By James Murimi - Reporter
Kenya 4 December 2025 - President William Ruto has suffered a major setback after the High Court nullified his proclamation establishing an 18-member Panel of Experts to oversee compensation for victims of demonstrations and public protests.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, Kerugoya High Court Judge Edward Muriithi declared both the presidential proclamation of August 6, 2025, and the subsequent Gazette Notice of August 25, 2025, “constitutionally invalid. ”The panel, chaired by legal scholar Prof. Makau Mutua, had been sworn in on September 4, 2025.
Its mandate was to design a framework to identify, verify and compensate victims of anti-government demonstrations within 120 days, working in consultation with families, civil society groups and state agencies, including IPOA and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).
However, the court found that the President lacked Constitutional authority to establish such a body. The petition challenging the panel was filed by Nairobi-based lawyer Levi Munyeri, who argued that the Executive had usurped powers vested in independent constitutional commissions.
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Justice Muriithi agreed, noting that oversight and redress mechanisms for human rights violations fall squarely under the mandate of KNCHR, not the Office of the President. He ruled that the creation of the panel amounted to an unlawful intrusion into the jurisdiction of an independent body.
“The President is not vested with Constitutional power to constitute a panel of experts to address a framework for compensation for victims of human rights abuses,” the court held. The judge directed government agencies to align any compensation framework with the Constitution within 30 days.
The ruling effectively halts all activities of the Mutua-led panel, casting uncertainty over the State’s compensation process for victims of past protests.
