Muturi questions compensation of protest victims after task force report of one fatality

NAIROBI,Kenya Nov 9 – Democratic Party of Kenya leader Justin Muturi has questioned the credibility of the government’s compensation process for victims of anti-government protests after reports emerged that only one fatality had been recognised among 157 cases approved for compensation.

Muturi demanded an explanation from Professor Makau Mutua, who chairs the Uwiano team overseeing the process, arguing that the reported figure raises questions about how deaths recorded during the 2024 protests are being accounted for.

In a statement issued on Monday, the former Attorney General called for the immediate publication of the team’s methodology, complete findings and an independently verifiable account of the deaths recorded during the demonstrations.

He warned that recognising only one fatality could undermine public confidence in the exercise and risk diminishing the suffering of families who lost relatives during the protests.

“If this figure is being advanced as an account of the deaths arising from protests, it amounts to an industrial-scale cover-up of documented human rights violations and risks turning the compensation process into a human rights laundering service,” Muturi said.

He cited reports by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, which documented deaths and other human rights violations during the anti-government demonstrations.

Muturi noted that the KNCHR documented 60 deaths during the June-July 2024 protests, with subsequent interim reporting recording at least 73.

He challenged the Uwiano team to explain how its findings reconcile with the figures documented by the independent human rights organisations.

“How many people were killed? How many families have been registered, verified or excluded? What criteria were used to determine eligibility for compensation?” he posed.

The former Attorney General also questioned whether the team had examined hospital, mortuary, post-mortem and Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) records before arriving at its findings.

He called for transparency in identifying beneficiaries, insisting that every reported death must be accounted for and families whose relatives died or disappeared during the protests must not be excluded from the process.

Muturi further argued that financial compensation should not replace investigations into human rights violations or shield those responsible for unlawful killings from accountability.

“Compensation is not justice, and reconciliation cannot be built on the erasure of human lives. Families deserve more than cheques; they deserve truth, justice and accountability,” he said.

He urged the government to fully implement the Victim Protection Act, 2014, saying the law provides a framework for protecting and supporting victims.

Muturi maintained that the compensation exercise should go hand in hand with investigations into reported deaths and disappearances, as well as accountability for those found responsible for unlawful acts.

“Every death must be accounted for, every disappearance investigated and every person responsible for unlawful killings held accountable in accordance with the law,” he said.

The controversy comes amid continuing questions over accountability for deaths, injuries and disappearances reported during the 2024 anti-government protests, which were largely driven by opposition to the Finance Bill 2024.

Muturi insisted that the compensation process must not be used to rewrite the history of the demonstrations or minimise the experiences of affected families.