James Otieno and his son Denzel Omondi had a shared belief: The hope for a brighter future.
Mr Otieno would regularly call his eldest son; they would discuss his studies and any challenges he was facing.
On June 27, at approximately 11am, he made a phone call to his son. They discussed his studies and agreed to catch up later. That "later" phone call was never to be. At 3pm on Thursday, Denzel’s phone was no longer reachable.
His son had been abducted by unknown people, unbeknownst to him.
Two days prior, he was one of the protesters from Juja who joined other youths in the anti-government protests.
Together with other students, they returned home at dusk after the protests.
On Wednesday, Denzel was on school grounds with his friends.
A friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, confirmed that Denzel was abducted on Thursday from his residence in Oasis, Juja.
“It was a remote area in Juja where he used to stay. We spoke with him at around 10am and he was in high spirits. He was not distressed or under pressure. We were going to meet up later in the afternoon, but his phone was switched off.
As the friends grew increasingly concerned, they conducted a thorough search of his rented room in Oasis, which proved futile. They then took the initiative of mounting a social media search by circulating his images on various WhatsApp groups.
Back home, Mr Otieno was also growing increasingly concerned.
His mother, Jedidah Omburah, was equally worried. The family knew protests had taken place in the capital a few days prior, but Mr Otieno was certain his first-born son was safe.
The late Denzel Omondi.
Photo credit: Family album
He contacted his friends and relatives who knew him, and they all gave the same answer.
On Sunday, the news broke on social media that a body had been collected from a quarry in the Gachororo area of Juja.
Mr Otieno received the news and immediately went to the General Kago Funeral Home in Thika town to confirm the identity of the body.
“I can confirm that it is his body. We are utterly devastated. He was a brilliant boy and we had high hopes for his future, but all that has now been wiped out,” he stated emphatically.
As soon as the news broke, the university administration summoned all the student leaders.
The student leaders were instructed to refrain from speculation about Denzel's death during the meeting.
We were told that his death was a suicide. He failed to graduate and was not on the pass list. He had two supplementary examinations that he had not done and he was frustrated,” a source stated.
For some time, the student leadership was relentless in promoting the same narrative to their fellow comrade.
On Tuesday, a post-mortem was carried out and a separate video of Denzel at the parliament precincts went viral on social media.
Candle lighting in honour of 23-year-old Denzel Omondi at Jkuat gate. His body was collected at a dam in Juja, a few days after he joined other protesters in the #OccupyParliament protests.
Photo credit: Ndubi Muturi | Nation Media Group
The post-mortem revealed that his body had bruises on his knees and at the back of his head and that he died from drowning.
The young man was thrown into the water while unconscious, according to his family lawyer Apollo Mboya.
“He was still breathing when he was thrown into the water. He died from drowning. We will pursue all possible avenues to establish the truth,” Mr Mboya stated.
The university administration wrote a letter confirming that Denzel was a third-year student with pending examinations.
The university has made it clear that while it supports the students' right to peacefully assemble and express their concerns, it also expects them to put on hold the planned demonstrations and allow the police as well as the university security team to conclude the investigations.
On Wednesday at the General Kago Funeral Home, his family went on with the burial preparations amidst a backdrop of raw emotion. His family held hands and sang gospel songs together.
His mother was devastated, and a few relatives immediately stepped in to comfort her.
Mr Otieno gathered his confidence and spoke to the media for a few minutes before returning to the hearse.
“We do not want to speculate, but we demand fairness. He was my eldest son and we had high hopes. The post-mortem shows otherwise. Why would they do this to my son?” he demanded.
On Friday, irate students of the university poured into the streets, demanding justice for their fallen comrade.
