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Kenyans from all walks of life on Tuesday held protests in various parts of Nairobi to demand an end to police brutality in the country.
They also marched in solidarity with protestors worldwide, who have championed for #BlackLivesMatter.
Outside Kenyan Parliament, marchers donned face masks emblazoned with the names of some of the victims of police brutality in the country’s low-income areas and demanded an end to police killings.
Similar protests were also held in various informal settlements of Nairobi, as well as outside the US Embassy.
Tears of pain, outside the Kenyan Parliament, mothers, widows and relatives of victims of police brutality demand justice for their kin.
Esther Wambui says six ago, her 20-year old son and his wife disappeared at the hands of the police in one of Nairobi’s informal settlements. It’s been six years of despair and unanswered questions on their whereabouts.
Esther Wambui says “I am here to protest because the police killed my son and I have never seen his body. I am in a lot of pain because police continue to kill young people not just my son, many young people in poor neighbourhoods.”
These stories of death at the hands of the police or enforced disappearances of young men in the country’s poor neighbourhoods are not new and neither is their demand for justice against the officers, who have carried out the killings.
Steven Mwangi from Mathare Social Justice Centre says, “The police kill the young men with impunity, they threaten that they are going to shoot us, shoot us and post our bodies online nothing is done about it. We are here to petition to look into this matter. If they do not, we will take the matter into our own hands.”
