By Netsanet Belay, Africa director at Amnesty International.
Like so many thousands of Kenyans, Pamela, David and Kanu are all still struggling to piece their lives together nearly six years after the violence that rocked parts of Kenya following the elections in December 2007.
Finding work, feeding their children and recovering from physical and psychological trauma are just some of their everyday battles.
“I suffered a lot because I have only one hand, but I have been completely forgotten,” Kanu recently told Amnesty International. His arm was hacked off with a machete after he tried to save a woman from being raped by 17 men amid the post-election violence.
Life for Pamela, a 24-year-old mother of four, is still incredibly difficult. She has a bullet lodged in her chest after police fired through the wall of her mud hut. After the incident, she tried to follow up the case with the police. The individual she believes shot her still works in a nearby suburb.
David, a former taxi driver, has struggled to support his family since a bullet to the knee cut short his career. He told Amnesty International that when he tried to report what happened to him to the police, they did nothing.
“Instead of helping me, they tried to arrest me for reporting on the government. I haven’t spoken to them since,” he said. “There is no justice in Kenya, because since I was injured, we reported and nothing was done.”