Vcitims of 2024 Kenya police violence say compensation promise a 'smokescreen'

Two years ago, Gen-Z protests marked a new era for Kenyan politics, but led to dozens of deaths, and devastated families are unimpressed with government promises of compensation. Memorial protests are planned on Thursday to mark two years since the country’s biggest show of dissent, when Kenyans stormed parliament to protest new taxes amid wider anger over corruption. It was seen as a watershed moment, as young Kenyans joined together to demand accountability without regard for traditional ethnic dividing lines. People attend a demonstration against Kenya’s proposed finance bill in Nairobi, Kenya on June 25, 2024. — Reuters But it came at a price: 62 people died during weeks of protests in June and July 2024, and another 65 died during anniversary protests in the same period the following year, according to the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA). Rights groups put the toll higher, and say the overwhelming majority were shot dead by police and security forces. After showing little remorse for the killings, President William Ruto last week announced 2 billion shillings ($15.5 million) to compensate 1,100 people affected by violent protests between 2017 and 2025. He said it was an “acknowledgement that harm occurred” but stopped short of an apology. A photo of Kenyan President William Ruto from September 5, 2022. — Reuters/File A government-appointed panel for compensation said it had started the first 348 payouts on Tuesday, including 115 fatalities whose families received 3 million shillings (around $28,000) each. “He’s covering up the wrongs that he did. He just wants us to shut up because of the cash that he’s giving us — the peanuts,” said Gillian Munyao, whose son, Rex Masai, 29, was among the first to die in the June 2024 protests. “I’m not seeing justice anywhere … why pay us without giving the culprit?” Munyao told AFP at a Nairobi court last week, where the case is ongoing. Only three cases from the 2024 protest deaths, and one from 2025, have come