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One year on, families still crying for justice after protest deaths

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

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Rex Masai, Erickson Mutisya, Kennedy Onyango, Caroline Shiramba and Benson Mbithi who were killed during the 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests.

Photo credit: File

By Steve Otieno & Daniel Ogetta

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One year ago, Kenya witnessed a wave of protests that began with fury over a controversial Finance Bill but spiralled into something far more tragic.

More than 60 lives were lost in the chaos that engulfed different cities and towns. Streets once filled with chants for change became scenes of mourning.

For many families, that moment has frozen in time, a day that redefined protest, exposed the brutality of the state and left behind unanswered questions that still haunt them.

As the country marks the anniversary of these events, justice remains painfully elusive.

No police officer has ever been convicted for the killings and no one has been held accountable.

Josinter Anyango knows that pain all too well after she lost her 12-year-old son Kennedy Onyango to the protests.

What she carries now is not just grief but a heavy mix of broken promises and a relentless pursuit of answers.

A picture of 12-year-old Kennedy Onyango who was killed during anti-government protests in Rongai.

Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group

And like so many others, Josinter is still waiting for someone to be held accountable. If justice were to take any form, Josinter only wishes that the police officer who killed her innocent son be arrested. But she also hopes that the promises made by the government will be honoured.

“I just want the police officer who shot my son to be named. I want the officer to face the law,” she told Nation.

Read: Gen Z protests: Remembering those we lost...

President William Ruto had initially said in a previous TV interview that her son Kennedy succumbed to injuries from bullet wounds following the anti-government protests that rocked the country in June last year. But later, the Head of State, she said, reached out.

Kennedy had nothing to do with the protests. He had just stepped out to buy a book from nearby shops and never returned alive.

Michael Ouma and Jacinta Anyango, parents of 12-year-old Kennedy Onyango who was killed during anti-government protests in Rongai, during an interview at their home on May 20, 2025.

Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation

But nearly a year later, she says that the promise has not been fulfilled. Her efforts to seek justice for her beloved son have hit a dead end.

Then there is Rex Masai. He was the first among many who would pay the ultimate price in the anti-government protests.

His mother Gillian Munyao says the quest for justice for her son has not been a walk in the park either. She says a number of witnesses who had promised to come forward have since withdrawn and the delays in the ongoing inquest are only making matters worse.

Get justice

“Most of them have withdrawn and we are afraid that with the ongoing delays, we might not be able to get justice for our son,” she says.

Just like Rex, Erickson Mutisya was also shot during the June 2024 protests. Despite numerous statements recorded by his mother Caroline Mutuku Mutisya, she is yet to receive any assistance or assurance that justice is on course.

Rex Masai, who was shot during the anti-tax demonstrations.

Photo credit: Pool

Read: ‘My child was killed during Gen Z protests, where's my justice?’

“He was my son and every day I recall the morning of the shooting I shed tears. We have gone to the Law Society of Kenya, to the Independent Police Oversight Authority (Ipoa) but nothing has happened,” she laments.

The same fate has befallen Tom Mwadime whose brother Kelvin Muasya was shot in Githurai 45 at the height of the protests. The family is distraught and deeply disturbed that justice may never come for Kelvin.

“My mother is sick and can barely walk. She has sought an audience so that we can get justice, but nothing is forthcoming so far,” says Mwadime.

In the days following the invasion of Parliament, Denzel Omondi, one of the many Kenyans who filmed themselves at the precincts of Parliament, was discovered dumped in a water-filled abandoned quarry.

The late Denzel Omondi.

Photo credit: Family album

A firstborn, Denzel’s lifeless body was found some 12 kilometres from his residence in Juja after an unsuccessful search. A post-mortem revealed bruises on his knees and the back of his head, and that he died from drowning.

“He was still breathing when he was thrown into the water and he died from drowning. We will pursue all possible avenues to establish the truth,” the family lawyer Apollo Mboya told Nation.

Similarly, Edith Wanjiku Kamau’s life was shattered on June 25. Her 19-year-old son Ibrahim Kamau Wanjiku was shot and killed. With him died all the hopes and dreams she had for his future. A year later, the pain remains a wound that refuses to heal.

On that fateful evening, she waited and waited for him to come back. He never did. Even now, speaking of him in the past tense feels like a betrayal, she says.

“Ibrahim was such a good person , ambitious and hardworking. He rode a motorcycle to make a living and never let challenges hold him back. He was my baby, quiet and respectful and never one to cause trouble. Losing him feels like losing a piece of myself,” she said.

All Edith wants is for the person who killed her son to be held accountable.

“My son loved leather jackets and every time I see one, I still think it’s him. We talk about him often because accepting that he’s really gone feels impossible,” she says.

