President William Ruto has appointed critics and veteran civil society players among technocrats who will spearhead identification and compensation of victims of protests and police brutality.
In a gazette notice dated Monday, the President unveiled the Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Demonstrations and Public Protests.
The move marks a major step in implementing the 10-point Memorandum of Understanding he signed with opposition leader Raila Odinga.
The panel will be chaired by Makau Mutua, the President’s adviser, with Law Society of Kenya president Faith Odhiambo as vice chairperson.
Odhiambo has been a fierce critic of police excesses and has represented protest victims in court.
Other members include former Solicitor General Moses Ogeto, Amnesty International Kenya executive director Irungu Houghton, university lecturer John Olukuru and Kennedy Barasa.
Others are Simiyu, Linda Musumba, Duncan Ojwang’, Naini Lankas, Francis Muraya, Juliet Chepkemei, Pius Metto, Fatuma Abass and Raphael Anampiu.
The technical team will be led by Richard Barno, with Duncan Ndeda as co-lead, while Jerusah Michael and Raphael Ng’etich will serve as joint secretaries.
The panel has been tasked with designing and establishing an operational framework to verify, categorise and compensate eligible victims.
In addition, it will engage with partners, including families of victims, state institutions mandated to address human rights, civil society organisations and religious bodies to ensure inclusivity and fairness in the process.
“I, William Samoei Ruto, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, in exercise of the authority vested in me by the constitution, do hereby establish a coordinating framework for compensation of victims of protests and riots, which shall be vested under the Executive Office of the President,” the proclamation said.
“By dint of a Presidential Proclamation issued on the August, 6, 2025, the head of state and government, acting in furtherance of the state’s constitutional mandate to promote national healing and cohesion, ….. established a Framework for the Reparation and Compensation of Victims of Demonstrations, Public Protests and Riots,” the gazette notice says.
The team is also expected to authenticate data on eligible victims using authoritative sources such as the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the National Police Service, the Ministry of Health and the civil society.
Beyond compensation, the panel will recommend reparations, prosecutions or other accountability measures to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and relevant oversight agencies where evidence warrants.
It will also propose legislative and institutional reforms to address issues surrounding protests and policing culture.
The experts are required to prepare and submit periodic progress reports as well as a final report to the President.
The mandate of the panel will run for 120 days from the date of appointment or such other period as may be specified in the Kenya Gazette.
According to the gazette notice, the compensation scheme will be financed under the Public Finance Management Act through auditable payment channels.
The panel must also maintain transparent accounting, keep records for independent audits and publish anonymised progress updates.
By establishing the panel, the President said he is acting “in furtherance of the state’s constitutional mandate to promote national healing and cohesion.”
INSTANT ANALYSIS
The panel’s secretariat will be housed at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Ground Floor, where coordination and administrative support will be based. The establishment of the panel follows a presidential proclamation made on August 8, 2025, in which President William Samoei Ruto unveiled a national framework for compensating victims of civil unrest.
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