NAIROBI, Kenya — Raila Odinga, leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party and former Prime Minister, has revealed that President William Ruto’s government is preparing to compensate families of those who lost their lives during the anti-tax and anti-government protests in June-July 2024.
In an interview with NTV Kenya aired on Sunday, Mr. Odinga indicated that the compensation process is “shortly” set to commence, amidst ongoing demands for justice from the families of those killed and injured, predominantly by police, during the demonstrations.
“On the issue of compensation… shortly, you’re going to see what is going to happen; the compensation is going to start,” Odinga stated during the interview.
When questioned about the government’s funding mechanism for this initiative, especially given the absence of a specific allocation in the 2025/26 national budget for protest victim compensation, Mr. Odinga asserted that the Contingencies Fund would be utilized.
He elaborated, “There’s always the provision of contingencies in the budgets. The contingency fund is available. And I just want you to hold your horses. Shortly, there’s going to be compensation; it is going to start. And we now have a task force to deal with it,” without disclosing further specific details.
Families bereaved by the 2024 protests have consistently called for the prosecution of police officers and their commanders implicated in the violence, alongside an inquiry into property destruction and the alleged infiltration of protests by “hired goons.”
Mr. Odinga, who allied with President Ruto last year after leading similar demonstrations as the de facto opposition chief following his 2022 presidential election loss, has repeatedly advocated for reparations for the victims.
“We should compensate families of those who died and those injured so that we can have closure to this chapter of our national history. We want Kenyans to live in peace and unity,” he remarked during this year’s Madaraka Day celebrations in Homa Bay, an event also attended by President Ruto.
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While the President has not publicly addressed the compensation issue, Mr. Odinga’s latest comments mark the most concrete signal yet from political leadership regarding the consideration of reparations.
Despite this announcement, the exact timeline for the commencement of compensation and the specific amounts that affected families might receive remain unclear.
Meanwhile, for the recent demonstrations held in honor of those who died in last year’s June 25 anti-finance bill protests, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has ruled out any state compensation for those whose property was looted or vandalized.
