Diaspora Times Editorial
“Faith Odhiambo’s Betrayal of Justice: Why the Law Society President Must Resign from Ruto’s Gen Z Commission Farce”

Faith Odhiambo, the sitting President of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), has accepted a seat on the government-appointed commission to investigate the killing and disappearance of Gen Z protestors. This decision is not just disappointing; it is a betrayal wrapped in legal respectability. Her acceptance aligns her, not with the victims of state violence, but with a government keen to mask its atrocities behind yet another hollow commission.

Since Independence, Kenyan leaders have summoned the public to believe in the illusion of accountability through commissions of inquiry. History, however, tells a different story. These commissions have not delivered justice. Instead, they have produced dusty reports, forgotten headlines, and broken national promises.

The ghost of JM Kariuki still haunts Parliament. His brutal assassination in 1975 stirred national outrage and prompted a commission of inquiry. But what came of it? A choreographed spectacle, a silenced truth, and no convictions. JM had dared to expose the grotesque inequalities of the postcolonial elite,  and he paid with his life. To this day, no one has been held accountable.

Robert Ouko’s murder in 1990 offers another glaring example. As a respected foreign minister with global stature, Ouko’s death could have galvanized a new path for accountability. Instead, the state formed a commission, whispered names, allowed tears to fall, and then, as always, did nothing. The government never released the report in full. No one was convicted. Ouko’s charred body, discovered on a remote hillside, became a metaphor for justice denied.

The Waki Commission, formed after the 2007–2008 post-election violence, named names and exposed perpetrators. But when the time came for prosecution, the government buried the files. Powerful individuals were shielded, evidence vanished, and impunity flourished, once again.

Even the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC), arguably the most comprehensive effort to address Kenya’s historical injustices, met a similar fate. Launched with fanfare, it aimed to confront colonial abuses, ethnic massacres, and land theft. Yet the government tampered with its final report. Key chapters were edited. Parliament shelved the recommendations. The victims were re-traumatized, and many perpetrators were promoted into public office.

This is Kenya’s grim pattern. Public anger erupts. The government forms a commission. Lawyers are summoned. Victims recount their pain. The media briefly amplifies their voices. Then the state produces a voluminous report, files it away, and resumes business as usual. The shelves groan under the weight of these unread documents, while the nation’s wounds remain wide open.

It is dangerous and intellectually dishonest to believe that the new commission investigating Gen Z killings will break this cycle. This government authorized the crackdown. It deployed police who abducted, tortured, and in some cases executed protestors. It vilified the youth, dismissed their demands, and now seeks to investigate itself. That is not justice. That is mockery.

Faith Odhiambo had a choice. As the President of LSK, she could have stood firm. She could have served as a lightning rod for truth, a legal shield for the wounded, and a voice for the disappeared. She could have used her platform to demand international investigations, bring the matter before regional courts, file constitutional challenges against police brutality, and offer legal aid to families still searching for their loved ones.

Instead, she chose to lend her name,  and the institutional weight of the Law Society, to a government-orchestrated farce. This commission will not pursue justice. It will provide distraction, offer delay, and engineer the fading of national memory. The state will define its terms of reference, control its timeline, manage its funding, and ensure the final report aligns with its preferred narrative. The victims, once again, will be sidelined.

True justice for Gen Z must begin with arrests, of those who gave orders, those who carried out the abductions, and those who concealed the disappearances. It must include public accountability for police commanders and political operatives who weaponized state power against unarmed youth. This commission was never designed for such outcomes. It is a public relations tool, nothing more.

That is why Faith Odhiambo must resign, not just from the commission, but from the leadership of the Law Society of Kenya. One cannot serve justice while sitting at the table with its enemies. The LSK president cannot serve two masters. She must choose: stand with the victims, or stand with those who violated them. There is no middle ground.

The Gen Z protests were never just about tax hikes or fuel prices. They were about dignity, accountability, and a generation’s cry to be heard. These young people marched unarmed, waving the Kenyan flag, singing the national anthem, and demanding fairness. In return, the state deployed guns, abductions, and lethal force. That pain, that courage, should never be processed through the same bureaucratic template that failed JM Kariuki, Robert Ouko, and thousands of unnamed victims of state repression.

Now is the moment for the legal fraternity to reclaim its moral compass. Let the Law Society of Kenya not be remembered as the institution that polished the boots of tyrants while the bodies of Gen Z youth lay in shallow graves. Let it be remembered as the citadel where justice was demanded without compromise, and where conscience mattered more than proximity to power.

DISCLAIMER:

This editorial reflects the opinion of concerned Kenyans and diaspora citizens seeking truth and justice. It does not amount to a personal attack, but rather a legitimate civic critique protected under constitutional freedoms. The views expressed call for judicial independence, public accountability, and institutional integrity in a nation battling impunity.