In a heart-wrenching account outside City Mortuary, Jilian Munyau, mother of 24-year-old Rex Kanyike Masai, spoke out about the tragic events that led to her son’s death during the anti-finance bill protests in Nairobi.
Standing before reporters on Friday, Jilian described the harrowing moments when she received the fateful call around 7 pm, informing her that Rex had been shot in the left thigh.
“I received a call around 7 pm saying Rex had been shot in the left thigh and taken to the nearest clinic at Archives, Bliss. When I reached town, he was already gone,” Jilian lamented, her voice trembling with emotion.
“His friend used Rex’s phone to call me, telling me they were heading downtown after finishing work.”
Eyewitnesses revealed that the situation turned dire when police fired teargas canisters to disperse the crowd near Archives, triggering panic among protesters.
Amidst the chaos, Rex and his friend found themselves caught in the crossfire.
“They were standing near Archives when the police threw teargas. Rex ran towards safety but was shot,” Jilian recounted, tears streaming down her face.
When the smoke cleared, Rex’s friend returned to find him bleeding profusely and urgently sought help from a passerby to transport Rex to the hospital. Shockingly, their plea for assistance from nearby police officers was callously dismissed.
After the police left, one friend went back to check on Rex and found him bleeding heavily. He called out to a passerby for help. The passerby assisted, and they encountered police nearby, pleading for them to assist with an ambulance or any help to rush him to the hospital because he was still alive. The police heartlessly replied, ‘Let him die there,’ and continued on their way,”
Despite efforts to save him, Rex succumbed to his injuries from excessive bleeding.
Reports indicate he spent over 20 minutes desperately seeking medical aid before being rushed to Bliss Medical Centre along Moi Avenue, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Rex’s father, equally devastated, expressed disbelief over his son’s tragic death.
“It was shocking to hear the news. I was in town yesterday, and the demonstrations were peaceful,” he said, struggling to come to terms with the loss.
Compounding the family’s anguish was the ordeal of retrieving Rex’s body from the scene.
“Taking his body was a challenge because the police claimed it was under government jurisdiction. The process delayed until around 12 am when his body was finally brought to City Mortuary,” Jilian explained.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has launched investigations into the fatal shooting.
