One of Uyoma’s most nationally famous daughters is being buried today. Her life and legacy remind us that only those who have yet to cause a victory for humanity should fear death. Roseline “Adhis” Odede died on 3 January 2024 from a short fearless battle with cancer. Her last public statement as Chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights was a fitting tribute to a person who made protecting others into a profession.
The 30 December statement was classic Commission. Backed by statistics, the commission demanded an end to enforced disappearances, disrupted protests and arbitrary arrests. They called for human rights based professional policing and the Police Inspector General, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the Office of the Director of Prosecutions to investigate and prosecute all police officers who have broken the law.
At the time she signed it off, unknown to most, Roseline would not only have been fighting for the lives of others, she was also fighting for her own life. The week’s tributes piece together an impactful and purposeful life. Some claim she was destined to be a human rights campaigner, others, a professional lawyer. She started school earlier than her siblings and excelled. An incident early in her life revealed a sign of who she might become. Attending the Kisumu Show wearing her elder brother’s military socks, she was arrested by police officers. She stood her ground, reminded them she was a minor and they couldn’t arrest her without her parents. When her father arrived and apologized, she brushed him aside and asked officers what law dictated she couldn’t wear her brother’s socks.
Biographies of great people tell us our lives are less destined than determined through a series of choices we make in moments of uncertainty. Over her relatively short 57 years, Roseline chose university study, a legal career and volunteered on various boards and committees for the Federation of International Women lawyers, Law Society of Kenya and the Eldoret Hospice for the terminally ill. Women’s empowerment, child rights and alternative dispute resolution were her life’s passions, and she received several awards for her contributions in these areas.
Joining the KNCHR as Chairperson in 2022, she led the Commission towards several victories over human rights abuses. She courageously stood with diverse communities against human rights violations in Yala, Nyalenda, Nyando, Shakahola, and during the 2023 cost of living national protests. She empathetically encouraged victims of police brutality to seek accountability, confidently called for the truth in the Shakahola massacre, and demanded justice for all victims of violent protest policing. Always compassionate and gentle, she was a firm leader when needed.
The Nairobi funeral service spoke less of her awards than her deep sense of humanity and compassion. The children she educated and mentored, the laughter she could bring into a room and wisdom she brought to arguments. The testimonies of mourners remind us. However dark the Kenyan horizon may look, we must not lose faith in humanity. Dark clouds cannot cover all the sky, all the time. Let’s harness her memory to collectively press Kenya through this difficult time.
As we bid farewell to Roseline, let us commit to the last thing she spoke about, stopping abductions and demanding accountability for violent protest policing. Leaders must commit to finding a successor that is a match for Roseline, for that is what Kenya needs now. Let us also prioritise our personal well-being, a healthy diet and regular HPV tests to detect cancer before it invades our bodies, rendering even the best medical treatment useless.
If we can take one thing away from your life, let it be that, by striking blows for humanity is a sure way we come to the end of our life, peaceful and fearless. Our condolences Dr. Jerry Odede, daughters Clara and Dianne and Roseline’s expansive community. Rest in Power Roseline. Let your spirit linger with us a little until we have transformed the discrimination, neglect and violence you abhorred.
This opinion was also published in the Saturday Standard, 17 January 2025.