Blitz Bureau
Kenya’s interior minister has denied that the police used excessive force during June 25 protests in which at least 10 people were killed, describing them as “terrorism disguised as dissent” and an “unconstitutional attempt” to change the Government, reported BBC Kipchumba Murkomen thanked security agencies for their “remarkable restraint amid extreme provocation” crediting them with helping to “foil an attempted coup”.
In addition to the 10 deaths, more than 400 were injured, including about 300 police officers, he said. “We condemn the criminal anarchists who in the name of peaceful demonstrations unleashed a wave of violence, looting, sexual assault and destruction upon our people,” he said.
Investigations underway Key Government installations and offices were targeted in the protests, he added, with nine police stations attacked, five of which were torched – and five guns stolen. Dozens of vehicles, belonging to the police, government and civilians, were destroyed, he said. Murkomen said that investigations were underway into the exact number of casualties and the circumstances around the violence.
Rights group Amnesty International has put the death toll at 16, saying that all those who died had gunshot wounds.
Nineteen-year-old David Mwangi, who lived in Nairobi’s Mukuru informal settlement, was one of those who was shot dead.
Bystander killed
His mother told the BBC that he was a bystander who had gone to pick up his younger brother from a tuition class. A tearful Rachael Nyambura Mwangi said that a bullet had gone through her son’s head.
“I am in so much pain,” she said. “David was hoping to go to college to become a mechanic. He was my firstborn and he was my helper. If I needed to fetch water or get something I would send him. I sell sweet potatoes and whenever I needed to get my stock I would send him,” she added Student Dennis Njuguna, 17, was shot dead in Molo, 170km north-west of Nairobi shortly after the end of the school day.
“I don’t know if he was in the midst of the protesters or a stray bullet him. I don’t know but I heard he was shot, fell down and died on the spot,” his mother Jecinta Gathoni said. “My child was still young, he was in his final year of secondary school. He had his dreams, I also had a lot of hope in him. I have not even gathered the courage to go to the morgue to see his body.”
The protests marked the first anniversary of a previous wave of deadly anti-Government demonstrations. On June 25, thousands took to the streets across to voice anger with President William Ruto’s Government, and to demand an end to police brutality. Many of those demonstrating chanted “Ruto must go” and waved branches as a symbol of peaceful opposition to his rule.
