Human rights advocate Tina Alai has delivered a blistering critique of Kenya’s political establishment, accusing it of deliberately frustrating the implementation of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) report to protect powerful figures implicated in past atrocities.
“There is no political will to implement the TJRC report because the perpetrators and the beneficiaries of historical injustices are still embedded in the country’s leadership,” Alai said during the live interview on a local TV station on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
The TJRC, established in the aftermath of the 2007/2008 post-election violence, compiled testimonies from thousands of Kenyans detailing abuses ranging from colonial-era atrocities to political assassinations, land injustices, and systemic discrimination. However, over a decade since the final report was handed to the presidency in 2013, its recommendations remain largely shelved.
Alai, a longtime advocate for transitional justice and social accountability, accused successive governments of “sitting on the truth” for fear of disrupting the status quo.
“How do you expect justice to be done when those who ought to be investigated are the same ones signing off the national agenda?” she asked pointedly.
“It is the ultimate conflict of interest, and it’s the Kenyan people who continue to pay the price.”
During the interview, Alai highlighted that the TJRC report contains powerful truths that, if addressed, could heal the nation and provide justice to thousands of victims. But without political action, she warned, it risks becoming “just another dusty government document.”
“We sat in those hearings. We heard the testimonies. We cried with the survivors. We promised them accountability,” Alai noted. “But a decade later, their cries are still echoing in government silence.”
Asked whether civil society had done enough to push for implementation, Alai defended the efforts of activists but emphasized that they are constantly stonewalled by vested interests in power.
“Civil society has shouted itself hoarse. The people want closure. But when you take this report to the State House, to Parliament, it’s like tossing it into a fire. Nobody wants to touch it,” she asserted.
In a moment of raw honesty, Alai also warned of the dangers of forgetting history.
“If we don’t deal with our past, we will keep repeating it. The 2007 violence didn’t come from nowhere. It was a spark on a pile of unresolved historical grievances like land, ethnicity, injustice,” she explained.
She also criticized the government’s piecemeal approach to justice and called for the establishment of an independent implementation committee that is shielded from political interference.
“We cannot expect a government that fears accountability to implement a report that demands it,” she said. “We need an independent mechanism, rooted in transparency, that the people can trust,” she added.
She further urged young Kenyans to read the TJRC report and understand their country’s untold stories.
“This report belongs to all of us. It is not about revenge, but about truth. If we don’t know our history, we are condemning ourselves to be victims of it again and again,” she added.
Closing the interview, Alai urged President William Ruto to make a bold break from his predecessors and lead with moral courage.
“You have the report. You have the power. What are you afraid of?” she asked. “True leadership is not about protecting the guilty. It’s about giving justice to the voiceless.”
