Raila: Compensation of police brutality victims to begin soon
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has revealed that the government will soon roll out compensation to victims of police brutality in the country.
In an interview at his Karen residence on Sunday, July 20, 2025, Raila said that while the matter has taken longer to implement, Kenyans will soon witness victims being compensated.
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“On the issue of compensation, we have said this must happen; shortly, you are going to see what is going to happen. The compensations are going to start,” Raila said.
Contingency fund
Pressed on where the funds for compensation would come from, given that they were not provided for in the 2025-2026 budget, Raila stated that the government always has a contingency fund for such purposes.
“There is always a provision for contingencies in the budget; the budget is available, and shortly, there is going to be compensation,” Raila insisted.
He observed that he has not relented on his push for an end to police brutality, noting that he has been at the forefront in calling out the government on some of its outrageous orders.
“I have come out openly to criticize the government. When the Cabinet Secretary said that people should be shot when they try to attack a police station, I said he was totally out of order,” Raila said.
Shoot the leg
“When Ruto said they should shoot the legs, I also said don’t; that would mean you are talking the law into your own hands. Nobody has a right to shoot; if somebody is committing a crime, the duty of a police officer is to arrest that person and take him to the courts. It is only after due process that somebody should be punished.”
Hundreds of victims of police killings have been documented by human rights groups in the country. According to a Missing Voices report, there were 118 police-related killings in 2023 and 104 police-related killings in 2024.
Several deaths have also been recorded in the recent protests by the youth in 2025, underscoring the need to address police brutality and extrajudicial killings in the country.
