Before the end of cold war in the 1990s Kenya’s civil society was one of the most vibrant in the region. The civil society comprised of the students and university staff intelligentsia, the religious body, and the local non-governmental organizations. From the heydays of political protests and activism of the 90s, a lot of change has taken place. First, this period saw the re-introduction of multiparty politics, lobbying for defense for human rights and several other numerous political transitions. However, since the promulgation of Kenya’s new constitution in 2010, the place of civil society organisations has been bogged down by numerous challenges, hampering its reasons for existence. In Kenya, like in other developing countries, the role of civil society is crucial in the quest for social justice, transparency and accountability and most importantly, push for the right to development for all (D4A). Civil society activism has often provided an objective voice to temper political extremism and demand for development. Today the civil society movement has experienced a collapse of representativeness, the rise of dogmatism and sectarianism, and the glorification of violence as a means of social change and political rhetoric. This has significantly affected the agenda of the right to development especially to the marginalized communities. This paper attempts to show how human rights defenders coming from the civil society championed for development and social change in Kenya in the 1990s and reasons they have declined in public affairs in contemporary times leading to underdevelopment in Kenya
