Opposition leader Raila Odinga has announced that the government is preparing to compensate families affected by last year’s deadly anti-tax and anti-government protests. Speaking during an interview with NTV on Sunday, Odinga assured Kenyans that reparations are in the pipeline and will commence “shortly.”
The demonstrations, which swept across the country in June and July 2024, were sparked by public outrage over the controversial Finance Bill. They turned deadly when police responded with force, leaving several protestors dead and many more injured. Families of the victims have since been demanding justice, calling for the prosecution of officers involved and reparations for the lives lost and property damaged.
Odinga, who has recently aligned himself with President William Ruto in a surprising political rapprochement, emphasized that the government would use the Contingencies Fund to finance the compensation. “There’s always the provision of contingencies in the budgets. The contingency fund is available… shortly, there’s going to be compensation,” he said, although he stopped short of providing exact timelines or amounts.
He also disclosed the formation of a task force to oversee the compensation process, but did not reveal its composition or mandate.
During the 2024 Madaraka Day celebrations in Homa Bay, Odinga had publicly called for reparations, urging the government to provide closure for bereaved families. “We should compensate families of those who died and those injured so that we can have closure to this chapter of our national history,” he said.
President Ruto, who attended the same event, has yet to comment directly on the issue. Odinga’s latest remarks now mark the first significant indication from political leadership that compensation may be underway.
Despite this, uncertainty remains. The 2025/26 national budget does not explicitly allocate funds for victim compensation, and Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen recently dismissed the possibility of compensating businesses that were looted or vandalized during the protests.
As the country awaits further details, families continue to push for justice and transparency, hoping the promised compensation becomes more than just political rhetoric.
