So the other day we woke up to the news of the mighty International Criminal Court (ICC) ruling that the suspects who were alleged to have played a key role in post-election violence, Mr.Joshua Arap Sang and Deputy President William Ruto had no case to answer.

As always, Kenyans were split into two; those who welcomed the ruling and those who felt that the victims had been side-lined in the whole process.

Using the hashtag #PEVictims, a section of Kenyans on social media has called on the government to help the 2007/2008 post-election violence victims get justice.

It is sad to note that even as leaders celebrate the ruling, they forget very soon the ugly side being that of the victims that was witnessed across different parts of the country. Houses and churches were torched while children and pregnant women were raped in front of their families. Some were even raped together with other female family members or in groups with other women from their communities by the same perpetrators. Sometimes family members were forced to rape their own relatives.

Why do they forget this so soon?

Unfortunately in Kenya, you can easily get justice if you possess money and power. We can only hope that the victims get rich quicker and acquire even a considerable amount of power to access justice, if it’s the only way forward.

It’s more than eight years now and victims including survivors of ethnic-based killings, rape and other sexual violence continue to experience significant physical and psychological trauma and socioeconomic hardship, worsened by the Kenyan government’s failure to provide medical care, psychosocial support, monetary compensation, and other redress.

In March 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta put up a fund of 10 billion Kenyan Shillings over the next three years as a way of ensuring justice for victims of the post-election violence as had been recommended by the TJRC. However, the director of public prosecutions informed him that most cases, including those of sexual violence, could not be prosecuted due to lack of evidence.

Many victims are still destitute, seeking justice or reparations, and are still suffering from the injuries they sustained during the violence that nearly tore apart this country.

Those who are celebrating, continue with your short-lived party because PEV victims are watching. Watching you very keenly.

Bringing perpetrators of post-election violence to justice, providing reparations to victims, and reforming the police service will be welcome steps in the right direction.

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