He was not part of protest, says family of Kahawa West shooting victim

If the torn blue shirt lying at the entrance of Alex Macharia's one-roomed house in Kahawa West could speak, it would reveal the inner thoughts of a man whose dreams were abruptly halted by a police bullet.

Macharia, a 21-year-old tuk tuk driver, succumbed to excessive bleeding after he was shot in the head during Wednesday's demonstrations in Kahawa West. Locals were protesting demolition of trading stalls by officials from the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).

After identifying his body at city mortuary, his relatives told Nation.Africa that he died from a single bullet that entered his face and exited through the back.

A post-mortem will be conducted on Friday in the presence of Kasarani DCI detectives and officers from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).

His image greets every visitor coming to his house to condole with the family, courtesy of the blue tee-shirt that has since been converted to a rag for use by his wife in cleaning the house.

Scuffle

His wife Grace alleges that the tear on the t-shirt is from a scuffle that Macharia had with an officer in the course of his work on Monday morning.

“He wakes up early and leaves for work by 4am but on Monday, he came back early from work, dumped this T-shirt on the floor and went to take a bath before returning to work,” Grace recalled.

He did not seem keen on discussing what had happened, but Grace asked him anyway.

“He told me the T-shirt was torn as he freed himself from a police officer who was harassing him. When I asked him why he did not inform me immediately, he said he was worried that I was already carrying the burden of our child’s health,” she recalls.

The couple’s one-and-half-year-old baby has a medical condition for which the couple has been seeking treatment.

“Her treatment was part of a discussion we had on Tuesday night when he strangely asked what I would do if he was to die. I told him not to advance that discussion but he went on to ask me where I would take our baby if he did,” she recalled.

Macharia then told his wife that he could not imagine her marrying someone else, she says.

“I wondered why we were having that conversation and told him again to stop. But he went on and added that he was looking for money to get our child treated,” she said.

Witnesses said Alex was rushing from the police who were advancing towards his tuk tuk stage when he was shot.  

“I saw him fall right next to me and the next moment he was bleeding and within no time he was gone. It all happened so fast, Moments later he was being carried in a cart by angry residents,” recalled one of the witnesses.

He added that two more people were shot and rushed to hospital for treatment.

The police took his body to city mortuary and booked it as "unknown".

“How the police booked him as an unknown man hit by a stray bullet has not only baffled us, but angered us too. How can you point a gun at someone then claim it’s a stray bullet? It is painful, it is not ethical and we cannot live in fear of the same people who are supposed to protect us,” added the witness.

As the family prepares for Macharia's burial, relatives said they will cooperate with investigators to have the officer who killed him brought to book.

“Alex was not part of the protests. He was fleeing from officers who were advancing to where his tuk tuk was parked. We are devastated and we do not know where to start but eventually we know God will give a way,” said his uncle.