Day bullets silenced dreams of families

By Rawlings Otieno

Erick Otieno is a worried boy not only for losing his mother but also for being left with a three-month-old baby to take care of.

His mother, Sara Wangusi died from bullets fired by police officers on Sunday in Dandora Estate, Nairobi.

Otieno, a standard eight pupil at Growland Day School, wailed uncontrollably. Without his mother, Otieno can only see a bleak future.

His mother was the whole world to him. With her sudden demise, his dream of becoming a pilot in future is no more.

Erick Otieno holds a portrait of his mother, Sara Wangusi, who was killed by stray police bullets in Dandora last Sunday. [Photo: Mbugua Kibera/Standard]

"I was in the house washing utensils when I heard the gunshots. When I came out to see what was happening, I found my mother and the other woman lying on the floor. I can’t believe she is gone...forever," Otieno wailed louder and tears flowed uncontrollably.

Otieno’s mother had been working with Kenya Bus Service for more than five years and she took care of all his needs.

"Why did the police have to take her away from me? Why didn’t the government stop them from killing my mother?"

The families of Wangusi and the other woman, Oliver Kemunto, 32, are in anguish.

They say the loss of their beloved is like a flash of lightening.

Wangusi, 31, and Kemunto were washing clothes on the balcony on the fifth floor of the El-Nino flats when the police driving past the estate, were confronted by an angry mob demanding a suspect in their custody be handed over to them for lynching.

To stop the angry mob, the officers shot live bullets which ended the lives of the two women and injured three others.

Kemunto has left behind two children, Kevin Ondieki, 16, and Nicole Kwamboka, seven. Kemunto’s husband Kephas Angwenyi, who works as a driver for a transport company, came home as usual only to find his world had been turned upside down — his wife was no more.

Interdicted

Although six police officers involved in the shooting have been interdicted, cases of careless shootings by uniformed officers are on the rise and there is national outrage as a result.

Some people accuse the officers of protecting a murder suspect and coldly ending the lives of two women going on with their daily duties.

The mid-morning incident unleashed a storm of anger against the police, with outraged residents exploding into spontaneous protests.

Seven-year-old Chelsea Atieno is still fighting for her life at Kenyatta National Hospital after a bullet ripped through her belly. The other two injured are Consolata Achieng and Rivaldo Odiwuor.

The bullet caught Achieng’s right hand when she had gone out to get the two children out of harm’s way. They were in the balcony watching the events in the street.

"I thank God that I saved the life of two children. The bullet would have killed them," says Achieng.

The families are demanding among other things, compensation for the victims, prosecution of the rogue officers.