NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya will pay compensation to almost 2,000 victims of protest-related human rights abuses, President William Ruto said on Monday, marking a rare national reparations process outside the judicial system.
Violent protests in the East African nation have left a trail of destruction in which hundreds of people have died, were injured, or suffered business losses. In the most recent incident, two demonstrations over an Ebola quarantine center for Americans left three people dead and dozens of others injured.
The victims of human rights abuses will begin receiving compensation from next week after vetting by the state-funded human rights commission. The total pay out is expected to total $15 million.
Ruto, speaking during the release of a national Reparations Framework Report, said the compensation represents “a state acknowledgment that harm occurred” and was not an “admission” of guilt.
Dozens of people died and hundreds of others were injured in annual anti-government protests against increased taxes in June 2024 and June 2025. Property worth millions of dollars was destroyed in a series of protests that the government said were infiltrated by criminals.
Ruto said the compensation was not the “price of life, of pain or of loss,” and that should not be seen as a “reward for violence or criminality” in a country where violent protests are common.
“A nation heals by tending to its wounds rather than pretending they does not exist,” he said.
Claris Ogangah, head of Kenya's National Commission on Human Rights, said the payments would contribute to the nation’s healing.
“The stories captured in the Reparations Framework Report remind us that behind every statistic is a human being — a family and a community whose suffering has often remained unseen and unacknowledged,” she said.
“By giving voice to these experiences, the report contributes to a national process of healing founded on truth, recognition, and remembrance.”
Kenya's President William Ruto speaks during a joint news conference with Finland's President Alexander Stubb in the Hall of Mirrors of the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP)
TORONTO (AP) — It was a play Ghana has been practicing throughout its World Cup preparation.
And after a night of missed chances, it worked.
Caleb Yirenkyi tapped in a cross from Brandon Thomas-Asante in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, and Ghana beat Panama 1-0 on Wednesday night in the teams’ World Cup opener.
Thomas-Asante got loose on the left side and fired the ball across the goal mouth. Yirenkyi knocked it in, sending his teammates streaming onto the field to embrace both players.
“Get the ball to the wings, and then put it in the box, and we get runs — people in the box to finish,” said the 20-year-old Yirenkyi, who scored his first international goal earlier this month in a friendly against Wales. “I tried (to) just play forward and run forward, and then hope to see what comes in, and yeah, I got the ball in the box and finished.”
Ghana played without midfielder Thomas Partey, who was denied entry into Canada while he awaits trial on rape charges in England.
The late goal denied Panama its first World Cup point.
The only shot on goal in the first half came two minutes in, when Panama forward Cecilio Waterman latched onto a low cross from Amir Murillo and clipped a ball from the center of the box toward the net. Lawrence Ati-Zigi dove to his right and palmed the ball away.
The goalkeeper left the game at halftime after a couple of hard collisions. He was replaced by Benjamin Asare. Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz said Ati-Zigi would be evaluated further on Thursday.
The result puts Ghana at the top of Group L with England, which beat Croatia 4-2 earlier in the day.
After the first hour, when chances came at a premium at rainy BMO Field, the match opened up and both teams started smashing shots toward the net.
In the 65th minute, Thomas-Asante broke through Panama’s back line and played a ball along the 6-yard box toward Jordan Ayew, but Jiovany Ramos ran up from behind with a tackle to prevent the tap-in.
“Panama, they had a great first half. They kept the ball really well and we struggled with the press,” said Antoine Semenyo, who started the scoring play with a pass to Thomas-Asante. But “slowly into the second half we had that energy to go up and press and cause problems, and that led to the winner.”
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Owen Cameros is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
Ghana's Brandon Thomas-Asante jumps over Panama's Luis Mejia during the World Cup Group L soccer match between Ghana and Panama in Toronto, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Ghana's Brandon Thomas-Asante jumps over Panama's Luis Mejia during the World Cup Group L soccer match between Ghana and Panama in Toronto, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Ghana's Caleb Yirenkyi, top right, scores the opening goal on Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera (22) during the World Cup Group L soccer match between Ghana and Panama in Toronto, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ghana's Caleb Yirenkyi (3) celebrates scoring the opening goal during the World Cup Group L soccer match between Ghana and Panama in Toronto, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Panama's Andres Andrade (16) reacts following the team's loss in the World Cup Group L soccer match between Ghana and Panama in Toronto, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ghana's Caleb Yirenkyi (3) celebrates scoring the opening goal during the World Cup Group L soccer match between Ghana and Panama in Toronto, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
