Form Three student among victims of Tuesday night shootings in Githurai

A Form Three student from Githurai 45 is among the known casualties of Tuesday night's operation conducted after the end of the day-long protests in Nairobi.

His mother, Tabitha Waithera, said her 16-year-old daughter Winfrey Wairimu who was not part of the protests, fell victim to the wrath meted upon protesters when police officers stormed the area after their colleagues were overpowered by protesters earlier.

She said she was with her daughter when she was shot in the abdomen and later rushed to the Kenyatta National Hospital for treatment.

"I am pleased, I am not the kind that likes it when protests start, because I am the sole breadwinner in my family and you see when the mayhem starts, you lose that day's income," the mother said in an interview with Citizen TV.

Though the government is yet to give the final tally of the death toll from the operation, a local hospital in Githurai confirmed receiving eight gun-shout wounds patients on Tuesday night, five of whom it referred to Kenyatta National Hospital.

Other hospitals are yet to share details of the treatments made on similar patients.

This is as even as human rights organisations claimed to have received reports of 30 deaths from the night operation.

Police reports indicate that the protest that began peacefully turned riotous when an alleged group of about 6,000 became violent and lit a bonfire on the road around the Githurai area.

"The police officers led by the Sub-County Commander tried to negotiate with them to peaceably disperse but they refused and started pelting the officers with stones. A proclamation was read by the Sub-County Commander but they did not disperse instead turned very violent," the report filed at Githurai-Mwiki police station under OB Number 46/25/06/2024 at 9:15 pm states.

People attend a demonstration against Kenya's proposed Finance Bill 2024/2025 in Nairobi, on June 25, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi)

The police add that teargas was fired at the protesters but they overpowered the officers forcing them to withdraw.

What followed, according to the police, was more violence that saw their Landcruiser vandalised and torched, as the protesters followed them to Githurai Mwiki police station and surrounded two other stations.

In the process, 20 officers suffered injuries on their limbs, were rushed to various hospitals for treatment, and were released in fair condition.

"During the demonstration, 740 blanks and rounds of spent cartridges and more than 700 pieces of teargas canisters were used to disperse the violent rioters," the statement added.

President William Ruto on Wednesday evening regretted that the widespread expression of dissatisfaction with the bill resulted in the loss of six lives, destruction of property, and desecration of constitutional institutions.

The president who touched on the deaths matter for the first time today since the protests began last week had earlier been faulted by the Law Society of Kenya as lacking the consoling taste of remorse from a father who has lost his family members.

"The young men and women killed on Tuesday are either children of this great nation to which you are constitutionally mandated father. For weeks, these dead young people called on you to hear their cries of pain and suffering. Every day, they wrote to you offering suggestions and airing their sentiments via social media while some even came together, and gathered in groups to present their views to the National Assembly's committee on Finance and Budget but all their cries fell on deaf ears," LSK President Faith Odhiambo said.