Stephen Kinuthia Mwangi, administrative coordinator with Mathare Social Justice Centre in Nairobi, was arrested twice for no apparent reason last week. MSJC believes this harassment by the state is a direct result of its work in the slums of Mathare, especially documentation of extrajudicial executions by the police.

Gacheke Gachihi of Bunge la Mwananchi (People’s Parliament) social movement says his country faces a “very serious problem of shrinking democratic space”. Kenya has witnessed the criminalisation of human rights activism, funding cuts to civil society movements and a further entrenchment of systemic corruption – “and this is getting normalised”. The situation has deteriorated since the election of Uhuru Kenyatta in 2013.