Police on the spot over death of Geoffrey Mutinda

Geoffrey Mutinda's mother Elizabeth Katungwa and Geoffrey's elder sister Moureen Nduku at their house in Pipeline Estate yesterday. [James Wanzala,Standard]

On the fifth floor of a block of flats in Pipeline estate, Embakasi South, is a woman in untold anguish.

It is only 10am but she already looks worn out and in need of rest.

Elizabeth Katungwa, the mother of Geoffrey Mutinda, is seated on the floor of her single-roomed house.

With her is Geoffrey’s older sister Moureen Nduku battling tears and trying to come to terms with the loss of her brother. A few relatives and neighbours are present to console with Ms Katungwa.

Seven-year-old Geoffrey was shot and killed on Tuesday, allegedly by police, following violent protests that rocked parts of Eastlands. Geoffrey was playing on the balcony of a neighbouring residential building when he was shot.

It’s hard to imagine that the boy, whose photograph lies on the table next to a book in which is a list of names and amounts of money pledged or collected for his funeral, was alive and full of energy barely 48 hours ago.

We are informed that Geoffrey’s father, Peter Mutuku, has gone to Embakasi Police Station to get documents required for a postmortem, which is scheduled for today.

Police to blame

“I got the news at about 1pm that my son has been shot dead. He was a good boy and it’s hard to believe that he is no more,” says Katungwa as tears run down her cheeks.

“I am so pained to lose my second-born just like that. He was not a demonstrator; he was just playing on the balcony of a friend’s house. I pray that justice is served so that our story is not like others that have gone quiet.”

Patrick Mwanzia, Geoffrey’s uncle, blames police for misusing their weapons and is calling for justice for the family.

“Police are misusing their weapons. Why should they use live bullets to disperse the crowd? If they used rubber bullets, Geoffrey would perhaps still be alive. What we are demanding is justice so this serves as a lesson for other trigger-happy police officers,” says Mwanzia.

Meanwhile, relatives and neighbours narrated how police ‘mistreated’ them when they came to collect the boy’s body.

“The boy was shot at around 1pm. We first went to AA Police Station but were directed to Mukuru Police Station and later to Embakasi Police Station,” says Ivy Wambu.

Reluctant officers

“The body remained where it was until we went to the police at 2am in the morning. The police came but stayed far away from the scene and gave us a body bag to do the job ourselves.

“But when we took the body to where they were standing, we found they had left and we had to come back with the body.

“We had to call 999 and I think that was when they were ordered to come back and pick the body, at 4am,” adds another neighbour.

According to another resident, the police asked for money to wash the blood off the vehicle after taking the body to City Mortuary.

“It was so surprising to hear the police ask for money. They were so rude. We bought water at Sh200 from a nearby car wash and washed their vehicle ourselves,” says the neighbour.