Saba Saba Protests: 6 Dead, Several Hospitalized
The dust has settled and the air has cleared over Kisii town since the disturbances witnessed here on Friday, when this town joined the opposition-organized Saba Saba protests against the high cost of living and other grievances.
But while the majority of the town’s residents are steadily returning to normalcy, three families’ lives have been irrevocably altered.
Eunice Mutheu, a 23-year-old student at the Kisii Polytechnic, is mourned by her family.
On Saturday morning, Eunice passed away due to complications from gunshot wounds she sustained on Friday while assisting her family’s business in town.
Mary Ngui and Eunice were in the same building during the demonstrations.
“Tulikuwa watu watatu na mtoto pia, sasa niliskia dirisha imegongwa tukadhani ni teargas ya pili tulilala chini kumbe Mary alikuwa alikuwa ameshapigwa…ata marisasi zilikwama kwa ukuta,” she says.
Eunice was involved in a conflict that was not hers and in which she had not participated. Her relatives say she had just returned from college for the weekend when she was trapped in the crossfire.
In the store, evidence of the police’s lethal firepower. More than five bullets were discharged in the direction of Eunice’s hiding place behind the M-pesa shop.
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She died from injuries she sustained.
Now, her family is planning her funeral while lamenting the senseless loss of a young, vibrant life. At a local hospital, those who have sustained injuries are recuperating.
Gladys was in the wrong place at the wrong time; she was conducting errands related to her health when she was struck by a police officer’s bullet. This projectile has left her family impoverished.
“Nilipigwa risasi ya breast na sahii ata sijui familia yangu itakuwaaje na mimi ndio nilikuwa tegemeo,” she narrates.
Boniface Mbaka, a vegetable vendor in Kisii town, claims he did not participate in the Friday demonstrations. He asserts that he surrendered to the police, but that did not prevent him from being shot.
“Hiyo siku ata sikuwa katika maandano nilikuwa kwa kibanda changu na ata nikaambia polisi, niliskia moja akisema hatutaki kuona kijana ,muue ndio wakaanza kunilenga na ata wakanishika na kunipiga vibaya hadi nikavunjika mguu,” he says.
According to Kisii police officers, the demonstrators intended to torch the police station that was repelled.
Kisii County Governor Simba Arati condemned the fatal police brutality and demanded prompt and thorough investigations into allegations of excessive force and use of live ammunition by law enforcement agencies, as well as accountability for those found responsible for any misconduct.
During the demonstrations, twenty individuals were arrested and an unknown number were injured.
Saba Saba Protests: 6 Dead, Several Hospitalized
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