Philo Ikonya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Kenya |
| Alma mater | University of Nairobi |
Philo Ikonya is a writer, journalist and human rights activist from Kenya. Her articles and books often cover the current political situation in Kenya. She was the president of Kenya's branch of PEN, the international association of writers. [1] After several arrests for her activism and a severe beating in 2009 while in police custody, she left Kenya in political exile. [2]
In addition to journal and magazine articles, Ikonya has published books of poetry and a novel, Kenya, Will You Marry Me? [2] She also translated a book of poetry by Chinese poet Jidi Majia into the Kiswahili language. [3]
Ikonya attended the University of Nairobi, where she earned a master's degree in literature. She has taught semiotics at Tangaza College of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. [4]
While in Kenya, Ikonya was active in the work of human rights and nonviolent activism and was arrested two separate times in 2007. [1] At a 2008 protest against Kenya's then-president Mwai Kibaki, she said, "Every day something is happening that is just showing insensitivity on the part of the leaders so there is general discontent." [5] In 2009, she learned of British journalist Michela Wrong's book It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower, which was available internationally but censored in Kenya. Ikonya and other members of Kenyan PEN acquired copies and brought them back to Kenya for more widespread distribution. [2]
On 18 February 2009, Ikonya and two others were arrested outside the Parliament of Kenya at a protest against hyperinflation. While in police custody, she was severely beaten by a male police officer. [1] [2] Later that year, she left Kenya and went to an International City of Refuge in Oslo, Norway. [4] She continued to be involved with PEN, including with their Writers in Prison Committee. [6]
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022.
Wangarĩ Muta Maathai was a Kenyan social, environmental and a political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. As a beneficiary of the Kennedy Airlift, she studied in the United States, earning a Bachelor's Degree from Mount St. Scholastica and a Master's Degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She went on to become the first woman in East and Central Africa to become a Doctor of Philosophy, receiving her PhD from the University of Nairobi in Kenya.
Human rights in Kenya internationally maintain a variety of mixed opinions; specifically, political freedoms are highlighted as being poor and homosexuality remains a crime. In the Freedom in the World index for 2017, Kenya held a rating of '4' for civil liberties and political freedoms, in which a scale of "1" to "7" is practised.
Corruption in the government of Kenya has a history which spans the era of the founding president Jomo Kenyatta, to Daniel arap Moi's KANU, Mwai Kibaki's PNU government and the current Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party government. In the Corruption Perceptions Index 2021, Kenya is ranked 128th out of 180 countries for corruption, tied with seven other countries, including Bolivia, Azerbaijan, Laos, and Paraguay.
John Njoroge Michuki was a Kenyan politician and businessman. He was born at Muguru, village, Iyego Location, Kangema Division in Murang’a District. He was educated in Kenya and abroad. Michuki emerged as one of the prominent and long-serving civil servants and politicians as well as a businessman in Kenya. Michuki served Kenya in various capacities, including Permanent Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Chairman of the Kenya Commercial Bank, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister. He was serving his 4th five-year term as a Member of Parliament for Kangema Constituency. Michuki had a reputation as a "ruthless" and efficient manager, and was widely acknowledged as among the best performing ministers in President Kibaki's Government. He was serving as the Minister for Environment and National Resources at the time of his death.
Li Boguang was a Chinese legal scholar and human rights activist. In his capacity as the director of the Qimin Research Institute in Beijing, Li supported farmers in seeking compensation for confiscated farmland. He was arrested in 2004 following his involvement in the Tangshan protest, which led to international attention being paid to his plight by human rights groups.
Human rights in Armenia tend to be better than those in most former Soviet republics and have drawn closer to acceptable standards, especially economically. Still, there are several considerable problems.
Major General Mohammed Hussein Ali is a Kenyan military commander. He was formerly commissioner of the Kenya Police. He is currently chief executive of the Postal Corporation of Kenya.
General elections were held in Kenya on 27 December 2007. Voters elected the President, and members of the National Assembly. They coincided with the 2007 Kenyan local elections.
The 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis was a violent political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that erupted in Kenya after former President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election held on December 27, 2007. Supporters of Kibaki's main opponent in that election, Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement, alleged electoral manipulation. This position was widely confirmed by international observers, as being perpetrated by both parties in the election. Even the head of the electoral commission himself confirmed that he did not know who had won the elections despite announcing the incumbent as president.
Michela Wrong is a British journalist and author who spent six years as a foreign correspondent in Africa for Reuters, the BBC, and the Financial Times.
Gitobu Imanyara is a Kenyan human rights lawyer, journalist, and politician.
Iryna Khalip is a Belarusian journalist, reporter and editor in the Minsk bureau of Novaya Gazeta, known for her criticism of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Willy Munyoki Mutunga is a Kenyan lawyer, intellectual, reform activist, and was the Commonwealth Special Envoy to the Maldives. He is also an active member of the Justice Leadership Group. He is the retired Chief Justice of Kenya and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya.
Zainab Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is a Bahraini human rights activist, and a participant in the Bahraini uprising. She rose to prominence after posting tweets online about the protests under the name AngryArabiya as well as for protesting her father Abdulhadi Alkhawaja's detention during his hunger strike.
'Valentina Acava is a writer, educator and artivist. She is an outspoken advocate to end female genital mutilation (FGM) using artistic and educational Workshops. She was born into Italian and Greek parents and was raised in South Africa. She is the founder of Creative Encounters, an artistic platform for artists in East Africa.
Asieh Amini is an Iranian poet and journalist currently residing in Trondheim, Norway. She is a Women's Rights activist fighting against the death penalty in general and specifically against the stoning of women and minors in Iran.
On 16 September 2022, the 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, died in a hospital in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol, the religious morality police of Iran's government, arrested Amini for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards. The Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that she had a heart attack at a police station, collapsed, and fell into a coma before being transferred to a hospital. However, eyewitnesses, including women who were detained with Amini, reported that she was severely beaten and that she died as a result of police brutality, which was denied by the Iranian authorities. The assertions of police brutality, in addition to leaked medical scans, led some observers to believe Amini had a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke due to head injuries received after her arrest.
Yirgalem Fisseha Mebrahtu is an Eritrean poet, writer and journalist. In 2009, she was arrested by the Eritrean government and imprisoned. Since 2018, she has been living in exile in Munich with the support of the PEN Center Germany.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Other | |
