The chairperson of the Protest Victims Compensation Panel, Professor Makau Mutua, has laid out the detailed process through which Kenyans who suffered injuries, deaths in their families, or property losses during protests between 2013 and 2025 can apply for state compensation, clarifying that victims will not be individually contacted and must proactively submit their own claims.
Mutua made the clarifications during an interview on Citizen TV’s Sunday Live programme on June 28, 2026, days after the government disbursed Ksh448 million to 348 verified victims in the first phase of the compensation exercise. A further 500 victims are expected to receive payment in the coming week, he said.
The government has set aside a total of Ksh2 billion for the programme, which covers harms suffered during protest-related incidents spanning more than a decade, including post-election violence, the anti-tax demonstrations of 2024, and subsequent protests in 2025.
Mutua was emphatic that not every incident qualifies for compensation. Claims must be directly linked to protests or riots connected to the exercise of constitutional rights under Article 37 of the Constitution.
“We are covering the period from 2013 to 2025, but there are some qualifying events. The claim that is made must be connected to a protest or a riot in the course of trying to exercise the predicates of Article 37, which is a right to protest, to demonstrate, to petition and so on. So your claim must fall within those events. If it does not, it does not qualify,” Mutua stated.
Eligible claimants can submit applications through the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), or directly to the panel’s office at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.
“I myself have called openly for anyone who feels that they qualify for compensation to come forward and lodge a claim,” Mutua said.
The panel has set strict documentary requirements. Families seeking compensation for deaths must provide post-mortem reports and death certificates linking the fatality to a qualifying protest. Victims claiming for injuries must submit police reports, hospital records, and medical bills.
“If you are injured, we would want a police report, a hospital bill, some evidence that, in fact, you are injured,” Mutua explained.
Responding to concerns that fraudulent claimants could exploit the scheme, Mutua acknowledged the risk was real but insisted the panel had put safeguards in place, drawing on lessons from similar processes including compensation efforts for Mau Mau-era victims.
“We know these things can happen. There’s no doubt about it. That’s why we have a foolproof process of authenticating and verifying claims,” he said.
For the many Kenyans who allege they have been left out of the compensation scheme, Mutua’s message was unambiguous: the process requires victims to identify themselves and present their cases with supporting evidence before any payment can be considered.
