Nairobi — The newly constituted Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission may not conclude its work owing to its broad mandate of unearthing the country's human right violations and the time limit.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said the two years in which the commission was expected to conclude its work in addressing the human rights abuses experienced since independence was not enough.

KNCHR chairperson Florence Jaoko said the time was too short in regard to the broad mandate given to the Bethuel Kiplagat-led team.

She said uncovering the human right violations including the deaths of politicians Robert Ouko and JM Kariuki and other killings was a huge task that required ample time.

Mandate

Ms Jaoko was speaking during a round table conference in Nairobi organised by Internews Network.

The commission, made up of six local and three international experts, was sworn in last week.

Its mandate includes exploring historical injustices from 1963 up to last year's post-election violence. These injustices include violations of human rights, such as sexual violations, detention and extrajudicial killings.

Ms Jaoko said the TJRC had already started facing hurdles, including lack of confidence among some of the victims of human right abuses who have challenged the credibility of the commissioners.

According to the KNCHR boss, the government was to blame for rushing the process of establishing the truth commission, as the commissioners were sworn in even before their names were gazetted as required by law.

She said that Kenyans should have been engaged in proposing the best candidate to chair the commission.

However, Ms Jaoko noted that Kenyans must not dismiss the TJRC totally, saying that the team should be given an opportunity to work and that past misgivings should not override the interests of the nation.

The media have a responsibility to inform Kenyans on the commission and avoid focusing on the sideshows, she said.

Credibility

However, former Subukia MP Koigi wa Wamwere, who spent 11 years in detention during Presidents Jomo Kenyatta's and Daniel Moi's regimes, questioned the credibility of the nine-member team.

"I wonder if the TJRC would be able to summon some of the key witnesses such as former President Moi or even President Mwai Kibaki to appear in its hearing because some of the violations were committed during their tenure," said Mr Wamwere.

The Wednesday forum, whose theme was "Understanding TJRC Process Towards Peace Building in Kenya", drew journalists from across the country.