4 activists in court to Block Ruto’s riot victims’ compensation panel » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 28 – Four activists have moved to court to challenge President William Ruto’s decision to form a panel of experts to oversee compensation for victims of demonstrations, arguing that the Head of State has no constitutional authority to establish such a body.

In a petition filed at the High Court, the activists want the proclamation and Gazette Notice that created the “Presidential Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Demonstrations and Public Protests” declared unconstitutional, null, and void.

They contend that by creating the team through a presidential proclamation on August 6, 2025, and Gazette Notice No. 12002 of August 25, 2025, President Ruto usurped the roles of independent constitutional commissions and state agencies already mandated to handle human rights violations, reparations, and cohesion matters.

“The President does not have powers to establish any compensation, reparation, or cohesion panel whatsoever. The so-called powers are just ‘imaginary mirage powers’ which do not exist in our progressive Constitution,” the petition reads in part, citing Article 132(4).

The case has been filed by dr. magare-gikenyi b., eliud karanja matindi, philemon abuga nyakundi, and dishon keroti mogire, who argue that the functions given to the panel duplicate those of bodies such as the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), the Victims Protection Agency, and the Judiciary.

Among the orders sought are declarations that the panel and its recommendations are unconstitutional; judicial review orders quashing the Gazette Notice that established it; and prohibitions against any further actions based on its work.

They further want a mandamus order compelling relevant constitutional agencies to handle any compensation for protest victims as required by law, not an “ad hoc panel appointed by the President for political machinations.”

Significantly, the petitioners are also asking the court to hold President Ruto personally liable under Article 226(5) for what they term the unlawful creation of the panel and to compel him to refund any public money already spent on it back to the Consolidated Fund.

“Whereas compensation of victims of demonstrations is a noble idea, it should be done in a structured way by institutions already provided for in the Constitution, and not through an illegal presidential committee,” the court papers state.

The petitioners argue that failure to suspend and ultimately nullify the panel would amount to continued violation of the Constitution, imprudent use of public resources, and erosion of the rule of law.