‘Blood money’: Calls grow to give protest victims’ more time to submit claims
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has issued a final call to victims of human rights violations to submit their claims for inclusion for compensation under the national reparations and compensation process.
The commission’s notice, dated yesterday, Friday, April 3, 2026 confirmed that yesterday is the deadline for victims who wish to be considered in the initial list.
“Today is the deadline for victims of human rights violations who wish to be considered in the first list of reparations that should be submitted in 60 days from March 6, 2026,” the notice said.
However, KNCHR has been urged to extend the deadline for victims of human rights violations to submit documents for verification, which is set to expire today.
Earlier this month, the Head of State directed KNCHR, through a Gazette notice, to submit a report containing a comprehensive Reparations Framework within 60 days.
The framework aims to address past human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, abductions, enforced disappearances, sexual and gender-based violence, and loss of property or livelihoods.
“The commission has simultaneously been compiling a list of victims of human rights violations, which, upon verification, will be submitted to the President together with the Reparations Framework,” KNCHR stated.
So far, the commission has compiled a list of 1,244 victims.
The list, currently undergoing verification, covers cases from the 2017 post-election violence up to recent violations.
The categories include extrajudicial killings, torture, abductions, enforced disappearances, evictions, sexual and gender-based violence, and loss of property or livelihoods.
Zedekiah Adika, Chairman of the Coast Civil Society Network for Human Rights (CCSNHR), called for more time, saying the current 60-day period is insufficient to verify and document all victims adequately. “The time allocated to compile the list is too short, considering it covers victims from 2017 to date,” he said.
KNCHR is expected to complete verification soon before submitting the finalized list and the Reparations Framework to the President, marking a critical step toward addressing historical human rights abuses in Kenya.
