A human rights defender has narrated how he went into hiding for 12 weeks fearing for his life after he received threats from a policeman.
Kennedy Chindi alias JJ is a field coordinator with Mathare Social Justice Centre, a human rights organisations detailing cases of police brutality, extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances within informal sectors of Nairobi.
In the wake of the missing Dandora activist Caroline Mwatha, JJ told a local daily that he is a case study of what human rights defenders go through, more so those dealing with issues of police accountability.
“It is the people I serve who saved me,” he said.
The police officer accused of killing tens of youths in Mathare and Dandora areas was allegedly tracing his movements after he documented 24 deaths in a record one week.
Most of the cases are under active probe by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA). “I went into hiding from November to the end of last month. I am now back though I keep watching my steps,” Chindi said.
This comes at a time when police are investigating the disappearance of another human rights activist Caroline Mwatha.
Mwatha, a senior official at Dandora Community Social Justice Center, disappeared last Wednesday.
She had been documenting cases of enforced disappearance and police extrajudicial killings, including the cold-blooded murder of six Dandora residents in October last year.