Residents of Rongai, Kajiado County walk with their hands raised to identify themselves to the police following the anti-Finance Bill protests on June 25, 2024.
Police have been accused of making subdued Kenyans lie down then shooting their legs on Thursday as a day of terror unravelled in Rongai, Kajiado County.
Accounts by multiple sources allege some young people, especially those who were apprehended inside the Clean Shelf Supermarket on suspicion of looting, were ordered to lie prostrate as police methodically moved from one to another.
One of the young men said to have been shot in that fashion was taken to the Ongata Rongai Sub-County Hospital on Thursday evening.
He had bullets lodged in his right thigh, a medic said, amid reports that police took some young people in custody while having bullets in their bodies.
The shootings were one among the many dark scenes that characterised more than 14 hours of terror in the fast-expanding town.
From morning hours to around 8pm, Kajiado was a no-go zone. Bonfires were lit on Magadi Road that cuts across the town, rendering it mostly impassable. A policeman was attacked and injured by a mob.
Young men were stripped naked and marched on the streets for apparently committing crimes. Businesses, small and big, were defaced or looted.
A suspected looter is cornered by police officers inside Cleanshelf Supermarket in Rongai, Kajiado County on June 25, 2024.
Police opened live fire at protesters, killing at least three people and nearly killing people hiding inside their homes.
The terror has reverberated on the social media as a video of a boy shot and lying on the ground circulated, ditto a video of the same boy being transported to hospital on a motorcycle while soaked in blood. The boy died before reaching hospital.
From accounts given to the Saturday Nation by the boy’s mother and the motorcyclist who carried the bleeding 12-year-old to hospital, Thursday was the stuff of nightmares in Rongai as police used live fire to contain mobs.
“They were not firing in the air. They were shooting directly,” said Joseph Ayot Wambunya, the motorcyclist who transported the late Kennedy Onyango to the Ongata Rongai Sub-County Hospital and felt the boy turn cold and stiff on the way.
In the early morning, Rongai was set for another Thursday. A town with at least 17 bank branches, more than 21 restaurants, at least 12 petrol stations, among other installations, it was another day for businesses to tap into the mixed class of residents, some of whom work as far as Nairobi.
Some young people in the locality decided to venture out to protest, despite an olive branch by President William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua the previous day.
“From the morning hours, it was okay. The early protests didn't have any violence,” said Mr Wambunya, the motorcyclist.
However, as it quickly turned out, this was far from business as usual. The protests took an ugly turn, and one street that hosts banks, among them Equity, Co-operative and Kingdom, saw businesses pelted with stones.
It was a reign of terror as police guarding banks were targeted, and it was soon clear that the anti-riot police tasked with guarding the area were no match for the mobs.
As the afternoon wore on, it was billows and billows of smoke in Rongai. Bonfires rambled on as teargas diffused in the air.
Youths, some of them armed with crude weapons, unleashed terror on some businesses. One of the youth in the area said their protesters were infiltrated by goons.
Among the businesses affected is a general shop not too far from Clean Shelf. It is owned by Amos Omolo. He lost two fridges, a freezer, and stock. He approximates the loss to be at around Sh400,000.
“I’ve lived in Rongai for 13 years, but yesterday (Thursday) was bad. Even with elections, it has not been this bad. Demos have been happening at the road, but many people have never reached here. I don’t know if Thursday’s were Gen Z protests or these were infiltrated by thugs,” he said.
He noted that the looters had weapons like stones and pangas. “I tried to call the police, but they were few,” he said.
On the opposite side of Mr Omolo’s shop, Lucy Miriti lost about Sh100,000 worth of cereals as her stock plus scales were looted.
In response to the looting, police threw away the rulebook and opted to let the barrel of the gun speak. They shot at crowds.
Suspected looters are cornered by police officers inside Cleanshelf Supermarket in Rongai, Kajiado County on June 25, 2024.
It was about this time that young Kennedy, a Grade Eight pupil, was shot at the Carwash area. Near the place where he was shot, a homestead was shot at two times.
One bullet tore through the metallic gate and through an electricity post and landed on the pavement that separates the iron sheet houses.
Another one ripped through three houses and missed a child sleeping in bed by a whisker. It tore apart the upper bunker of a double-decker bed.
Mzee Dida Halakhe, a resident, said the locals plus their guests who had come for a feast hid under beds and sofas until around 8pm when the gunshots stopped.
“The officers were trying to deal with the situation. People were hurling stones at the police. My request to the police is that when such happens, they should take care with the guns because there are many people in town. The bullet can endanger the lives of many in the house. If such a thing happens, let the police be careful,” said Mr Halake.
A few metres away, one homestead was shocked to hear a bullet smash their stone wall.
“Police don't mind about wananchi. They fire bullets anyhow, not minding that this is a residential place,” complained Jillo Guyo, a local.
It was around this area that the motorcyclist was transporting a customer when he was stopped. Kennedy was bleeding and Good Samaritans wanted to take him to hospital quickly.
“As a parent, I couldn't continue ferrying my customer. I had to rush him to hospital. But we couldn't make it in time,” said Mr Wambunya.
Kennedy’s mother, Josinter Anyango, was engulfed in grief as she narrated how she learnt about the death of her third-born among five children.
At her home in the Kware area of Rongai, she said he had been at home since morning, helping fetch water for laundry purposes.
“He left while we were cooking. He said he was going for a book from his classmate. They share books,” she said. “My son did not come back.”
From the morning, they could hear gunshots and teargas canister discharges from a distance. The gunshots became louder as the evening wore on.
She had no idea that her son had been caught up in the mess until someone called her about a boy who looked like her son. It was the video of the shot boy that had started doing the rounds on social media.
Not long afterwards, neighbours showed her the video. She did not want to believe he was grievously hurt, but the news that awaited her at the Ongata Rongai Sub-County Hospital was heading in that direction.
Kennedy had been shot in the chest, and at the point where the bullet exited, it left a plain bone.
“My son is 12 years old. He’s in Grade Eight, schooling at Ongata Rongai (Junior Secondary). My son doesn’t know about protests. My son was found going for a book,” said Ms Anyango.
“I am just asking the government that justice be done for my son. He was not a thief; he’s just 12. He was a small-bodied boy who used to be ridiculed for being short. My son is innocent. I want justice for my son.”
A resident of Rongai, Kajiado County walks with their hands raised to identify themselves to the police following the anti-Finance Bill protests on June 25, 2024.
Kennedy, who was always among the top 10 in his class, was a budding artist who had a file full of drawings he had made, ranging from flowers to buses to faces.
“He used to tell me, ‘Mum, my drawing gift will take me far,’” said Ms Anyango, weeping.
The meal of ugali and fish that they had set aside for Kennedy was untouched by 3pm yesterday.
According to Mr Wambunya, Kennedy was likely shot as police fired towards the youths who were engaging in a cat-and-mouse game.
At the Ongata Rongai Sub-County Hospital, famously known as Saitoti, the medical superintendent informed the Saturday Nation that 10 patients were received as a result of Thursday’s skirmishes.
By 4pm, three had undergone surgery while three were awaiting operation. The other four were being treated in the general ward.
Kajiado North Sub-County Police Commander Abduba Hussein did not immediately respond to our queries yesterday seeking a response on the actions of police shooting at subdued citizens. He promised to give a comment but had not done so by press time.
On Thursday, he told Nation that police arrested 50 people caught looting the supermarket and other businesses. He added that chaos started at around 2pm.
In Rongai, detectives visited various shops, combing for fingerprints and photographing the damage.
