Kenya police investigate killing of Burundi man in Nairobi

NAIROBI: Police are investigating the killing of a Burundian national whose lifeless body was found on an open field with stab wounds in Nairobi.

Mr Jean de Dieu Kabura who lived Wanyee Road in sprawling Kawangware area was found unconscious on New Year along Kinyanjui Road.

It is not clear who attacked him, said Dagoretti Division head of DCI Joseph Ondoro.

Ondoro said after Dieu was found at the scene by pedestrians he was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

"We don't know who attacked him but a probe has been opened to get the attackers and know motive," he said.

Ondoro said they do not know if Dieu belonged to any political parties engaged in power games in Burundi.

Activists in Burundi have been posting information online claiming the man was killed over ongoing unrest in his country. They further claimed Dieu was a member of MSD, an opposition party fighting President Piere Nkurunziza's stay in power.

Police say they are also investigating to establish if the victim was a refugee. Some civil society groups in the country are also calling for the probe into the incident. The violence in Burundi broke out in April 2015 after president Nkurunziza announced his intention to seek another term contrary to an earlier agreement.

The Coalition for Constitution Implementation's Cidi Otieno condemned the killing and urged for a probe into the incident.

"The CCI ask the government to immediately investigate whether the killing is related to the ongoing Burundi crisis and is further asking the government to provide security to all Burundians fleeing Burundi and seeking temporary refuge in Kenya," said Otieno.

Nkurunziza has openly declared that his troops would fight African Union forces that may be deployed there. AU has said it is ready to deploy 5,000 troops to stop the cycle of killings in Burundi.

Officials say at least 400 people have been killed; nearly 3,500 arrested and at least 200,000 people have fled the country since April 2015.

Under the 2005 peace deal which brought former Hutu rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza to power, his fighters were integrated with the then Tutsi-dominated army and government.