State Department for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy Principal Secretary Fikirini Jacobs briefs the media outside the Nairobi Area Regional Police Headquarters on July 02, 2026, over the fatal shooting of Cecil Ouma.
Two conflicting accounts — one based on forensic evidence and the other on Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy Fikirini Jacobs’ statement to detectives — are at the centre of investigations into the fatal shooting of youth leader Cecil Ouma.
While a post-mortem examination concluded that Ouma died from massive blood loss after sustaining a single close-range gunshot wound, Mr Jacobs told investigators the fatal shot was fired after the 29-year-old allegedly attempted to grab his bodyguard’s firearm inside his official vehicle.
The competing narratives are expected to shape investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa), which has taken custody of the recovered bullet for ballistic analysis.
Cecil Ouma who was shot dead in Kariokor, Nairobi by the bodyguard of Youth Affairs Principal Secretary Fikirini Jacobs.
The autopsy, conducted on Thursday by family pathologist Joseph Ndung’u and governme
nt pathologist Bernard Midia, found that Ouma suffered a catastrophic gunshot injury.
“He died as a result of a single gunshot wound to the left side of the chest. There was a lot of bleeding inside the chest. There was a lot of internal bleeding and that was the cause of death,” said Dr Ndung’u.
The pathologists recovered the bullet and handed it to IPOA to establish the firearm from which it was discharged.
Dr Midia said the bullet entered through Ouma’s left forearm before tearing through the chest, puncturing the lung, fracturing the spine and lodging behind it.
“This was a close-range shooting. We classify this as a near-contact gunshot wound from what we found,” he said.
Apart from the gunshot wound, the doctors found no significant external injuries suggesting Ouma had been involved in a violent struggle before he was shot.
“There were hardly any signs of physical injury. It was mainly due to the gunshot. No evidence of struggle from what we found. There were no defensive wounds,” Dr Midia added.
Only Sh10,000
The medical findings emerged hours after Mr Jacobs spent nearly two hours recording a statement at the Nairobi Area DCI headquarters.
The PS, who appeared without legal representation, recounted events from the moment he concluded a youth empowerment meeting at Kariokor Social Hall on Tuesday evening.
According to his statement, chaos erupted as dozens of youths surrounded his vehicle demanding payment. He said the crowd broke through a security cordon mounted by Administration Police officers, preventing his driver from leaving.
Mr Jacobs said his aides tried to negotiate with the youths, who were demanding money for attending the meeting. He told detectives he had no cash and borrowed Sh10,000 from a colleague.
“He only had Sh10,000 on him. I offered them the money but they refused,” the PS reportedly said.
According to his account, he then entered his vehicle with his security team. He claimed Ouma forced his way into the vehicle as they attempted to leave.
Inside the car, Mr Jacobs alleged, Ouma became violent and tried to seize his bodyguard’s firearm. The alleged struggle, he said, ended when the gun discharged.
That account has been disputed by Ouma’s family, human rights organisations and witnesses, who insist the youth leader posed no threat.
Representing the Police Reforms Working Group and the Kenya Human Rights Commission, human rights officer Odhiambo Ojiro said witness accounts present a different version.
“It has been confirmed through key witnesses that in that vehicle were the PS, his driver, PA, the bodyguard and Ouma. You cannot say that if he got into a confrontation with them, he could overpower them all. He had no weapon and posed no serious threat,” Mr Ojiro said.
He argued that the autopsy findings weaken claims that the shooting resulted from a struggle.
Mr Ojiro also claimed Ouma had been released from Industrial Area Remand Prison a day before the shooting after being held over an unrelated arrest.
According to Ouma’s family and rights groups, he had been demanding payment for previous youth mobilisation services allegedly rendered to the State Department, claims that investigators have not substantiated.
They say Ouma attended the Kariokor meeting after youth groups selected him to collect their allowances from the PS.
Witnesses interviewed by Nation said Ouma voluntarily entered the PS’s vehicle after being chosen to receive payments on behalf of the CBD Network of Young People. They claimed the amount offered was considered too little and that Ouma asked for more on the group’s behalf.
One witness alleged that while inside the vehicle, Ouma lowered a window and shouted in Kiswahili, “Wananigeuzia” (“They have turned on me”), before the window was shut.
Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy, Fikirini Jacobs.
Moments later, while the vehicle was caught in traffic near Pangani, Ouma was allegedly pushed out. Witnesses further claimed the bodyguard fired into the air immediately after he was ejected.
Those allegations remain under investigation.
Rights groups have also accused police of compromising evidence, alleging officers allowed the vehicle involved to leave Pangani Police Station before forensic examination and that it was later cleaned.
Mr Ojiro further claimed the vehicle initially entered the station bearing registration number KDC 431T before later returning with government registration plate GKC 526C. It is, however, standard practice for senior government officials to use different number plates for private and official vehicles, and the allegations have not been independently verified.
Ouma’s brother, Tony Odhimabo, who witnessed the post-mortem, described the bullet’s path and said nearly two litres of blood had collected in his brother’s chest.
“The only person entitled to take life is God. We only want justice for Cecil,” he said.
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