Siaya Governor James Orengo has criticised the government’s proposed Ksh2 billion compensation framework for victims of protest-related violence.
In a statement on Tuesday, June 16, Orengo said the framework risks legitimizing human rights violations instead of ensuring accountability.
The Siaya Governor argued that the framework reduces the value of human life and dignity to a monetary figure while failing to address the root causes of deaths and injuries suffered during demonstrations.
“The rush to operationalise the framework is a rushed attempt to manage public outrage over deaths and injuries associated with demonstrations in a few days following the Gen Z Memorial on 25th June 2026.
“This does not address the root of the violations. Instead of focusing on accountability by arrest and prosecution of the offenders, the Government appears prepared to place a price tag on the lives of Kenyan citizens,” Orengo stated.
Orengo suggested that the government’s focus should be on ensuring accountability through investigations, arrests, and prosecution of those responsible for excessive use of force rather than offering compensation as a remedy.
He warned that the framework sends a dangerous signal that constitutional rights, including the right to assemble and demonstrate under Article 37 of the Constitution, can be violated and later settled through financial compensation.
“If deaths and injuries resulting from demonstrations can be settled through predetermined compensation, the urgency to prevent such violations diminishes.
“As long as there is no accountability by arrest and prosecution of the offenders, the reparations programs only exist to legitimise the use of excessive force by attaching a financial cost to human life,” he said.
Further, Orengo called for thorough investigations into all cases of deaths and injuries during demonstrations, prosecution of perpetrators where criminal conduct is established, and institutional reforms aimed at preventing future abuses.
“Kenyans do not demand compensation in place of rights; they demand protection of those rights in the first instance. Rights are not for sale, human life is not a budget item, and constitutional freedoms must never be reduced to a compensation schedule,” the Siaya Governor added.
