Court extends order halting implementation of Ruto’s compensation team
The High Court of Kerugoya extended conservatory orders that suspend the implementation of a Gazette Notice, which established a panel of experts to develop a framework for compensating victims of demonstrations, public protests, and riots.
Justice Edward Muriithi on Monday extended the orders that temporarily halted President William Ruto’s directive to form the panel, pending the inter partes hearing of the application on October 21, 2025.
The contested panel was tasked with recommending a reparations framework for individuals who were victims of police brutality and violence during recent anti-government protests, many of which were led by young people.
More than 120 people died and hundreds were injured during the protests this year and in 2024.
The conservatory orders were first issued on September 8, 2025, when Justice Kizito Magare certified the case as urgent.
The court suspended the panel’s mandate and prohibited respondents, including government agencies, from enforcing or acting on the presidential proclamation of August 6, 2025, which outlined the compensation initiative.
According to the court’s previous orders, respondents and interested parties were to be served immediately and required to file responses within seven days, with the applicant having three days to submit written arguments.
Respondents and interested parties were given an additional three days to file their submissions, which had to be received by September 30, 2025.
On Monday, after weeks of mounting pressure, Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Faith Odhiambo resigned from her position as vice chair of the government-appointed Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Demonstrations and Public Protests.
Odhiambo said she had tendered her “formal and immediate resignation” to the Head of Public Service, citing the need to safeguard LSK’s independence and unity amid ongoing legal and constitutional challenges.
The panel, established through an August 25 Kenya Gazette notice, was tasked with recommending compensation for victims of police brutality and violence during youth-led anti-government protests this year and last year, in which over 120 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
She said she had accepted the role because it offered a chance to reform Kenya’s legal and institutional framework for victim reparations, which she described as “inadequate in addressing historic crises of police overreach.”
But she noted last month’s court order suspending the panel’s operations, making it impossible to meet its 120-day mandate.
“As things stand, the time-bound mandate of the panel has been stopped by our courts, and the proposed tenure is likely to lapse before the matter is resolved,” she said.
“Victims continue to reach out to me in total frustration over when their requests for an audience with the panel will be honoured.”
Instead, Odhiambo said, she would focus on advocating for victims through the Law Society, which is representing several families affected by police violence during the 2023 cost-of-living demonstrations.
“Our team of advocates is already in court in Kisumu for one of the cases involving victims of police excesses,” she said. “We will seek the Judiciary’s intervention to expedite these matters to a conclusion.”
The LSK president said the lawyers’ body is now focused on memorializing victims, identifying unreported cases, urging the Chief Justice to fast-track related court cases, and petitioning Parliament to strengthen laws protecting demonstrators and victims of police abuse.
“We must treat reparations for victims with the same seriousness with which we treat repercussions for perpetrators. May justice remain our shield and defender,” she said.
Odhimabo was heavily criticised for accepting President William Ruto’s appointment to the panel, which many saw as a betrayal, as she had until then been celebrated for leading the fight for police brutality victims’ justice.
“Our team of advocates is already in court in Kisumu for one of the cases involving victims of police excesses,” she said. “We will seek the Judiciary’s intervention to expedite these matters to a conclusion.”
The LSK president said the lawyers’ body is now focused on memorializing victims, identifying unreported cases, urging the Chief Justice to fast-track related court cases, and petitioning Parliament to strengthen laws protecting demonstrators and victims of police abuse.
“We must treat reparations for victims with the same seriousness with which we treat repercussions for perpetrators. May justice remain our shield and defender,” she said.
Odhimabo was heavily criticised for accepting President William Ruto’s appointment to the panel, which many saw as a betrayal, as she had until then been celebrated for leading the fight for police brutality victims’ justice.