IPOA Appeals For Information To Trace Rex Maasai’s Killer

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) says they can’t find the person who fired a fatal bullet on protester Rex Masai.

The authority on Monday urged witnesses to bring forth any information that can help advance investigations into the fatal shooting incident on June 20.

Rex, 29, was shot dead during Thursday’s anti-finance bill protests.

IPOA said the information will help bring closure to the family and friends and contribute to police accountability.

“IPOA appeals for witness accounts for any one who may have witnessed the fatal shooting of Rex Masai to advance its investigations,” the authority said.

“To offer information you can call toll free through 1559 (free of charge) or 0204906000.”

The appeal did not go down well among some Kenyans online who felt the authority was helping police to cover up the shooting.

The postmortem on the body of Rex was conducted on Saturday and confirmed he was shot in the leg and bleeding led to his death.

The shooting took place at about 7 pm along Moi Avenue.

An aerial video captured the moment the victim was shot.

A group of protesters had been pushed by police from parts of Kenyatta Avenue, City Hall Way and other places when they gathered at  Moi Avenue.

At the Avenue, they were dancing and chanting anti-Finance Bill slogans when sounds of gunshots rented the air.

Rex was hit in the leg and fell on the road crying for help.

Other protesters stopped to help him. He was rushed to Bliss Hospital Moi Avenue where he was pronounced dead while being attended to.

Officials at the clinic said a patient was brought into the facility by members of the public while unconscious with an injury on the thigh of his left leg but succumbed to the same while undergoing treatment.

A second protester Evans Kiratu died at the Kenyatta National Hospital where he was rushed to after being hit in the groin by a flying tear gas canister.

A section of Kenyans raised more than Sh2 million in less than eight hours aimed at covering the burial expenses of both Rex and Evans.

The two succumbed to injuries sustained during the Thursday Occupy Parliament protests.

Rex was shot and killed by police as the protests on Thursday evening while Evans was hit by a teargas canister and died hours later.

This prompted Kenyans and other friends on X to rally together to accord the two men a decent sendoff.

Police say they are investigating the incidents.

This came a day after an X ‘space’ galvanized the nation and ramped up online activism.

Led by X personality Kimuzi, and in collaboration with Osama Otero and Hanifa Adan, a team quickly came together to organise a fundraiser for the two victims, quickly setting up an M-CHANGA fundraiser early Sunday morning.

They shared the fundraiser’s link, stating “Our Brothers Rex and Evans | M-CHANGA. This is the link. I will send all the funds in my Mpesa here that was contributed. The goal is 2M. We can do this. It will be shared by both families.”

And within a short while Kenyans of goodwill started sending in their contributions, many sharing screenshots of their participation in order to encourage others to follow suit.