whole, the President needs to ensure he holds relevant persons accountable, take measures to stop ongoing corruption and ensure accused people are brought to book,” she said.