Govt begins compensation for protest victims as first 348 receive payments
The Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Human Rights Violations has started paying the first batch of victims affected by protests and public demonstrations in Kenya. The announcement was made on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, marking the formal start of the reparation programme covering cases from 2013 to 2025.
The panel, chaired by Makau Mutua, confirmed that only victims who have given consent will receive compensation. It stressed that consent is the final step before any payment is released. Eligible victims who have not yet submitted consent forms or payment details were urged to do so without delay.
In the first phase, 348 verified victims have received a total of Ksh448.7 million. The payouts cover six categories of harm, with different rates depending on the severity of injury or loss.
The breakdown shows 115 families receiving Ksh3 million each for fatalities, totalling Ksh345 million. A further 24 victims with severe injuries received Ksh1 million each, totalling Ksh24 million. Another 137 people with moderate injuries were paid Ksh500,000 each, amounting to Ksh68.5 million. Sixty victims classified under minor injuries received Ksh50,000 each, totalling Ksh3 million
Eight victims of aggravated sexual offences received Ksh1 million each, totalling Ksh8 million. Four cases of economic loss were compensated at Ksh50,000 each, totalling Ksh200,000.
Makau Mutua said the programme will continue in phases until all verified victims are compensated.
“We are committed to ensuring every verified victim is compensated, promptly, fairly, and with the dignity they deserve,” he said. He added that the process will remain transparent, with regular public updates on progress.
Claims verification process explained
Every claim approved for payment has gone through the Reparations Guidelines developed by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR). The process includes registration, verification, authentication, categorisation of harm, approval and final disbursement. The panel said it will publish the names of compensated victims periodically in the Kenya Gazette, in line with the Data Protection Act, 2019.
The panel also confirmed that funds will be paid directly into victims’ bank accounts after verification. It noted that the standard of proof is a “reasonable basis to believe”, which is lower than the threshold used in court cases. However, it maintained that all claims must be supported by documents such as medical reports, post-mortem forms, police records or witness statements depending on the type of harm.
The compensation programme covers victims of human rights violations arising from protests and demonstrations between 2013 and 2025. The government has set aside Ksh2 billion for the exercise. Authorities say the payments will continue until all verified claims are settled.
Mutua’s panel operates from the Kenya International Conference Centre (KICC). Victims can also submit claims or update details through email or by telephone.
The announcement comes ahead of public debate on the value of the compensation package. Siaya Governor James Orengo criticised the Ksh3 million payout for fatalities, calling it insufficient.
“If they get about Ksh3 million for the loss of a young man, I don’t think that is adequate compensation,” he said. He added that in some court cases, families receive between Ksh 20 million and Ksh 50 million depending on circumstances.
It is very important that the Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Human Rights Violations led by Prof. Makau Mutua who was appointed to the job by President William Ruto has worked jointly with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) have worked together to finally get the compensation process going.
It is actually unfortunate that some human rights organizations in Kenya like Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) have been opposed to the package while offering nothing to the victims while the commissioners in those human rights agencies earn millions in pay packages and live big in Nairobi.
Here was my case against human rights abuses and I was very lucky that the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) at that time and People Against Torture (PAT) under the leadership of Njuguna Mutahi were central in helping me take my case to court in 1995 and it took 10 years to get that resolved and I have not been paid the full amount of what the court ordered the Kenya government pay for trying so many times to kill me.
There are so many great Kenyan human rights activists who have won their cases of gross human rights abuses in court and the Kenya government refuses to pay them to this day.
I am talking of great patriots who have given everything for our country like Prof. Edward Oyugi detained for years and won his case against the Kenya government which refuses the court orders to this day.
Detainees from 1982 coup attempt awarded Sh46m
Three lecturers illegally detained by the Moi regime in connection with the 1982 coup have been awarded Sh46 million in damages.The court ruled that the state violated the rights of Edward Oyugi, 76, Kamoji Wachira, 75, and Joseph Otieno, 78. They filed the petition in 2015. They were lecturers at Kenyatta and Nairobi universities.
Three lecturers illegally detained by the Moi regime in connection with the 1982 coup have been awarded Sh46 million in damages.
The court ruled that the state violated the rights of Edward Oyugi, 76, Kamoji Wachira, 75, and Joseph Otieno, 78. They filed the petition in 2015. They were lecturers at Kenyatta and Nairobi universities.
Justice John Mativo awarded Oyugi and Wachira Sh20 million each. They were detained for two years under harsh conditions. The two were held incommunicado in several prisons, including Kamiti, Shimo La Tewa and Hola prisons. They were denied access to family members or lawyers and were held in solitary confinement.
Otieno was awarded Sh6 million because he was released after three days. The court ruled the torture meted out on him left him a shadow of his former self and he was unable to secure a job in the country.
For Otieno, it was a case of mistaken identity because after he was arrested, the following day police realised they had arrested the wrong person. They were looking instead for Alfred Otieno. But they held him until the next day.
“Considering both the physical and mental suffering, the destroyed careers, emotional suffering caused by separation from family members and life-threatening health complications attributed to brutality, I will award them damages,” Mativo ruled.
He said each petitioner narrated torture and inhuman treatment to which they were subjected by police.
When they were arrested in 1982, Oyugi was accused of failing to disclose why he and others wanted to overthrow the government of President Daniel Moi.
Wachira was accused of using students and plotting to overthrow the government. Each petitioner gave an account of being brutally beaten until they lost consciousness. They were held in dark waterlogged cells without food, water or toilets. They said they were forced to lie in water or remain standing for hours.
“The manner in which they were arrested, beaten, harassed, tortured, subjected to degrading treatment, held in degrading and inhumane conditions both at the police station and in detention, and the denial of food and medical care were all a blatant violation of the letter and spirit of Chapter Five of the retired Constitution,” the judge ruled.
Justice Mativo dismissed the argument by the state that the three had delayed, accusing them of waiting 33 years to file suit. “The petition was filed on October 22, 2015, five years after the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution and it is common ground that during the period before August 27, 2010, the political climate was absolutely not conducive for any citizen to file a challenge of this nature,” he said.
These great Kenyans are over 80 years old now and still waiting to be paid compensation for state abuse against them already granted in Kenyan court.
Please Prof. Maku Mutua can you get this sorted out now. We beg you to do that as human rights activists for our country. Ask President Ruto to put that in the plan for Compensation for victims of human rights violations in our country. Do it now and Kenyans will deeply appreciate that.
And here is the ruling on my case which took ten years and I am still waiting to get fully paid. That is another matter.
Maurice Justice Adongo v Attorney General [2014] eKLR
The is one big nightmare for the opposition noise makers like Kalonzo Musyoka and Gachagua who want young Kenyans to go in the streets on June 25, 2026 to commemorate their comrades killed during the demos in 2024/25.
These big boys never go to demos themselves and sit at home to watch on TV and give press statements. Now President Ruto is paying victims of state abuse going back to 2017 when it was President Uhuru Kenyatta doing the killing.
Can Musyoka and Gachagua go to the streets on Thursday June 25 to protest against compensation payments for victims of state violence and abuse?