Those who were killed during anti-tax demos from left: Benson Mbithi, Evans Kitaru, Michael Kihuga, Austin Makhoka, Caroline Shiramba, Rex Masai, Eric Kayoni and Ibrahim Kamau.

Photo credit: Pool

On those very streets, Daniel Otieno lost his brother Kelvin Odhiambo during the protests in Nairobi. A year later, all he has left are the memories they shared.

“All we want is justice and nothing else. My brother was just 13 years old and was killed in Nairobi Central Business District. Why are they not willing to help us get justice?” Mr Otieno asks.

Joseph Obenge Nyangare is also wearing the same pinching shoes after his son Charles Osewe Adero went out to the streets on June 25 and never returned. Days later, Joseph discovered Charles’s lifeless body at Mama Lucy Kibaki Funeral Home.

Read: ‘It is like they never existed’: Families take on Ruto over abducted kin

Charles’s body bore the marks of brutality, evidence of the violent crackdown that consumed him. On that chaotic day, his friends watched helplessly as police officers descended on him, beat him and dragged him away. That was the last time anyone saw him alive.

A trained boxer who stood his ground no matter the cost, Joseph says his son was more than a protester.

“His bravery might have led him into danger, but he did not deserve this,” his distraught father said.

Demonstrators carry the body of a protester who was shot dead at Parliament Buildings during the anti-Tax Bill protests in Nairobi on June 25, 2024.

Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group

Eric Kayoni, a 27-year-old student at the University of Nairobi and KCA University who had just attained the highest level of Certified Public Accountant (CPA) was also shot near Parliament that day.

Evans Kiratu, 21, died too, reportedly after being struck by a teargas canister fired by a police officer. A year later, his teary mother Ann Wanjiru pleads with the government.

“Explain to me and the rest of the parents why you are killing our children,” Wanjiru says.

In Nairobi, as in Kisumu, the protests turned deadly. In the lakeside city, Benson Mbithi known as “Scot” was reportedly shot near Kisumu Bus Terminus by police officers dispersing demonstrators. His mother, Penina Mueni, described him as hardworking, social, kind and peace-loving.

Inhaling teargas

In Mombasa, Emmanuel Giggs Tata, 20, died after inhaling teargas.

Emmanuel Tata, who died after inhaling tear gas at Mwembe Tayari in Mombasa County during protests against the Finance Bill 2024.

Photo credit: Pool

“Police officers fired teargas canisters from both sides, having cornered us. Giggs could no longer walk after inhaling the fumes. He told me the teargas entered his lungs, and he was struggling to breathe,” his cousin Samson Mwasa Nzamba told Nation last year.

In Kakamega, Caroline Shiramba, 35, was going about her daily hustle of selling groundnuts when chaos broke out. What had started as a peaceful, youth-led demonstration degenerated into running battles. Shiramba was shot in the back as she tried to board a matatu to Sigalagala.

Read: 50: Protests death toll is more than just a number as a nation devours its children

And Credo Oyaro would have turned 18 this September. The 17-year-old was felled by a police bullet at Eldoret’s Timba XO Club during the Gen Z protest. A Form Four candidate at Kapsoya Secondary School in Eldoret, he was among four victims who succumbed to gunshot wounds during protests against the controversial Finance Bill.

“Life has never been the same again without him. We deeply miss him and he is always in our hearts,” said Lyn Oyaro, Credo’s cousin. “If he were alive today, he would be playing football. Football was his life, and his dream was to play for big teams. He was an ardent Arsenal fan.”

In their latest report, Missing Voices, a consortium of civil society organisations , observed that 2024 saw a 24 per cent increase in cases of enforced disappearances and police killings compared to 2023.

Enforced disappearances jumped 450per cent from 10 in 2023 to 55 in 2024. However, police-related killings dropped by 12per cent from 118 in 2023 to 104 in 2024.

Most cases of extrajudicial killings occurred during the Gen Z protests between June and August. June recorded the highest number at 38, followed by 11 in July and 9 in August bringing protest-related killings to 58, though the CSOs estimate the figure to be at least 60.

[email protected], [email protected]

Additional reporting by Titus Ominde

Gen Z protests: Remembering those we lost...

Last year's demonstrations reshaped activism and redefined protest.

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Tribeless, bold youngsters change the face of protests

What began as a digital outrage over the controversial Finance Bill, exploded into a nationwide revolt against government excesses.

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The warmongers: Ruto allies step up threats over protests

Ruto allies send chilling warning to those planning to take part in June 25 protests.

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NPSC nominees pledge to reform a service blighted by lack of public trust.

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Did they have to die? Those who we lost to Finance Bill demos

Most of those killed were aged 17 to 35, with the oldest being a 45-year-old man in Kisii County.

News Jun 28, 2024

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