A family in Kisumu’s Nyalenda estate is mourning the deaths of two sons who succumbed to injuries inflicted on them by police during anti-government protests two weeks ago.
Brian Oniango was 22, and his brother William Amulele 24, died just three days apart while under treatment at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Hospital’s intensive care unit, officials said.
Their mother Everlyne Achung’o is inconsolable.
She said Amulele died on Saturday night while Oniang’o succumbed on Wednesday.
“The doctor said Brian had a cracked skull which caused his death and when William died he (doctor) told me he had a broken neck and cracked skull,” she said in an interview with Citizen aired on Monday.
The two brothers had only stayed in this rented room for three weeks.
And as part of plans to burry them, their friends set up a vigil in the single room which now bears only memories of two brothers that stuck together even in death.
At least 16 deaths have so far been recorded in Kisumu County as a result of police brutality during the anti-government protests.
The mother of four insisted that her sons were not taking part in the demonstrations called to protest against the high cost of living and the controversial Finance Act, 2023.
The demonstrations, which were characterised by violent scenes in several parts of the country, were held between July 19-21.
The family sent an emotional appeal to President William Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga, the two protagonists whose differences informed the mass protests.
“Let him (Ruto) not praise the police that they have done a good job, let him order for investigations,” the boys’ aunt Truphena Mboya said.
“And I call on Raila wherever he is to stop the protests because people’s children will continue losing their lives,” she added.
On Tuesday, Raila termed the alleged police brutality in Nyanza during anti-government demonstrations as ethnic profiling and cleansing.
The Opposition, human rights organizations and foreign missions condemned the police for using live bullets and disproportionate crowd control weapons like teargas and water canons against demonstrators.
No official statistics have been released but the Opposition claimed that at least 50 people were killed although some rights groups said it’s roughly half the number.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki on Tuesday, July 25, issued a statement absolving police from alleged extrajudicial killings saying the criminal acts were perpetrated using civilian guns and the blame shifted to the police.
“It has been established that licensed and unlicensed civilian firearms supplied by the masterminds of the recent violence were used to kill or injure civilians and security personnel, and the blame shifted to security officers,” he said.
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