The woman would fault the police for allegedly instructing the operator of the bulldozer to escape, possibly to avoid repercussions given that it was last placed at the scene where the boy died....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
The mother of a 17-year-old boy who was killed on Monday, May 6 during demolitions in Mathare North, Nairobi County has revealed the last moments before her son met his untimely demise.
Speaking at her residence, the woman revealed that she had gone to the nearby residential area surrounding a local supermarket to pick up medicine for her deceased son who was suffering from sickle cell anaemia.
On her way back, she ran into another child who was their neighbour, who would break the unfortunate news of her son’s death, a matter which shook her as she demanded to know how her son met his demise.
She would thereafter be informed that a bulldozer was going about demolishing houses in Area 1 despite pleas not to do so as other children were yet to be evacuated.
“I asked him how he died and he told me that a bulldozer was demolishing houses…yet it was not supposed to demolish homes because children were still indoors and the police stood by.
“That bulldozer tore down the house and my child died as the police watched. The police directed that he be buried,” she stated amid tears.
The woman would fault the police for allegedly instructing the operator of the bulldozer to escape, possibly to avoid repercussions given that it was last placed at the scene where the boy died.
She also accused the authorities of denying her the chance to take her son to the mortuary, adding that she had no idea where he was taken.
“How are they burying someone’s child and then escaping? They are telling the driver to run? Then again when they come back to pick up my child from the road, they are refusing for me to take him back so I don’t know where they took him,” she continued.
The woman in conclusion demanded that the government produce her son or at the very least take him to Kisumu County to be laid to rest, adding “he will not be buried in Lang’ata because I have no other son like him. Ruto and his government took the life of my child.”
The boy’s sister, on her part, revealed that she stumbled on her brother’s body on the road amidst a standoff between the residents and the police following the incident.
“He was bleeding and had irreversible injuries. I saw him 30 minutes ago in the house, but he is now lying lifeless on the road,” she revealed.
The clash ensued when police reportedly took the boy’s body by force and blocked the family from access, despite residents carrying the deceased to the police station.
The officers retaliated by throwing teargas and firing shots in the air to disperse the crowd. In the process, a woman was shot in the neck by a stray bullet.
The demolition exercise was part of evacuation orders issued to residents living on riparian land to avert more tragedies as a result of the flooding menace. Among the structures targeted was a church in the area.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki on Friday, May 3 ordered the demolition of buildings and structures illegally erected on riparian lands along Nairobi’s riverbanks, mainly impacting structures within 30 metres of the Ngong, Mathare, and Nairobi rivers, a move which has displaced thousands of residents despite the government’s stance that the demolitions were for their safety from further tragedies caused by the ongoing torrential rains and flooding.
The lack of adequate notice and the immediate displacement of many people, despite a 48-hour vacation notice issued by President Ruto, have raised concerns about the humanitarian implications of such drastic measures.
Police were yet to comment on the matter. Sources have since told Viral Tea that heavier security in the form of General Service Unit (GSU) officers could be deployed to the scene as the demolitions are expected to continue..CONTINUE READING>>
