Family wants justice after son shot dead in Kasarani
The family of a 17-year-old boy is now demanding for justice after their son was shot dead by police in cold blood during the Kasarani-Mwiki Road protests that left several people, including police officers, injured.
Though residents and eyewitnesses said that the police had shot the deceased, Stephen Machurusi, the Kasarani sub-county Police Commander Muthuri Mwongera yesterday said they were yet to establish if he was indeed shot by law enforcers.
The family cried out for justice even as the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) gave in to pressure from the residents of Kasarani and Mwiki areas and announced that it had set aside Sh300 million towards the reconstruction of the road.
Acting Kura boss Eng Silas Kinoti said the Sh300 million was part of the Sh1.7 billion committed by the government agency to repair all roads in Nairobi.
“Before, we only used to do the routine maintenance but this time we have mobilised for funds and we are going to ensure the road is done well that it can even last for the next 10 years without any repair,” assured DG Kinoti.
Matatu operators have reached agreement to return to work as Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja said a consensus to end demonstrations over the poor state of the Kasarani-Mwiki Road had been reached.
Sakaja who was flanked by the area MP Mercy Gakuya, county security bosses, Matatu operators and Kinoti said it was agreed that the latter would immediately send a contractor to repair the road.
“For the last few days, we have witnessed the most ugly scenes in Kasarani. However, I am happy to report that we have all agreed to stop the demos immediately.
We have instructed the contractor to be on the site immediately with a dredger,” said Sakaja.
Angry protesters
The Kasarani-Mwiki Road’s condition has been the cause of many protests since the days of the defunct Nairobi City Council administration.
On Wednesday Machurusi was killed and another man shot and wounded as riot police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the angry protestors.
Wangui discounted police claims that the boy was part of the demonstrators, insisting that he had only gone out of the house where he was living with his sister to visit her at the neighbouring Hunters Estate.
A sobbing Ms Wangui said that on the fateful day, Machurusi had left his sister’s house at around 11 am to visit her.
“Some few minutes after he had called to tell me that she was coming, I received a call from one of my neighbors telling me that a young boy had been shot dead by the police near the Sunton stage.
When I approached the stage where many people had milled around, I discovered that it was my son who had been shot on the chest,” Wangui told journalist with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Machurusi” sister, Lillian Waringa echoed their mother’s sentiments and called for a thorough probe into the killing.
“We found my brother lying on the road next to a petrol station, surrounded by a multitude of people.
He was rushed to a nearby clinic, where we were told the bullet was lodged in a sensitive part of his body,” she said.
Police reveled that five police officers and two other members of the public were injured in the confrontation adding investigations into the ugly incident have been launched.
