Post-poll violence victims demand compensation

Wilson Kipkoech Rutto shows a scar left after he was shot in the stomach. [Photo: Silah Koskei/Standard]

By Silah Koskei

Eldoret, Kenya: They bore the brunt of the 2007-2008 post-election violence that rocked the country. The bullet scars on their bodies are a stark reminder of those dark days.

Phillip Tenai and Wilson Kipkoech Rutto were shot in separate incidents in Kesses constituency in Uasin Gishu County in what they say was police brutality.

The two victims, among others injured during the post-election violence, are calling on the Government to compensate them for the assault and torture they suffered at the hands of the State officers who were deployed to quell tension in the hotspots.

Bullet fragment

Tenai, who was shot in the abdomen while going home from the Cheptiret trading centre on New Year’s Day in 2008, still has a fragment of the bullet lodged in his  body following unsuccessful attempts by doctors to remove it.

“On that day, I was on my way home after buying sugar for my family. I was about 200m from my house when police officers aboard an Isuzu Trooper disembarked and started shooting indiscriminately,” he said.

He explained that one officer was heard saying, “Tumeambiwa tumalize hawa watu (we have been told to finish these people),” before he started shooting.

On hearing those words, Tenai knew the officers meant what they said and so he motioned his friends to lie down for their own safety.

But as he ducked for cover, he never realised that a bullet had ripped through his abdomen;  he only discovered after the officers had left.

“I realised that I could not lift my left leg from the ground. One of my two friends told me that I had been shot,” Tenai said.

His friend, Aaron Biwott, rushed him to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret but they could not be attended to because of the large number of patients already there. 

He was later transferred to the private Mediheal Hospital where he had two operations that attempted to remove the bullet that was still lodged in his body.

Tenai, a lecturer at Tambach Teachers’ College, says the Government neglected them since it has not even offered an apology on behalf of the officers who injured them.

“I reported the issue at Eldoret Police Station after the incident but nothing has been forthcoming,” he said.

He added that the incident has affected his teaching career because he cannot sit for long hours due to persistent pain from his wound.

Tenai added that despite the many years since the shooting took place, his young son is still traumatised.

“My son was three years old at the time and he saw the police shooting me. He has never healed from the trauma – every time he meets police officers, he trembles in fear.”

Officers also shot Rutto, 28, in the stomach on January 26, 2008, as he drove his cows to a cattle dip.

Rutto said the officers stopped him and asked him where he was taking the cows, thinking they had been stolen.

“They blocked my path and asked where I was going and when I said the cows were mine, one officer shot me from the back,” he said.

After he was shot, another officer hit him in the face with a gun butt, breaking his front tooth. The police left him writhing in pain on the ground.

Thank God

“They left me there for dead but thank God for a friend who came by and called others who rushed me to hospital,” he said.

Rutto was also rushed to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret and on establishing that a bullet was lodged in his stomach, doctors quickly operated.

“The doctors found that the bullet had ripped part of the intestines and they had to cut and remove the badly damaged section,” he said.

After further examination, the doctors realised that the right kidney was also damaged. And in order to save his life, they had to remove the organ.

Rutto explained that he has never recovered fully from the wound.

“Following the injury, I am now forced to eat light foods. I also have to endure pain whenever I sneeze,” he said.

The two are calling on the Government to compensate them.

Uasin Gishu was one of the worst hit areas during the post-election violence.