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Kin of three killed during anti-fuel price hike protests cry for justice in Thika
Among those killed during protests over fuel hikes include Kelvin Kang'ethe, Macmillan Muiruri and a matatu tout who is yet to be identified. They were all aged below 30 years
Family members of three young men shot dead by police last Monday are crying out for justice even as they mourn their fallen beloved ones.
Among those killed during protests over fuel hikes include Kelvin Kang’ethe, Macmillan Muiruri and a matatu tout who is yet to be identified. They were all aged below 30 years.
According to relatives of Kang’ethe who was selling shoes at Mukiriti market, he was shot dead by police who comfronted him while walking home around 6.30 pm in the company of colleagues and friends as there were no public means of transport.
His father John Mwangi, a former tutor at the Thika Technical Training Institute, said Kelvin died on arrival at the Thika level 5 hospital where he was admitted after a bullet raptured vital organs in his rib cage.
“On receiving a call about the shooting, I rushed to the hospital only to find him lying unconscious on the hospital bed. The doctor told me he was already dead from excessive bleeding,” said Mwangi.
He is now calling on the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) to investigate the death of his first born child, accusing the police of using excess force.
“Under normal circumstances, which was the case this time, the police should have used teargas or rubber bullets to disperse crowds. The use of live bullets was uncalled for and ended cutting short the life of my innocent son,” Mwangi lamented.
Similarly, the family of Muiruri expressed agony and shock at his tragic shooting just a few meters from their Biafra home and accused police of pursuing people to their residence.
His distraught mother Tabitha Wambui said her second born son had just completed secondary school last year and enrolled with a college and his life was cut short by police bullets moments before he reached home.
“The policeman who shot my son dead was drunk and trigger-happy. As is if shooting him was not enough, the officers followed those who rushed him to hospital and assaulted them. It’s like they wanted him to be left to die at the scene,” Wambui said amid sobs.
Muiruri’s father Samuel Mwangi said his family is yet to come to terms with the heinous killing and asked the government to investigate the matter and bring to book those behind the shooting.
This comes as it emerged that a matatu tout shot dead on the same date at BAT Makongeni area is yet to be identified by relatives.
