During court proceedings, two police officers, Constable Benson Kamau and Corporal Isaiah Murangiri, denied involvement in the fatal shooting of Rex Masai, a 29-year-old protester who died during the June anti-Finance Bill demonstrations in Nairobi.
Masai succumbed to excessive bleeding after being shot in the thigh during the protests.
Constable Kamau testified that on June 20, he was assigned to undercover intelligence duties near Museum Hill, away from the Central Business District (CBD), and did not discharge his firearm that day. He stated, “I never went to the CBD the entire week, nor did I fire any shots with my gun.”
Similarly, Corporal Murangiri, who was equipped with a tear gas launcher and stationed at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) entrance, asserted that he did not engage with protesters or use his equipment.
He mentioned, “I did not interact with any protestors… I never fired even a single tear gas canister that day because where I was there were no demonstrators.”
In a related legal development, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) filed a lawsuit alleging that Corporal Murangiri was responsible for Masai’s death.
The LSK also sought to prohibit the deployment of plainclothes officers during protests, arguing that such practices hinder accountability.
Masai’s father, Crispine Odawa, testified that he learned of his son’s shooting from his wife and found Masai’s body at Bliss Hospital with a bullet wound to the left thigh.
He recounted that a police officer from Central Police Station prevented the family from taking the body, which was later moved to City Mortuary.
These events have sparked widespread discussions about police conduct during public demonstrations and the importance of accountability within law enforcement agencies.
