Satrin Osinya and Ali Mohamed Mauli may be too young to understand everything said at the meeting, but they follow the proceedings quietly. Their silence is only shattered when they spot a picture of a police officer carrying a gun in one of the booklets they have been given.
Ali points at the picture and immediately turns his face. He yells while pointing at the gun.
The two boys were victims of terrorists’ bullets on diverse dates in Mombasa this year.
Their cries and sufferings brought out the horror of terrorism and the brutality of elements in society out to kill and maim innocent Kenyans.
The two were brought together in an emotional meeting this week during celebration of Human Rights Day in Mombasa. The meeting brought together more than 200 victims of terror and other human rights violations from Mombasa, Kwale, Tana River and Kilifi counties.
Victims narrated their ordeals, pointed fingers at the police and the Government for inaction, but most importantly, vowed to remain united regardless of the differences.
Most of them lost their loved ones through jihadists’ bullets and others narrated how their family members disappeared without a trace while in the hands of security agents.
The meeting was organised by Mombasa-based human rights activists, Haki Africa.
The lobby says 57 people were shot dead in Mombasa alone this year. Nine bodies are still lying at the Coast General Hospital mortuary according to the report by Haki Africa, six of them being those of the raiders who tried to attack Nyali Barracks on November 2.
The breadwinner
More than 30 people allegedly arrested by the police have disappeared, according to the organisation.
“He was the breadwinner. He was arrested and bundled into a police vehicle at Musa Mosque and since then we have not seen him,” said Sada Hemed, the wife of Salim Hemed.
Salim was reportedly arrested by the police during the bloody raid at Musa Mosque in February 3, but since then his whereabouts have not been known despite the fact that the family has gone to court to compel the police to produce him.
As the victims narrated their stories, the harrowing tales of Ali and Satrin greatly stirred the feelings of the participants.
Satrin, then eleven months old, was seriously wounded by a jihadists’ bullet, which doctors at Coast General hospital said was the same one that might have ended his mother’s life when terrorists raided a church in Likoni, Mombasa, on March 23. Seven worshippers were killed in the attack.
A bullet remained in Satrin’s skull for eight days, till April 1 when a team of neurosurgeons at the Kenyatta National Hospital removed it.
On the other hand, Ali was shot in the leg by one of the many bullets directed at Modern Coast Bus Limited proprietor Mohamed Shahid Butt on July 11. Butt was killed in the shooting, which occurred as he was coming from Moi International Airport, where had gone to pick his son, Haroun Butt.
Najli Mohamed, Ali’s mother, said the four-year-old had accompanied his uncle, Fahad Ali, and his twin brother, Awadh, to the neighbouring Hamisi Estate to fetch water when he was struck by the bullet.
“Whenever he sees a police officer, he gets scared. He dropped out of school after the shooting and only attends private tuition classes. His wheelchair was bought by his uncle from a scrap metal yard at Sh4,000,” said Najli.
Ali’s leg was amputated and his parents continue to struggle to raise money for his monthly check ups.
“We are a humble family and we thank God that that is the life he chose for us, but Ali’s health problems have made the situation worse,” Najli said in an interview.
The family said the pledges they received for help after the attack were not honoured.
Satrin has since been adopted by Nairobi Senator Mike Mbuvi Sonko. On this day, he arrived at the meeting with the senator’s wife.
However their futures turn out, their lives will never be the same again, both forever bearing scars of terrorists’ bullets.
