The entitlement to ‘equal access to justice for all’ is enshrined in the Kenyan constitution. However, this is far from reality for many including members of marginalized, poor, and vulnerable communities of Mandera County in the North-Eastern region of Kenya. These communities lag in nearly every measure of development and more so their access to legal services. Lacking knowledge of their human and legal rights, high cost of legal support, high levels of illiteracy, and overreliance on traditional dispute resolution practices in situations that compromises the efforts of achieving a just and equal society especially for women, children, the poor, and persons with disabilities.
NAPAD through the ‘Haki Kwa Wote project’ funded by the UNDP’s Amkeni WaKenya program has for the last two and half years facilitated legal aid clinics and community caravans in Mandera North and East Sub Counties. NAPAD has engaged community champions such as Yunis Osman to educate vulnerable and rural communities on opportunities available for those in need through Legal Aid support. Additionally, the project is also promoting the Alternative Justice System (AJS) among the community members as an option to settle disputes and resolve conflict among community members, especially over resources.
Yunis Osman, a paralegal is a legal aid and alternative justice system (AJS) champion has been at the forefront of promoting legal aid and AJS activities in the Mandera North sub-county.
“The training provided to us by NAPAD in the first year of the Haki Kwa Wote project has played a fundamental role in my work as a community legal aid and AJS champion. The knowledge and skills gained enriched my experience and provided more insight on the scope of alternative justice systems within the Kenyan Constitution”, said Yunis.
Paralegals, community champions, Community and religious leaders trained on Alternative Justice Approaches have been engaged in the rural caravans to educate communities on the legal aid act of 2016, Kenya Justice systems, and the Constitution of Kenya. Gender-based violence (GBV), Female genital mutilation (FGM), early marriages, and rape have been major topics present during the caravans.
‘’ AJS and legal aid clinics such as this one have given me the chance to interact with the community directly and in the process, we were able to address the challenges on access to justice and also promote awareness to community members,’’ Reports Yunis
Having experienced the growing need for legal aid services and alternative justice approaches, Yunis has appealed to NAPAD and its donors to conduct more awareness campaigns on legal aid services and access to justice through AJS to more rural communities of Mandera.