Three shot as police battle angry Embu scheme dwellers

Police keep vigil at in Mashamba area at Mwea Settlement Scheme. [Joseph Muchiri, Standard]

At least three people were shot yesterday during a confrontation between resettlement scheme dwellers and anti-riot police.

The three were in a group trying to resist the settlement of the beneficiaries of the recently surveyed and subdivided 44,000-acre Mwea Settlement Scheme.

One of the victims, Pius Musau, was shot on the right side of the chest in Mashamba area, where beneficiaries had gathered under heavy police presence.

Residents claimed police used live bullets to disperse youth who were hurling stones at them to protest at the resettlement.

Tension remained high in the area while intermittent gunshots rent the air, as Mashamba shopping centre remained deserted.

The gunshot victims were taken to a hospital in Gategi.

A Government administrator who requested not to be named said three people sustained gunshot injuries on the leg, chest, and abdomen.

Other sources put the number of those shot at four, even though The Standard only confirmed Musau’s case. We managed to film him as he boarded a vehicle.

Mbeere South Deputy County Commissioner Beverly Opworah and OCPD Ahmed Mohammed coordinated the operations.