The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President, Faith Odhiambo, has hinted at resigning from the panel of experts on compensation of victims of public protests if her “efforts will be frustrated.”

Speaking on Thursday after swearing in together with her committee counterparts, Odhiambo said she owes the responsibility to the people of Kenya and that any attempt to interfere with their operations would lead to her departure from the panel.

“My loyalty is to you the people of Kenya and my colleagues that I serve at LSK. Should my efforts be frustrated or undermined in any manner whatsoever, I’m prepared to do the honorable thing in fidelity with the rule of law and the constitution of Kenya,” she said.

“The bloodshed of our comrades must not be in vain, and know, I will not take any prisoners. I will keep you informed of the developments, and at no point shall I act to negate the gains we have made together as a country,” added Odhiambo.

She assured the public that her “bold and unpopular step” in accepting the call was informed by the will to ensure justice for the victims languishing in despair, saying she has “heard your cries and listened to your concerns” of those who reached out to her, voicing their fears and reservations.

“Let it be known that I have in no way betrayed the trust, let it be clear that access to criminal justice remains critical to me,” she stated.

“My service will be solely to the people of Kenya. There’s no Kenya that exclusively belongs to politicians and their children, neither does it belong to the broadbased government nor a country of cousins. We only have one Nation that we must protect.”

Odhiambo is among the 18-member task force that President William Ruto appointed last week to design an operational framework to verify and categorise victims of protests dating back to 2017.

The team is chaired by Dr. Ruto’s senior advisor on constitutional affairs and human rights, Prof. Makau Mutua.

The LSK boss noted that the quest for justice in terms of compensation must go hand in hand with expedited access to justice for victims of police brutality during protests and riots, hitting out at the government for laxity in addressing in concluding the cases.

“Every conversation with inconsolable family members of victims who paid the ultimate price has proved whether a country can claim functions conscience when it harms its own people and leave victims to fend for themselves in the unyielding hopes that a system has never bothered to put them first or somehow serve their interest,” said Odhiambo.

The existing legal and institutional frameworks, she expressed, do not adequately address the legitimate public concerns, underscoring the structure and scope of the mandate if the panel that “gives room for a victim-led accountability-led approach towards realizing holistic justice.

She called on Kenyans to participate in reinventing the victim reparation framework into a model that prioritises, the needs, rights and interests of victims.

Prof. Mutua echoed the sentiments, revealing that the panel is committed to create a framework that will provide guidelines on peaceful protests.

“We want to start writing a new chapter so that we can establish peaceful protests. We know that violence has taken the lives of civilians, a majority who did nothing wrong,” he said.

He added: “A number of our law enforcement people also suffered, they are also our citizens. It is a national process to transform our political and human rights watch.”