Murkomen faults Faith Odhiambo over exit from compensation panel
By Kenneth Mwenda, November 10, 2025Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has criticised Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Faith Odhiambo for withdrawing from the government’s panel on compensating victims of police brutality during protests.
Speaking during the launch of Administration of Justice in Kenya Annual Report 2024/2025′ and the Justice Sector monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework in Nairobi on Monday, November 10, 2025, Murkomen said Odhiambo quit after claims emerged that she had been compromised.
“I don’t understand why the president of the Law Society of Kenya ran away from this committee to solve problems because as soon as her name came out, they said she’s been compromised,” he said.
He added that judges and lawyers should not fear engaging with political leaders, insisting that professionalism and the law should guide their conduct.
Murkomen said the perception that any interaction between the judiciary, executive, and opposition is a sign of bias was harmful to justice.
“I think, as my last closing remarks, I think, and this is for our judges, I think a judge, and being a member of this profession, is sufficiently, who is sufficiently, who is properly trained and sufficiently confident, doesn’t fear even sitting with the president. Doesn’t fear sitting with that opposition leader. Because they know that they are guided by the law when they make their decision.”
“But this idea that if you see the chief justice sitting with the president or sitting with a leader of opposition there having a chat, you make an assumption that, ah, they are already compromised, is the very reason why people are closing themselves in different areas.”
Court orders halt panel
Odhiambo resigned from the Panel of Experts on Compensation of Victims of Demonstrations and Public Protests on October 6, 2025. The panel, chaired by Professor Makau Mutua, was formed through a Gazette notice by the Head of Public Service on August 25, 2025.
It was tasked with verifying victims of police excesses and proposing mechanisms for compensation and accountability.
In her resignation letter, Odhiambo said she stepped down because the panel’s work had been blocked by court orders. She noted that its 120-day mandate would likely lapse before the legal issues were resolved.
“It is not feasible to achieve the time-sensitive milestones I undertook to achieve,” she said.
Odhiambo added that victims had expressed frustration over delays in accessing compensation. She said she would now prioritise helping them through the Law Society of Kenya.
“My commitment to defending victims remains firm,” she said, adding that LSK advocates in Kisumu were already in court pursuing one of the 2023 protest cases.
The panel had earlier faced legal challenges and criticism from some quarters, including former Public Service CS Justin Muturi, who argued that the 2014 Victims Protection Act already provided a framework for compensation.
Human rights advocate Irungu Houghton had also suspended his participation in September after the High Court halted the panel’s operations.