Mzalendo Trust, Kenya

“Recently internet shutdowns have become a tool for authoritarian regimes to silence citizens. Here in Kenya, we thought that it would never happen to us, but it happened in June 2024, when youth went to the streets to reject overtaxation and bad governance. We are not safe, we are prone to authoritarianism and the ReCIPE project will help us demand internet freedom, protect our rights to conscience, opinion, self-expression, and association online and offline.”

- Gitungo Wamere, Senior Programme Officer at Mzalendo Trust.

Mzalendo Trust is a Kenyan non-partisan Parliamentary Monitoring Organisation. They are politically non-biased. Their mission is to promote open, inclusive, and accountable parliaments in Kenya and in Africa more widely. They do this by creating and managing civic technology tools that can be used by everyone, producing evidence-based research, and leading and facilitating advocacy and partnerships with parliaments and other relevant stakeholders. Mzalendo means “patriot” in Swahili.

Partnering with Oxfam through the ReCIPE project, will help Mzalendo Trust to advance their work in two main areas:

• It will help them to advocate for a fair digital ecosystem that is focused on human rights. This will be done by increasing internet freedom. Mzalendo will monitor and call out surveillance and censorship of online activities, and the closure of digital spaces by the government.

• It will also help to address other gaps in areas such as digital security and understanding of the issue among the general population, activists and other organisations. Mzalendo will further advocate for a legal framework that addresses digital security threats, risks and vulnerabilities.