President Ruto has announced that families of people whose bodies were found in River Yala will be considered for compensation, extending the Ksh2 billion programme to victims of enforced disappearances.
President William Ruto has announced that families of people whose bodies were discovered in River Yala over the years will be considered for compensation, significantly widening the scope of a government programme that has, until now, focused primarily on victims of protests.
The President made the announcement during the handover of the Raila Odinga Mausoleum in Bondo on Wednesday, October 7 — a ceremony already heavy with symbolism as the country continues to honour the legacy of the late former Prime Minister. Ruto said the compensation would now extend beyond protest victims to include people subjected to enforced disappearances and killings, a notably broader category than the programme has previously covered.
"This compensation will extend to the families whose bodies we recovered in River Yala and other victims of extrajudicial disappearance," Ruto said.
The President framed the expanded compensation effort as part of the pursuit of electoral justice, a cause he credited directly to Raila Odinga.
According to Ruto, the government has already set aside Ksh2 billion to compensate victims of protests between 2013 and 2025, with hundreds of families having already received payments.
"Raila pursued electoral justice with great passion. That pursuit gave birth to the compensation of victims of protests. We set aside Ksh2 billion, and hundreds of families have been compensated, and we will not stop until every verified victim receives justice," Ruto stated.
The announcement brings renewed attention to one of the most disturbing chapters in recent Kenyan history. Between 2021 and 2022, several bodies were discovered in River Yala, with fingers pointed at the previous administration over its inaction on the alleged murders. The bodies were widely believed to belong to Kenyans who held political views opposed to the government at the time, with the discoveries linked to allegations of abductions, torture, and extrajudicial killings — though these claims have never been independently verified.
Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, who headed the ministry during that period, has consistently denied the allegations against the then-administration. He has instead repeatedly called for a formal inquiry into the matter, challenging Ruto to establish a commission to investigate the killings.
Ruto's move to widen the compensation scheme comes even as existing beneficiaries raise concerns over fairness in how the current programme has been run, with some protest victims claiming to have been left out altogether. So far, the compensation panel has processed payments for 1,083 protest victims, totalling Ksh1 billion.