Legal experts divided over Ruto’s move to compensate protest victims since 2017

Top legal minds have recorded differing observations on whether President William Ruto is right in unveiling a State-backed team to develop a framework to compensate victims of protests and demonstrations dating back to 2017.

In a proclamation issued from the Executive Office of the President on Friday and affixed with the official state seal, President Ruto cited the “compelling national interest” in redressing harm suffered by both civilians and security personnel during Kenya’s turbulent protest history.

Lawyer and politician Paul Muite supported Ruto’s move, noting that it is a right step towards the thorny matter of compensation for police brutality victims.

“I support this proclamation by the President setting up a Committee to look into the modalities of compensating victims of police brutality. Despite legal challenges facing the Proclamation, I believe it is a pragmatic way of addressing this urgent compensation issue,” said Muite. “This regime, guilty of the extrajudicial executions of Gen-Zs and beatings, cannot address the issue of justice, but let them pay compensation in the meantime.”

Fiery lawyer and critic of the Kenya Kwanza administration, Miguna Miguna, however, poured cold water on Ruto’s move, expressing scepticism about whether the real victims of police brutality and atrocities will ever get compensated.

“It’s not even compensation. Ruto will gather a handful of hungry and desperate family members of victims of egregious human rights abuses and pay them Sh350,000 each,” claimed Miguna.

Human Rights and Constitutional Lawyer Waikwa Wanyoike added that the president’s action calls for an introspection on whether it adhered to the Constitution.

“Many constitutional questions about this, but the threshold one. Does Ruto have the power to do this, or is the power to create a "framework" - at least in the first instance, legislative or adjudicative?” asked Wanyoike.

Several Kenyans on online platforms have also raised questions on the timing and suitability of those tapped to lead the president’s initiative.

An X user, Shollar Ard, similarly raised questions on the suitability of Ruto's once foremost critic turned advisor, Prof Makau Mutua, in leading the initiative.

“Ruto has appointed Mutua to coordinate compensation for victims of demonstrations and public protests held since 2017. But remember, Makau Mutua once called protesters anarchists. Now he’s in charge of giving them justice?” she asked.

Sophie Mugure Njehia, too, wondered what criteria the framework would be used to determine those to be compensated. “How will he determine the number of families who need compensation? There are very many people who have never seen or heard from their loved ones since June 2024,” noted Njehia.

Jim Njue, however, observed that the sudden talk of compensation is a knee-jerk reaction to the US Senate's move to investigate Ruto’s government. "It's a panic".

The proclamation establishes a coordinating framework for compensation of victims of protests and riots, to be housed under the Office of the President.  It has been given 120 days from the date of proclamation, within which to deliver on its mandate.

“The Constitution establishes the dual obligations of the State and its citizens to uphold the delicate balance between civic responsibility and the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed freedoms,” reads the proclamation.

Ruto emphasised the need for accountability and reparations for those who lost their lives or sustained bodily harm “during public protests and riots since the year 2017.”

He stressed that his office will collaborate with key state institutions, including the Office of the Attorney General, the Ministry of Interior, and the National Treasury, to implement the plan.

The actualisation of the plan to compensate protest victims is also a key demand by Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which is currently in a cooperation pact with Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

The move also comes after years of protests, police crackdowns, and an ever-growing deaths, particularly during the Gen Z-led protests in the country in June 2024 and 2025.

According to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and Amnesty International, 61 people were killed during the protests. Amnesty International indicated that 89 enforced disappearances were tied to the 2024 anti-government protests alone.