My consciousness evolved during years when I was involved in car washing in Huruma village Mathare in early 1993 after I was displaced as a victim of ethnic violence from Rift valley of Kenya during the post-election violence of  1992. In Nairobi, I was subjected to brutality by Nairobi city council askaris. This led me to seek legal assistance from human rights organizations and through these contacts, I joined a pro-reform movement for constitutional change from 1997. Through participation and distribution of leaflets for the pro-democracy movement Saba Saba, rallies and the “no reforms no election” protest in Uhuru Park and Kamukunji we made demands for a new constitution. Later in 1999 because of my political activism, I was invited to be a member of the National Convention Executive Council NCEC which was a vanguard for constitutional reforms in Kenya. My role was as a council member representing grassroots social movements and it was a great political opportunity that gave me civic and political space to interact with constitutional reform movement leaders.

It was during this time that I started organizing the youth in Mathare slum Huruma car wash and formed a community-based youth network named Kasarani Starehe youth network (Kasta). We partnered with Green belt movement to organize Civic and Environmental community dialogue that Prof. Wangari Mathai was conducting.  At Green Belt Headquarters in Kilimani Nairobi, named (Kwimenya) to consciously know yourself. Thereafter we would start Green groups in our areas, to plant trees in Kariobangi Market (1999-2000). This youth body helped to evolve a  critical grassroots social movement that would provide support to reform movement during the negotiation of  Merger of Peoples commission led by the late Dr. Oki Ombaka and Prof. Yash Ghai Commission on constitutional reform at Ufungamano House meetings that was organized by Peoples Commission Interfaith initiative for people driven constitutional review.

During Saba Saba memorial commemoration of 2001 on July 7 I was at historic freedom corner, with pro-reform movement leaders from National Convention Executive Council  (NCEC) Muuguno wa Mageuzi, Green belt Movement and other social movements that were demanding democratic change.  We were tear-gassed and arrested.  That day we had organized tree planting in commemoration of the youth who were killed in 1990 and 1997 during opposition pro-democracy reform rallies. Where the late Nobel Laurent Prof Wangari Maathai was to plant a tree in Freedom Corner in memory of the youth killed in the pro-democracy struggle the gathering was teargassed, and we were arrested and tortured in the central police station in Nairobi, a police station that came to define my struggle in building grassroots movements Bunge La Mwananchi  (People’s Parliament).

Excerpt from Gacheke Gachihi’s bio on the University of York’s Centre for Applied Human Rights . More: https://www.york.ac.uk/cahr/defenders/protective-fellowship/past/gacheke-gachihi/