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One killed as Mathare protests over missing youths turn deadly
Demonstrations over the disappearance of three young men turned deadly in Nairobi's Mathare and Kiamaiko estates on Tuesday after one person was shot dead and two others injured by gunfire, as residents demanding the return of their missing colleagues clashed with police.
A man who works at Kiamaiko slaughterhouse was identified as the victim of the shooting.
The protests, which paralysed business and transport in parts of the informal settlements, were sparked by growing anger over what residents described as a wave of enforced disappearances targeting young people.
Protesters lit bonfires, barricaded roads with stones and chanted anti-government slogans, insisting they would not relent until those who had disappeared were found.
The demonstrations centred on demands for the release of Abdulaziz Duba Molu, popularly known as Zizou, who family members say was picked up by police on June 23 near Juja Farm, and youth leader Macmillan Kiarie, who was last captured by CCTV cameras on June 20 in Mwihoko, Githurai.
Residents also demanded information on the whereabouts of Michael Oloo also reported missing.
“We are here to say no to cases of abductions in Mathare and the country. We are telling Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Inspector-General Douglas Kanja to respect the Constitution. There will be no peace without our colleagues," Wanjiru Wanjira, Mathare Social Justice Centre co-founder said.
For the families, the protests were born out of desperation rather than politics.
Holding back tears, a brother to Abdulaziz Duba said the family had spent the last seven days moving from one police station to another and visiting hospitals in search of their missing relative, but without success.
"We only hope that we will find him alive. We have searched all the police stations around and hospitals but we haven't found him," Mr Molu said.
He said the family had received no communication from security agencies and that his brother had not been presented before any court since his disappearance.
Residents vowed to continue demonstrating until all those missing were accounted for, saying the disappearances had left many families living in fear.
The renewed protests came as the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) released a scathing report accusing security agencies of violating a raft of constitutional rights during and after the June 25 demonstrations marking the second anniversary of the 2024 Gen Z protests.
The report stated at least seven people were forcibly disappeared, 361 arrested, 18 human rights defenders detained and two freelance journalists arrested during the protests, which it monitored across the country.
Mathare residents marching in their estate in Nairobi on June 30,2026 during protests to demand information on the whereabouts of missing youths, Macmillan Kiarie and Abdulaziz Duba Molu alias Zizou.
The commission said the incidents pointed to widespread violations of constitutional guarantees protecting life, liberty, freedom of expression, media freedom and peaceful assembly.
The lobby added that it continued receiving and verifying reports of enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrests, unlawful use of force and restrictions on freedom of movement in the days following the demonstrations.
The commission singled out enforced disappearances as one of the gravest violations documented during the protests.
It said six protesters Boniface Mulinge Muteti, Elisha Ochieng Alam, Collins Otieno, Fredrick Ojiro, Christine Alubengo and Michael Ngige were arrested outside Parliament on June 25, bundled into a police truck and driven away. Despite the arrests being witnessed live on television, relatives and lawyers could not trace them, while police stations denied holding them.
The six resurfaced two days later after being dumped along Lang'ata Road and Ngong Road in the early hours of June 27.
The victims reportedly told the Commission’s investigators that they were initially abandoned after the police truck left before more than 10 heavily armed men in civilian clothes, believed to be security officers, blindfolded them and transferred them into three Subaru station wagons.
Tortured and abandoned
They alleged they were detained at an unknown location under inhuman and degrading conditions, tortured and later abandoned.
The commission also documented the disappearance of Davis Lichuma, who was found in hospital on June 28, four days after he had been arrested during the protests.
Significantly, KNCHR named Macmillan Kiarie, Michael Oloo and Abdulaziz Duba, the same men whose disappearance sparked Tuesday's demonstrations, among those who remain unaccounted for after allegedly being picked up by security agencies in Nairobi before the protests. It called for their immediate production before a court or unconditional release if they were being held unlawfully.
The commission described enforced disappearance as one of the most serious human rights violations because it infringes multiple constitutional rights simultaneously and is prohibited under both Kenyan and international law.
Beyond the disappearances, KNCHR questioned the legality of the mass arrests carried out during the demonstrations.
It documented the arrest of 361 people across Nairobi, Kajiado, Kiambu, Murang'a, Bungoma, Laikipia, Machakos, Meru, Nyeri, Nakuru and Nyamira counties, saying the scale of the arrests warranted scrutiny over whether constitutional safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention had been observed.
Among those arrested were 18 human rights defenders in Nairobi, Naivasha and Kajiado. Although some have since been charged and released on bail, KNCHR condemned what it termed the continued criminalisation of legitimate human rights work and demanded the immediate release of anyone still detained solely for exercising constitutional rights peacefully.
Kenyan activist Bob Njagi during a past interview.
The commission also criticised the arrest of two freelance journalists who were taken into custody while covering the demonstrations, saying the arrests undermined media freedom and interfered with the public's constitutional right to receive information.
KNCHR further documented allegations of excessive force, including the assault of James Mungai, a person living with disability who was participating in demonstrations in Nakuru, and the shooting of Ben Kamiti in Naivasha. It said any use of live ammunition against protesters must be independently investigated to establish whether the force used was lawful, necessary and proportionate.
The commission also faulted the extensive police roadblocks mounted across Nairobi and other towns despite government assurances that Kenyans should report to work as usual. It said the barricades restricted freedom of movement, disrupted businesses and prevented many people from accessing workplaces and essential services. Reports of looting and vandalism in Kitengela and Githurai further compounded economic losses suffered by traders.
Another concern raised by KNCHR was the deployment of hooded and plain-clothes officers in apparent defiance of a court order requiring police policing demonstrations to remain identifiable. The commission said it observed masked officers operating from unmarked vehicles in several locations, including Githurai, where they allegedly discharged firearms indiscriminately towards protesters. Such conduct, it said, undermined transparency, accountability and the rule of law.
“The Commission notes that the country is currently in the process of compensating victims of human rights violations where taxpayers are paying for actions of the police, yet the same police are still alleged to continue committing human rights violations,” Claris Ogangah, the KNCHR chairperson said.
The commission urged the Inspector-General of Police to investigate the reported shootings, enforce compliance with court orders governing public assemblies and ensure all officers deployed during demonstrations are identifiable.
It also called on the Director of Public Prosecutions to review all protest-related charges and ensure no one is prosecuted or detained in violation of constitutional safeguards.
While condemning the reported violations, the commission commended officers who exercised restraint during the demonstrations, particularly in Mombasa, where it said no incidents of alleged police excesses were recorded.
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