By James Murimi - A seasoned journalist and a media consultant in Kenya.
Kenya, 26 June 2026 - The decision by President William Ruto's administration to compensate victims of human rights violations arising from demonstrations and public protests is welcome.
Families who lost loved ones, suffered injuries or continue to search for missing relatives deserve support.
But the compensation programme raises an uncomfortable governance question that Kenya must confront.
Why should taxpayers bear the financial burden of violations allegedly committed by state officers, while those responsible escape accountability?
This week, the government announced the disbursement of Ksh448.7 million to 348 verified beneficiaries under the first phase of compensation for victims of human rights violations committed between 2013 and 2025.
Among the beneficiaries are families affected by the June 25, 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests that culminated in the storming of Parliament and left dozens dead, injured or missing.
Yet as grieving families gathered outside Parliament on Thursday to commemorate the second anniversary of the protests, their message was strikingly different from the government's narrative.
They were not demanding compensation. They were demanding justice.
Many of the victims' relatives pointed out a reality that should trouble every Kenyan taxpayer: the money being used to compensate victims does not belong to politicians, government officials or police officers. It belongs to Kenyans.
The irony is impossible to ignore. The same citizens who suffered loss, injury and trauma are also taxpayers contributing to the public purse from which compensation is being paid.
In effect, the State stands accused of violating citizens' rights and then turns to the same citizens' taxes to settle the bill.
That may satisfy a legal obligation, but it does little to answer the moral and governance questions at the heart of the matter.
Outside Parliament, Rex Masai's mother, Gillian Munyao, carried a placard that captured the frustrations of many families: "Compensation cannot replace accountability. Arrest the killer cops."
Her statement goes to the core of the debate.
Compensation and accountability are not the same thing.
One addresses the consequences of wrongdoing. The other addresses the wrongdoing itself.
Without accountability, compensation risks being seen as a transactional response to a deeper governance failure. It creates the impression that the State can repeatedly violate rights, draw money from the public treasury to compensate victims and then move on without holding anyone personally responsible.
That is a dangerous precedent.
If a police officer unlawfully kills a citizen, taxpayers should not be the only ones paying the price. If public officials abuse power, the burden of accountability should not be transferred entirely to ordinary Kenyans through compensation schemes funded by public resources.
Otherwise, citizens end up suffering twice.
First, through the loss of loved ones, injuries or violations of their rights.
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Second, through the taxes used to finance compensation for those same violations.
The families who marched towards Parliament on Thursday understood this contradiction all too well.
Some are still mourning children killed during the protests. Others are searching for relatives who disappeared and never returned home. For them, justice is not measured in millions of shillings.
It is measured in truth.
It is measured in accountability.
It is measured in seeing investigations completed, perpetrators identified and the law applied equally regardless of rank, office or uniform.
The compensation programme may provide financial relief. It may help families pay medical bills, educate orphaned children or rebuild disrupted lives. Those outcomes are important and necessary.
But no government should mistake compensation for justice.
A cheque cannot explain who pulled the trigger.
A payout cannot reveal who issued unlawful orders.
A compensation package cannot replace criminal accountability where criminal conduct occurred.
Ultimately, the issue is bigger than the June 25 protests.
It goes to the heart of governance and public accountability in Kenya.
When state agencies violate citizens' rights, the goal should not simply be to compensate victims using taxpayers' money. The goal should be to ensure that such violations never happen again.
That requires transparent investigations, individual accountability and institutional reform.
Anything less risks creating a cycle in which governments compensate victims with public funds while those responsible remain untouched.
And in that cycle, justice remains the missing ingredient.
The grieving families who returned to Parliament this week were not asking for more money.
They were asking for accountability.
Kenya should listen.
The writer is a seasoned journalist and a media consultant in Kenya.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dawan Africa.