As Kenya heads toward a highly contested presidential election, many are worried about a repeat of deadly violence seen in past votes. The Kenyan group Mothers of Victims and Survivors is calling for all sides to maintain peace during this year's polls.
Benna Buluma, also known as Mama Victor, is clutching photos of her two deceased sons at her makeshift home in the Mathare section of Nairobi.On August 9, 2017, her sons; Benard and Victor Okoth, both young men, were shot dead following a police crackdown on election protests in the area, just a day after the presidential polls. Five years later, the killers still have not been held accountable.
Mathare, one of the biggest slums in Africa, with some of the most densely populated poor neighborhoods in Nairobi, has remained a constant hotspot of election violence. "Every time we have elections, they know what our issues are, but they have not actualized," Kasina said."So, bringing your manifesto, to say that you are bringing water, you'll do this... it just brings horizontal violence because you are already living in poverty. It is violence already living in it, you know."