Mocking the dead: Outrage as Mutua panel verifies one Gen Z death, faces kickback claims

Youth march along Moi Avenue in Nairobi during the Gen Z Anniversary protests on June 25, 2025. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

A government-commissioned report intended to bring closure to victims of human rights violations has instead ignited a firestorm of public fury, with critics accusing the Panel of Experts of mocking Kenyans by verifying only a single fatality from the 2024 Gen Z protests, even as grieving families reveal they are being asked to pay bribes of up to Sh150,000 just to access the compensation they was promised.

The controversy stems from an update released on November 5, 2026, by the Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Human Rights Violations, including those from demonstrations and public protests. The panel, chaired by Prof Makau Mutua, announced the commencement of Phase VII of its compensation program. According to the official document, the panel has verified and processed a total of 157 claims, disbursing a total quantum of Ksh 96,950,000.

However, it is the microscopic figure allocated to the ultimate tragedy fatalities that has prompted nationwide outrage. The report indicates that the panel has verified exactly one claim for "Fatality" out of the entire 2024 protest cycle, awarding Sh3,000,000.

This staggering discrepancy between the panel's findings and the lived reality of Kenyans has been met with fierce condemnation. The names of the fallen have become a grim roll call of a generation's sacrifice. Rex Kanyike Masai, shot on June 20, 2024, became the face of the movement after CCTV footage showed a plain-clothed officer firing at fleeing protesters.

Evans Kiratu died after being struck by a tear gas canister, while Eric Shieni, a university student weeks away from graduation, was killed outside Parliament. David Chege, a JKUAT computer science graduate, and Ibrahim Kamau, a 19-year-old who had just finished high school, was also shot dead during the storming of Parliament.

Abdi Kadir, 24, died in hospital weeks after being shot. Twelve-year-old Kennedy Onyango was shot eight times in Rongai while reportedly going to pick up a schoolbook. Beasley Kamau went missing after the protests and was later found dead at the City Mortuary. These are not abstract statistics; they are the verified dead whose cases the panel has seemingly reduced to a single payout.

Social media commentator Kipkalya Kones did not mince words. "After over a year of 'work', that cursed committee led by [Prof.] Makau Mutua has verified only one death," Kones said. "In fact, I can guarantee you that the committee has spent more on travel, sittings, mandazi, allowances and human pleasures, than the Kshs 96m they claim to have disbursed."

Kones pointed out the glaring evidentiary failures of the committee, noting that many extrajudicial killings since 2024 were captured on camera, including by international media houses. "I wonder where they went to verify," he posed, before calculating the grim math of the panel's pace. "But if they can only verify one death per year, what these pirates are saying is that they need 7,000 years to verify all deaths. Disband the committee and surcharge the pirates!"

The panel's report breaks down the Sh96.9 million into various categories of harm, including Aggravated Injury (Sh10 million across five claims), Severe Injury (Sh47 million across 47 claims), Moderate Injuries (Sh37 million across 74 claims), and Minor Injuries (Sh950,000 across 19 claims). An additional 11 claims were verified for "Economic Loss," totaling Sh550,000.

But the glaring omission of the vast majority of protest fatalities has led to accusations that the panel is whitewashing State-sanctioned violence.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has previously recorded at least 60 deaths linked to the 2024 protests, with only three cases having reached the courts nearly two years later.

Beyond the body count, the panel is facing accusations of gross mismanagement and corruption. Families of victims of police brutality have accused officials involved in the compensation process of demanding bribes of more than Sh100,000 to facilitate payments promised by the government, raising concerns over transparency and exploitation of those seeking redress.

The families, brought together under the Mothers of Victims and Survivors Network (MVSN), say they have been asked to pay money to access the compensation, with one woman alleging that an official from IPOA demanded Sh150,000 from her.

"We were asked to fill forms, which we did, and we were even asked to provide account numbers. Then lastly, an official from IPOA asked me to pay a bribe of Sh150,000. So my question to the Government is: Is this the justice you talked about?" the woman, who did not want to be identified for fear of being victimised, said.

Fredrick Ojiro, an Emergency Affairs Officer at the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), said two mothers had reported being intimidated into paying bribes by officials linked to the Panel of Experts.

"We have heard two mothers here saying that they have been intimidated to give bribes by that committee headed by Makau Mutua," Ojiro said, calling on President William Ruto, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the compensation committee to investigate the allegations.

