Kenya's Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Human Rights Violations has rejected claims that money changes hands before victims receive compensation, saying two people who made bribery allegations have since withdrawn them.

The panel's chairperson, Professor Makau Mutua, said in a statement issued on Monday, 9 November, that an internal investigation had established that the two women had retracted their accusations, following media reports on 8 November that raised questions about demands for money from people seeking compensation.

The first woman, identified as Ms Margaret Onyango Okitch, had claimed that an officer from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) demanded Sh150,000 to facilitate the processing of her fatality compensation claim. According to the panel, she contacted its staff at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Sunday and withdrew the accusation, saying she regretted being misadvised in a victims' WhatsApp group. She also retracted the same accusation to IPOA, the panel said.

The second person had alleged that a staff member at the panel wanted Sh1,200 to help with the notarisation of an affidavit. The panel said that claim was also later withdrawn.

Panel challenges Sh100,000 claim

The panel also addressed a claim by a man, Mr Fredrick Ojiro, who alleged that a member of the panel had received a Sh100,000 bribe and said he had evidence to support the allegation. Mutua challenged him to present the evidence, and the panel maintained that its services are completely free.

Mutua said the panel had processed 236 fatality claims so far, and that every application is checked carefully so that only genuine claimants are paid. He said the panel would not lower its verification standards despite concerns about the time taken to process some applications.

"For the avoidance of doubt the panel reiterates that as to date not a single false claim has been paid," Mutua said in the statement.

Muturi questions one-fatality figure

The panel's statement came as Democratic Party of Kenya leader Justin Muturi questioned the credibility of the compensation process after reports that only one fatality had been recognised among 157 cases approved for compensation in the latest phase of the programme.

On 5 November, the panel announced that it had processed 157 verified claims worth Sh96.95 million under Phase VII of the compensation exercise. The breakdown included one fatality claim valued at Sh3 million, alongside claims for severe, moderate and minor injuries and for economic loss.

Muturi, a former Attorney General, said in a statement on Monday that the reported figure raised questions about how deaths recorded during the 2024 protests were being accounted for. He demanded that the panel publish its methodology and complete findings, and called for an independently verifiable account of the deaths.

He cited reports by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, which documented deaths and other human rights violations during the anti-government demonstrations. The KNCHR documented 60 deaths during the June–July 2024 protests, with later reporting recording at least 73.

Muturi warned that recognising only one fatality could undermine public confidence in the exercise and risk diminishing the suffering of families who lost relatives during the protests. However, the single fatality listed in Phase VII does not establish that the panel has recognised only one death across the entire compensation programme, which has processed 236 fatality claims in total, according to the panel.

Claims window closes on 14 November

The panel has said it will stop receiving new compensation applications on 14 November 2026, and has urged victims, families and beneficiaries who have not yet submitted claims to do so before the deadline.

The panel was appointed in March 2026, and its mandate was extended by President William Ruto by a further three months with effect from 4 September 2026. It compensates civilians and uniformed officers affected by human rights violations, including those arising from demonstrations, with families of people killed receiving Sh3 million each.