Kenya’s President William Ruto speaks during a joint news conference with Finland’s President Alexander Stubb in the Hall of Mirrors of the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya will pay compensation to almost 2,000 victims of protest-related human rights abuses, President William Ruto said on Monday, marking a rare national reparations process outside the judicial system.
Violent protests in the East African nation have left a trail of destruction in which hundreds of people have died, were injured, or suffered business losses. In the most recent incident, two demonstrations over an Ebola quarantine center for Americans left three people dead and dozens of others injured.
The victims of human rights abuses will begin receiving compensation from next week after vetting by the state-funded human rights commission. The total pay out is expected to total $15 million.
Ruto, speaking during the release of a national Reparations Framework Report, said the compensation represents “a state acknowledgment that harm occurred” and was not an “admission” of guilt.
