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Family of Kitengela man shot at ODM rally stranded at a Nairobi mortuary over autopsy delays
The family of Vincent Ayomo, who was killed in Kitengela during the ODM rally, are stranded at a Nairobi Funeral Home due to delays in carrying out an autopsy.
What you need to know:
- Relatives of Vincent Ayomo, who was killed during a chaotic ODM political rally, are currently stranded at Nairobi Funeral Home due to a lack of communication regarding his postmortem.
- The family accuses the police and morgue officials of being "cagey" and "harsh," suspecting a cover-up because they believe Ayomo was shot by state officers.
The family of Vincent Ayomo, who was shot dead in Kitengela on Sunday, are currently stranded outside the Nairobi Funeral Home while they wait for his post-mortem examination to be scheduled.
Distraught relatives say they have received no clear communication from the authorities about when the autopsy will be conducted, which is prolonging their anguish as they seek answers and prepare for the funeral.
Mr Vincent Ayomo.
Ayomo’s widow, Ms Khadija Riami, who has a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, is appealing for the examination to be expedited, as the family is also awaiting possible compensation.
“We were expecting the autopsy to be finalised yesterday (Tuesday), but it is taking longer than expected with no explanation from the government,” she said. “We suspect something is amiss because we believe my husband was shot by the police.”
A family friend, Mr Kennedy Makatu, said that they had been instructed to report to the funeral home at 8 am. However, upon arrival, he claims that morgue officials and officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are keeping them waiting.
“They are very harsh to us, yet they are supposed to serve us as state officials. Information on when this will be done is not clear, and they are being cagey,” Mr Makatu claims.
“It is the government that took the life of our family member. They may be hiding something, but we are on high alert,” he added.
Ayomo’s sister, Ms Mary Akinyi, 32, said the family is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy and pleaded for urgent intervention.
“We have a problem and we need help. The post-mortem should be done today. The body is in a bad state, and we don't know what's going on. If they are unable to help us, they should release the body so that we can arrange an autopsy elsewhere. We need justice from the government,” she said.
However, morgue officials indicated that no pathologist was available at the time to conduct the examination, while the family accused the authorities of playing 'hide and seek'.
“They even blamed us for not coming to the facility yesterday for the autopsy. How could we when we were told it would be done today?” Ayomo’s wife said tearfully.
Ayomo is said to have been shot under the left eye on Sunday following a political rally led by the Orange Democratic Movement in Kitengela, Kajiado County, which descended into chaos.
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