Anti-riot police engage protesters in Mlolongo on July 19, 2023, during anti-government demonstrations.
Had he known that going to fetch beans from his mother would land him in police custody for 42 hours, Kamau*, the 15-year-old boy whose arrest and alleged mistreatment by police officers in Mlolongo sparked national outrage, would not have left home on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
Still visibly shaken, the Form Two student at a school in Meru County, recounted his arrest and subsequent detention in a police cell for over 40 hours on Thursday, July 25. He was arrested around 3pm on Tuesday and released at 9am on Thursday morning.
This is how it all began.
On Tuesday, Kamau's mother, Muthoni*, a grocer in Mlolongo, left her home in Sabaki, Athi River, as is her custom, after instructing her son to look after his two younger siblings. Kamau had been sent home for school fees a week before his arrest.
On Tuesday, his mother had asked him to prepare some githeri (a meal of boiled maize and beans) for lunch.
The dutiful son first made sure his two younger brothers had their breakfast before going about his chores. Later, he went into the kitchen to start a fire and prepare the meal when he realised that the beans would not be sufficient.
He quickly took the boys to their aunt's house and set off for his mother's shop for more beans.
“I did not know there were protests. All I wanted was to go to mum, get more beans and come back home. However, when I alighted from the bus, I found police officers dispersing people, particularly those on the footbridge, which we usually use to cross the highway to get to Mlolongo,” he said.
Running battles
The fact that Kamau does not have a phone kept him in the dark about the situation in Mlolongo.
Finding himself in the middle of the running battles, the teenager knew from what he had heard about the police's treatment of protesters during demonstrations that he had to hide and keep an eye out for a chance to quickly cross the footbridge and get to safety.
While he was working out a possible route to the other side, he saw two people on a motorbike coming in his direction.
He did not care, he was focused on getting to his mother's shop to pick up some beans and return home.
Little did he know that these pillion passengers were policemen who, as he got off, showed him their guns and grabbed him.
"This is the person we have been looking for. We have seen him running around here since this morning. It is good that we found you," Kamau said.
He was wearing a yellow shirt and the police had, over time, zeroed in on a suspected troublemaker wearing a yellow shirt who had been seen throwing stones at them several times.
Just like that, he ended up in the hands of his captors.
"I asked them why they were arresting me, but they slapped me. One of the officers kicked me and I threw me to the ground. Other officers joined them and kicked me on my legs and back. I feared for my life and covered my head with my hands," he said.
When the beating was over, they ordered him to sit down while they waited for the police van that was patrolling the area to pick him up.
He told them he was 15-years-old. This was around 3pm.
The truck eventually arrived and he was ordered to get in and lie down.
Instead of going to the police station, Kamau found himself doing more rounds with the officers in the truck as they supplied their colleagues with tear gas canisters.
More suspects were bundled into the truck until around 6pm, when the officers decided to call it a day and go to the station. He was not given a mobile phone to call his mother.
His chance came when one of the arrested suspects gave him his phone to call his parents.
"I did not know anything until a young man came and told me he wanted to show me something. We went to his house where he was watching YouTube and rewound what he was watching, stopping at the part where a young man was being harassed by the police. I was shocked when I realised it was my son," said Ms Muthoni.
She said she was too frightened to do anything because, according to reports, many young people had been abducted by people suspected to be police officers, some of whom had not been seen since the protests began last month.
Deep down, she knew this could happen to her son. It was after 7pm when she received the call from Kamau.
She called a female police officer at Molongo Police Station who confirmed that a teenager had been arrested and was at the station. The officer told her that the case was a bit complicated because her son's arrest had gone viral on the internet.
"I rushed to the station the next day to pick up my son, but the officers told me I had to wait for their boss. I went back at 1pm and found the station commander who told me that the case was delicate and that he had written to his superiors for further instructions on how to handle it," she said.
Police cell
All the while, her son was in a police cell with four other adult suspects. He was not moved to a separate room, as is required when minors are arrested.
Kamau had spent his second night in police custody.
"It was so cold. The first night, we slept on the cold floor. I had to squeeze in where the other men were to get some warmth," Kamau recalls.
Back at home, Ms Muthoni knew her son needed to come home as soon as possible, but she could do nothing.
On Thursday morning, she received a phone call from Child Protection Services informing her that her son had been released the previous evening.
She rushed back to Mlolongo police station. Her son was released. By 9am Thursday, the boy had spent a record 42 hours in police custody.
Kamau, whose favourite subject is physics and who wants to become an Information Technology specialist, said he never thought he would be arrested in his life, let alone harassed by police officers.
"Those officers were not good people. From now on, whenever I see a police officer, I will run away. I will not give them the chance to repeat what they did to me when they arrested me," he concluded.
On Thursday evening, the family was still waiting for a call from the Child Protection Unit to find out if they should attend court today (July 26) for Kamau's arraignment on a charge of 'participating in a riot', or if the case would be dropped altogether.
Ms Muthoni is hoping that the case will be dropped as she is due to take her son to school.
Additional report by Jael Maunda
