The committee will be tasked with facilitating compensation of victims of demonstrations and protests dating back to 2017.

Prof. Makau Mutua, who is President William Ruto’s senior advisor on constitutional affairs and human rights, will chair the panel that is expected to effect the implementation of the August 8 proclamation by Ruto, where he announced a framework to compensate protest victims.

President Ruto unveiled a 5-member committee on August 8 to establish a framework for compensating victims of protests and riots. Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president Faith Odhiambo will be the vice chairperson.

Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony, Prof. Mutua said that the panel will stay committed to creating a framework that will provide guidelines on peaceful protests.

 

“We want to start writing a new chapter so that we can establish peaceful protests. We know that violence has taken the lives of civilians, a majority who did nothing wrong,” he said.

 

“A number of our law enforcement people also suffered; they are also our citizens. It is a national process to transform our political and human rights watch.”

The panel will be expected to design and establish an operational framework to verify, categorize, and compensate eligible victims.

It will also engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure inclusivity and fairness in the compensation process and authenticate data on eligible victims.