Victor Okuna, a private citizen, has presented a petition to the National Assembly seeking to compel the national government to compensate families of over 57 Kenyans who died during anti-government demonstrations organized by the Azimio coalition.
Okuna, an engineer from Migori, wants the national government to be ordered to compensate each family Ksh1 million.
The petitioner is banking on Article 37 of the petition which guarantees Kenyans the freedom to demonstrate and picket.
"I humbly pray that the National Assembly through the Public Petitions Committee recommends to the responsible department to expedite payment of compensation to the affected families and make any other directions as it may deem fit in this matter," Okuna stated.
Okuna argued that despite the matter being aired severally by various human rights groups the government has failed to address the human rights violations witnessed during the protests.
"These 57 Kenyans killed by police during protests against the high cost of living were either the breadwinners for their families and that the dependents have been left helpless or they carried future aspirations to their families for the sake of the students who were killed by the bullet," the petitioner states in his petition.
According to Okuna, the families of the fallen Kenyans have suffered immeasurable pain and are now left to grapple with hefty financial burdens following the deaths of their families' breadwinners.
In his petition, the engineer further accused the National Dialogue Committee of failing to address the matter and instead concentrating the talks on the creation of more political offices.
As such, he wants the National Assembly's Public Petitions Committee to recommend compensation for the affected families.
In an official statement, Amnesty International, earlier in the year stated that more than 30 Kenyans died in the anti-government protests staged by the Azimio Coalition beginning March.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), meanwhile reported that most of the deaths were recorded in Kisumu and Nairobi counties.
Besides the loss of human life, property worth millions was destroyed while the Kenyan economy was battered.
In July, the Nairobi Expressway along Mlolongo was vandalised by some of the protesters leading to a temporary closure.
Several supermarkets were looted by rowdy protests leaving the business community in limbo.
