Kenyans walk to promote mediation as faster route to justice in Nairobi on August 22, 2026.More than 300 Kenyans on Saturday thronged Uhuru Park for the inaugural FIDA-Kenya Steps for Justice Walk, turning a morning walk into a national call for faster, cheaper and more dignified justice.
Held under the theme “Walking for Access, Walking for Dignity, Walking for Change,” the walk brought together members of the public, women lawyers, partners and institutions to support the operationalisation of the FIDA-Kenya Mediation Centre — a first-of-its-kind facility dedicated to mediation and integrated justice services.
While the procession highlighted women’s rights, the central message was clear: justice does not always have to begin and end in a courtroom.
For many Kenyans — especially women facing family, property, inheritance and civil disputes — litigation is expensive, time-consuming and emotionally draining.
FIDA-Kenya says its new centre will provide an alternative pathway for disputes suitable for mediation, while linking clients to other support services where needed.
According to FIDA-Kenya deputy executive director Janet Anyango, the centre is designed to provide structured and professionally facilitated mediation for matrimonial and family disputes, child custody and maintenance matters, land and property disputes and inheritance and succession-related conflicts.
Anyango said the approach allows parties to participate directly in finding solutions while reducing the financial, time and adversarial costs associated with prolonged litigation.
“The push mirrors the Judiciary’s recent drive to refer more cases to court-annexed mediation and Alternative Justice Systems (AJS) to ease the backlog in family disputes,” Anyango said.
FIDA-Kenya is not new to mediation.
The organisation says its mediation work has recorded a success rate of between 72 and 74 per cent over the past four years, demonstrating the potential of alternative dispute resolution to complement the formal court system.
Anyango said the challenge, however, has been scaling up the initiative.
She said FIDA-Kenya has already acquired the building that will house the centre.
“Today’s walk was therefore not about bricks and mortar, but about mobilising resources to turn the facility into a fully functioning justice institution. The organisation is targeting Sh4 million for operationalisation,” Anyango said.
Participant Victor Sirengo said the centre will be “more than a venue where parties sit across a table to negotiate, but also a place where families can sit down and resolve disputes amicably, away from the rigorous and adversarial nature of court processes”.
FIDA-Kenya communications officer Mark Owuor noted that disputes affecting women are rarely purely legal.
“A family conflict may involve child maintenance, housing and economic insecurity. An inheritance dispute may determine whether a woman or child retains a home. Someone seeking legal assistance may also require counselling, protection or referral,” Owuor said.
The centre’s model proposes a full pathway: information, legal aid, mediation, counselling, safety, referral and resolution, placing mediation within a broader ecosystem that responds to human realities.
Saturday’s walk, organisers said, was more than just a walk.
It was a public mobilisation around a changing understanding of what access to justice can look like, where the courts remain essential for litigation, but dialogue offers a timely, affordable and less adversarial path where appropriate.
