http://www.nation.co.ke/...8/-/u32wc5/-/index.html
UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Prof Philip Alston has urged Kenya Government to establish independent investigations into the killing of two prominent human rights activists.Prof Alston said the way the Oscar Foundation’s officials were killed was likely to raise suspicion upon the police.
“It is extremely troubling when those working to defend human rights in Kenya can be assassinated in broad daylight in the middle of Nairobi … this constitutes a major threat to the rule of law,regardless of who might be responsible for the killings.”
He said it was the responsibility of the government to arrange for independent investigations,given the circumstances.
http://oscarfound.org/founder.html
The founder Mr. Oscar Kamau Kingara was born in July 14 1971 and was brought up in Kiambu/Nairobi in modest and average up-bringing. After graduating and acquiring a law degree,Kamau Kingara opted to venture into the family business that involved,Manufacturing Industries,Meat & Fish processing,Real Estate,import/ export and dealers hip of building materials in Kenya.
Kamau Kingara is happly Married to Nancy Wangeci Munene and their union is blessed by two issues Natalie .N. Kamau and Naima .N. Kamau. He is a devoted christian and fellowship at International Christian Church (I.C.C.) Mombasa Rd Nairobi and Mary Immaculate Church Muchatha in Kiamba.
In 1996 Kingara had a firsthand experience of injustices perpetuated by the state which then had a policy of destroying local industries in the expense of multinationals.
Consequently,In 1997 the government through the then minister for health together with the permanent secretary issued a statement meant to ensure that fish export from Kenya was closed. This was aimed at punishing people from Nyanza province who were perceived by the KANU government to be anti-establishment. The policy was (Siasa mbaya maisha mbaya). “Bad politics -bad life”
The said statement forced the infamous fish export to the European market thus forced Kamau Kingara to close down the multi million dollar factory in Kisumu that was processing and exporting fish to Europe.
The 1st hand experience of injustice and high handed impunity by the state was an eye opener that made Kamau Kingara realize how justice is hard to get in Kenya especially to the poor vulnerable.
This scenario prompted Kamau Kingara to think of a way of making justice accessible to the poor in Kenya. In 1998 he founded the Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic Kenya and further registered the same in America and the United Kingdom. Since then the foundation has remained independent and its entire projects and programmes are funded by the Kamau Kingara family without any external funding.
However,though the Oscar Foundation has never received any external funding its founder Mr Kamau Kingara has received several consultancies funded by the American people. His therefore appreciates and pledges his loyalty to the American people.
The founder was encouraged and mentored by an American lady,M/S Georgiana Pratt,he vows never let her down.( Ms Georgiana Pratt- an American citizen- formerly with the Pathfinder International-) her Kindness will never escape our memory.
It is worth noting that the Founder Between the year 2004 and 2005,OFFLACK was able to train para-legals in the Central,Nairobi,Coast,Nyanza and Rift Valley provinces,through Pathfinder International,an ogrnisation funded by the people of America. The project was supervised by the said Ms Georgiana Pratt. The para-legals are today very useful and are very critical in the Oscar foundation access to justice project as they form Local Project Advisory Groups (L.P.A.Gs) that is charged with collecting First Information Reports (F.I.R) from our potential clients which in turn helps the Oscar foundation in researching and documentation of cases of human rights violations published by OFFLACK reports and Human Rights (HR) discourse in Kenya.
Contrary to the perception of many,The Oscar Foundation is an indigenous and homegrown organization born out of the desire by Kenya to better lives of their fellow Kenyans and more importantly to Kenyans by the very Kenyans themselves
The desire to help has seen the Kamau Kingara family cut down on their need and has gone off their way to deny themselves so as to touch and positively affect the lives of many who are in need.
The Oscar foundation is non Tribal,non partisan and the very purpose of the foundation is to uplift the youth who are the future recourse of any Nation. The foundation empowers the youth through capacity building.
The youths are educated to respect the rule of law,more so the foundation encourages the poor and the youth to seek justice through the law and due process and not through violence or any other unlawful means.
The policy of the foundation is non violence and we stand by revolutionizing the NGO sector by conducting demonstration not on the streets but through the power of the pen.
The foundation invest heavily in research and documentation and use the available legal channels like the court,mediation,arbitration and dialoguing with the authorities so as to bring peace,harmony and tranquility in our society for the better of all.
Thank you
http://oscarfound.org/