President William Ruto’s government has started rolling out compensation to victims of human rights violations during protests, with an initial KSh 448.7 million paid out to 348 verified beneficiaries under a state-backed reparations programme.
The payouts were announced by a panel of experts led by constitutional scholar Makau Mutua, marking the first phase of a wider KSh 2 billion framework aimed at compensating victims of abuses linked to protests and demonstrations between 2013 and 2025.
The Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Human Rights Violations said the process follows recent policy developments, including the formal receipt of a Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) report by President William Ruto at State House on June 15. The report forms the basis of the compensation framework, having documented 1,937 claims and verified 1,101 cases involving alleged killings, torture, abductions, sexual violence and destruction of property.
According to the panel, only victims who gave consent are included in the current payouts, with families of those killed during protests among the first beneficiaries. The programme, it said, will continue in phases until all eligible victims are compensated, running separately from ongoing accountability and legal processes dealing with the violations.