President William Ruto has appointed a new Vice Chair to the Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Demonstrations and Public Protests.
In a Gazette Notice dated November 4, 2025, the President’s Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service, Felix Koskei, announced Claris Awuor Ogangah’s appointment. Awuor currently serves as the Chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and will take up her new role immediately.
She succeeds Faith Odhiambo, the former vice chair and current President of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), who resigned from the panel last month to focus on her responsibilities at LSK and to explore additional ways to support victims of protests.
“The appointment of the Vice-Chairperson vide Gazette Notice No. 12002 of 25th August 2025 is revoked,” Koskei noted regarding Odhiambo’s departure from the compensation panel.
Odhiambo is not the only member to step down; Irungu Houghton from Amnesty International has also left the experts panel.
The panel, chaired by Prof. Makau Mutua, President Ruto’s senior advisor on constitutional affairs and human rights, consists of several experts including Kennedy Ogeto, Dr. John Olukuru, Rev. Fr. Kennedy Barasa Simiyu, Dr. Linda Musumba, Dr. Duncan Ojwang’, Naini Lankas, Dr. Francis Muraya, Juliet Chepkemei, Pius Metto, Raphael Anampiu, John Maina, Richard Barno, Dr. Duncan Okelo Ndeda, and Churchill Suba. Jerusah Mwaathime, Dr. Raphael Ngétich, and Daki Guyo serve as Joint Secretaries.
The task force is mandated to design and establish an operational framework to verify, categorize, and compensate eligible victims. It will also interact with relevant stakeholders to ensure inclusivity and fairness throughout the compensation process, as well as to validate data on eligible victims.
The panel is the initiative of President William Ruto and the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
