Mukuru youths who helped retrieve Kware bodies plead for psychosocial support

A newly launched report by Mukuru Community Justice Centre, the grassroots human rights lobby in Nairobi that first discovered the dumped human body parts in the Kware dumpsite, has asked for psychosocial support for a section of youths who volunteered to retrieve the bodies.

In July this year, several dismembered body parts were discovered stuffed inside sacks and dumped at the Kware dumpsite in Mukuru Kwa Njenga.

After several months of police investigations, arrests and the escape of the main suspect in the case, Mukuru Community Justice Centre has released a detailed report about their findings titled ‘Kware: The Aftermath; Mukuru's Darkest Hour’.

In the report that was released by the lobby's coordinator Anami Daudi and other officials, it is noted that the psychological harm caused by the gruesome retrieval process of the Kware bodies came quickly and fast on grassroots human rights defenders (HRDs) and activists from Mukuru slum.

"The mental health challenges faced by HRDs working for Mukuru Community Justice Centre is something that requires urgent action by human rights organisations in Kenya. Beyond the immediate assistance that these HRDs need is the critical need to create a culture of care, especially in regard to mental health," notes the report.

The lobby also calls for a proactive approach to mental health, noting that it should be a permanent feature when designing and implementing justice and human rights projects.

"Organisations such as Mukuru Community Justice Centre should be supported to extend support to the larger Mukuru slum community. What was the impact of the retrieval of the bodies on the general public in the Mukuru slum? How will the trauma that the community experienced manifest itself in the community? Those are questions that only an organised collective like Mukuru Community Justice Centre that was at the centre of these retrievals can be able to address," the report said.

Anami noted that a lot has been said and written about what transpired in Kware by outsiders, and they believe that it is important to capture first-hand accounts from active witnesses in their report.

"This report will remain a permanent remembrance in honour of the victims of these gruesome deaths and the volunteers who offered themselves to retrieve the bodies when the government failed them. This report is additionally a reference resource for future activists, organisers and researchers working in slum communities," noted Anami.

Faith Kasina from Kayole Community Justice Centre who attended the launch, said most of the bodies were retrieved by youths from the community who are not professionals in the job.

"The retrieval was also done without any protective gear in murky and contaminated water. The selfless acts of these youth make them potential allies in the struggle for human rights and justice in Mukuru slum. There ought to be an open invitation to these youths who volunteered to retrieve the bodies," Kasina said.

In its detailed report, the lobby also faults the national and regional non-governmental organisations that took advantage of the situation to position themselves as helping the vulnerable victims and community but did nothing.

Anami urged civil society organisations (CSOs) to weigh carefully between the people's agenda and the agenda of foreign donors.

"Moving forward, Kenyan CSOs need to create space for grassroots emergency initiatives so that they are not caught off-guard by catastrophic incidents like the discovery of dismembered bodies in Kware.

In August, the police reported that the main suspect in the killings, Collins Jumaisi, escaped from police custody.

DCI boss Mohamed Amin said a fresh hunt for the suspect had been launched.