Woman injured in market riots seeks justice

Following the scuffle between hawkers an officers in Eldoret, Mercy Sitienei was shot in the leg. Her doctors say that if the bullet is removed, her leg could be paralyzed. She is helped by her sister Agnes Sitienei to move around. [Photo: JOAN LETTING/STANDARD]

A woman shot during a clash between police and hawkers in Eldoret early this year is demanding justice. 

Mercy Sitienei says she was shot at her mobile money transfer shop on January 18 after getting caught up in skirmishes between hawkers and county enforcement officers backed by the police. 

A video clip that went viral on social media showed the officers and police beating hawkers in Eldoret town.

Several people suffered gunshot injuries.

Ms Sitienei, 22, was reportedly shot in the right thigh and claimed doctors at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret said the bullet could not be removed.

She said a bullet tore through the door she had just locked, hitting her in the thigh.

“I was shot inside my shop. I was neither a hawker nor a rioter," she said, adding that tension had been building for days between the county enforcement officers and the hawkers before it exploded in violence on the day she was shot.

Sitienei said she has been grounded for seven months yet no action has been taken against the people who shot her.

She now depends on her older sister Agnes to move around and on well-wishers for survival.

“I was saving the money from the business to enrol for pharmacy studies. My dream has been dashed. I want justice,” she said.

Her father, Samson Chebii, accused the police of using excessive force on the day his daughter was shot.

“We are suffering because the officers who were supposed to be protecting us shot innocent people,” he said.

Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno said the county government regretted the skirmishes but insisted he was not aware of anybody getting shot in the chaos.

“I know of enforcement officers who were stabbed by hawkers but I have not heard of anybody shot and injured by the police,” he said.