President William Ruto has initiated the process to find a new chairperson for the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) by appointing a selection panel to oversee the recruitment.
In a Gazette Notice, President Ruto appointed eight individuals to the panel mandated to recruit the next head of the human rights body.
The appointments were made under various provisions of Section 11 of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Act.
The panel includes Joe Ager, Lawrence Muiruri, Jackline Nekesa Makokha, Irene Cherotich Asienga, Kathurima Hiram Kirimi, and Catherine Wameyo.
Others are Law Society of Kenya president Faith Odhiambo and Professor Kenneth Wyne Mutuma.
The team is tasked with managing the entire recruitment process, including advertising the vacancy, reviewing applications, conducting interviews, and submitting a shortlist of nominees to the President.
The final appointment will follow a vetting process by Parliament.
The incoming chairperson will succeed Roseline Odhiambo Odede, who passed away in January after a short illness.
She led the Commission from 2021.
KNCHR is one of the independent commissions in the country.
It is a national human rights institution created by Article 59 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and established through the KNCHR Act of Parliament (the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Act, 2011.
It is the state’s lead agency in the promotion and protection of human rights.
Its operations are guided by the United Nations-approved Paris Principles on the establishment and functioning of independent national human rights institutions.
The Commission plays two key broad mandates which include acting as a watch-dog over the government in the area of human rights and provision of key leadership in moving the country towards a human rights state.
Its main goal is to investigate and provide redress for human rights violations, to research and monitor the compliance of human rights norms and standards, to conduct human rights education, to facilitate training, campaigns and advocacy on human rights as well as collaborate with other stakeholders in Kenya.
