Beyond payouts, Kenyans are asking for reparations. Reparations are a cornerstone of transitional justice, designed to restore dignity and redress harm suffered by victims of systemic repression and conflict. They hold perpetrators and institutions accountable by providing both material and symbolic remedies—ranging from financial compensation and restoration of rights to truth-telling, apologies, and commemoration.

July 7, 2025, was another of growing list of sad days for Kenya.   In the morning of that day, in a quiet neighborhood in one of Nairobi’s satellite towns, it was nice and calm, the birds were chirping and sheep bleating. The children were playing and singing, occasionally reciting the alphabet and counting 1 to 100. Many people didn’t go to work nor did children go to school. The police had erected roadblocks to barricade the city to stop protesters from going to the central