"Therefore, we are asking the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, we are asking the compensation committee and we are asking the President to start investigating the corruption within the compensation committee," he said.

Senior Namema, a prominent voice online, echoed these demands. "Makau Mutua, Kenyans deserve answers, not roadshows and carefully choreographed public appearances," Namema stated.

"If families of victims of police brutality and extrajudicial killings are reportedly being asked to part with up to Sh100,000 in bribes just to access compensation, then this demands your immediate attention and a thorough investigation."

Namema demanded that the panel stop the public relations tours and publish the full list of beneficiaries, the total amount allocated, and clearly identify the families still waiting. "Every shilling must be accounted for. Who is exploiting the suffering of these families? Who is demanding bribes? Who is protecting those responsible?"

Another victim, Stella Ndenya, said she had been asked to provide money for legal services despite submitting all the required documents. "I was asked to pay money to a lawyer before receiving any assistance," she said.

The allegations have added to the frustration of families who say they have gone through the required application and verification processes but remain uncertain about when they will receive the promised payments.

In a statement issued on November 8, MVSN called on the Government to compensate families who lost children through unlawful police action. The organisation said some families had submitted petitions and undergone audits but were yet to receive compensation, questioning the criteria used to identify beneficiaries.

"These are not merely statistics; they are human lives, children whose dreams and ambitions were cut short," the statement read. It said behind every life lost was a mother whose hopes had been shattered, a grieving family and a future permanently altered.

However, for the mothers, the compensation dispute is part of a wider struggle for justice. Among them is Caroline Achieng, whose daughter Sheryl Adhiambo, a Kenya Medical Training College student, was shot dead by police on February 7, 2026, while selling fish. Achieng questioned why the officer accused of shooting her daughter had not been arrested, saying she had recently seen him. "I even saw that policeman yesterday, and he was looking at me," she said.

Another survivor, Hawa Sheila, who lost her sight after being hit by a tear gas canister during the 2024 Finance Bill demonstrations, says the incident completely altered her life, as the injury has left her struggling to provide for her three children.

"Since that day, my life has changed. Children are staying with me in the house, eating is a problem. I only receive help from a friend of mine who always chips in," she said.

Other victims whose cases were raised include Lamech Omondi, who was shot in the leg, Okoth, who sustained a gunshot wound to the stomach, and Vincent, who was shot in the chest during the Mukuru demolitions.

Ojiro said KHRC had documented 67 cases of killings by police as of October 2026, alongside 18 cases of enforced disappearances. He also criticised President Ruto's directive to police to shoot protesters in the legs, arguing that it had not stopped killings and abductions of young people.

"The first order William Ruto gave was for them to shoot in the leg and we have seen that order being executed. Furthermore, police are not just shooting in the leg, they are killing Kenyan youths," he said.

The outrage extends beyond the numbers into the very constitutionality of the panel. Former Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi has questioned the legal standing of Makau Mutua's committee, stating that its existence is an affront to the Kenyan Constitution.

"The Makau Mutua led Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Demonstrations and Pubic Protests is unconstitutional and invalid," Havi asserted.

"The power to investigate and redress abuses of human rights is given to Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) by Article 59 of The Constitution of Kenya."

The public frustration is also heavily rooted in the belief that the panel has effectively told the families of the deceased that their children's lives were insignificant.

Social media user Ayahuascababe voiced the raw emotion felt across the nation. "After eating allowances for almost 2 years, kina Makau Mutua and Oguda have finally handed their report on compensation of victims of the 2024 protests to Kasongo," the user stated.

"Guess what?? They have claimed there was only one fatality during the Gen Z protest. They have, in not so many words, told our fallen comrades and their families to go to hell!"

The panel's report, meanwhile, maintains a tone of bureaucratic optimism, stating that it "remains committed to ensuring that no eligible individual is left behind." It has set a deadline of November 14, 2026, to receive new claims, urging victims to do so.

Yet, for the families of the fallen, the report offers little more than bureaucratic insult. MVSN has given President Ruto a one-week ultimatum to communicate on the compensation demands, warning that the mothers will camp at the Office of the President if no response is forthcoming.

"We are giving President William Ruto one week notice. If these women do not get any communication from your office or compensation, they will come and camp at the office of William Ruto," said Ojiro.

As the November 14 deadline approaches, the Makau Mutua-led panel stands at the centre of a national scandal, facing a unified demand from Kenyans: come clean on the bodies, expose the bribes, and hold the killers accountable, or disband entirely.