Victims of Covid-era police brutality sue State for Sh100m damages
Traffic jam after police mounted a road block on Thika Road in Nairobi to enforce a 6pm curfew as part of the measures to fight Covid-19 in 2020.
Relatives of victims of police brutality whose relatives were either killed, maimed or injured during the enforcement of the 2020 curfew by law enforcers have sued the government for damages over Sh100 million.
In the case filed by Kituo Cha Sheria T/A as Legal Advice Centre, Justice Enoch Chacha Mwita was urged to rule in favour of the victims.
Lawyers John Khaminwa and John Mwariri told the judge that the victims of the illegal police action had been robbed of the lives of their loved ones.
"Some of the victims like Standard 8 pupil, the late Yassin Hussein Moyo, 13, was shot dead by police around 7pm while standing on the balcony of their residence in Huruma Nairobi," Dr Khaminwa submitted when the case came up for hearing.
The judge heard that another victim was shot dead while answering a call of nature, while others were attacked and their lives cut short as they walked to their Mathare Slums residences.
Dr Khaminwa led the father of Standard 8 pupils Hussein Moyo Monte, Evalyn Akinyi, Joseph Siminyu and Judy Simiyu to give oral evidence on "how they have suffered mental anguish since the brutal and cold-blooded murder of their loved ones during the enforcement of the curfew during the period 2020 Covid-19".
Mr Monte, the father of the late Hussein Moyo, gave a graphic account of how he lost his son, in whom he had great hope.
"My son was shot from the 2nd floor of our house in Huruma. He had just finished doing his chores and then joined his mother (my wife) on the balcony," Mr Monte recalled.
He told the judge that his son was not on the streets.
The devastated father said a policeman, who was with others patrolling the area, pointed his gun at his wife and son and then pulled the trigger.
Died instantly
"The bullet hit my son. He died instantly," Mr Monte told the judge.
He said his son was a candidate for the KCPE exams when he met his untimely death.
The judge also heard that Hussein Moyo was a pupil at Dururumo Primary School in Huruma, Nairobi County.
Mr Monte urged the court to compel the government to pay damages for the loss of his son as a result of police brutality.
"There is no amount of money that can compensate for the loss of my son, but the orchestrators of the death must be punished and their employer must be punished for their actions," said Mr Monte.
Ms Evalyn Akinyi, whose husband was shot dead while responding to a call of nature in Mathare, prayed for damages saying "the police killed our breadwinner, we are going through untold hardship since the death of Vitalis Owino, my husband."
Others who testified before Justice Mwita include Joseph Siminyu, who was seriously injured by police enforcing the curfew.
The judge heard that the victims were brutally killed "yet they posed no danger to anyone".
The petitioners have named the Inspector General of Police, the Interior Cabinet Secretary and the Attorney General as respondents.
They have also named Amnesty International Kenya, the International Justice Mission and the Independent Policing and Oversight Authority as interested parties. Justice Mwita will continue hearing the case on June 20, 2024.
