We are gravely saddened by the passing of Odindo Opiata, executive director of one of the most exemplary human rights NGOs in Kenya: Hakijamii, Economic & Social Rights Centre. He was a brilliant lawyer, widely respected for his insight and integrity. He has been a good friend and a trusted and dedicated comrade in the struggle against human rights violations at home and abroad. We will miss him tremendously.

Suffering from liver cancer, Opiata died at Mater Hospital where he was admitted on Friday.

Mr. Opiata went to exile in Tanzania in May 1981, following then Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi’s government on crackdown of democracy activists who were advocating for an end to one party rule and the widening of the democratic space in their country. Odinda was among prominent activists were accused of planning to overthrow the Moi government.

Later, Mr Opiata was jailed for three years from 1986 to 1989 during Kenya`s one-party rule and was a victim of the infamous Nyayo House torture chambers.

He was also a member of the National Slum Upgrading Policy Task Force and also served in the Technical Advisory Panel for UN-Habitat’s Advisory Group on Forced Evictions.

Previously, he worked as the coordinator of Legal Services and Community Partnerships at Kituo Cha Sheria between 2000 and 2005. Up to the time of his death, Odindo Opiata was the director of Hakijamii, the organisation he started in 2004 with the aim of helping help community groups at the grassroots to advocate for their rights more effectively.

His brother, Naaman Opiata, urged Parliament to ensure that The Evictions and Resettlement Procedures Bill is passed into law in honour, as advocating for its enactment was one of his goals of recent years.

Pioneer of Democracy

Paying tribute to Odindo, Dean of the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School Makau Mutua recalled their common struggle against the Kanu dictatorship in the 1980s. The distinguished professor referred to the late Opiata as “one of the pioneers of democracy and human rights in Kenya.”

As student leaders at the University of Nairobi, the late Opiata, Prof. Mutua and Saulo Busolo Wanambisi (later MP) led other students in protests against the repressive Moi regime. Prof. Mutua preceded Opiata to exile in Tanzania.

Upon returning back to Kenya after completing law school in 1991 when multi-party politics were permitted in the country. Mr. Opiata then was arrested and jailed on false charges of being a member of the elusive Mwakenya Movement. Jailers tortured him brutally. However, he recovered and later emerged as one of the most-important human rights voice for voiceless Kenyans. He leaves a rich legacy of good works and an example for many to follow.

Rest in peace, Odindo Opiata.