Frank Okoth, a man who was thought to have died after being shot six times during anti-tax demos has opened up on the tragedy that befell him.
Frank spoke to Citizen TV on June 30, at his home in Land Mawe about that incident.
He was shot on the first week protests were held.
"Before maandamano I had gone to look for work but was unsuccessful, so I went for the protests," he said.
In videos online, Frank was seen helplessly lying on the stairs of a building in the CBD writhing in pain.
He wore a red shirt, with a black and white backpack. There was a bullet wound on his abdomen and he gasped for air.
Youth surrounding him desperately attempted to make phone calls for help. Frank was thought to have died on Tuesday last week.
He was rushed to KNH.
Frank is now bedridden in his home, which he shares with his grandmother.
Tragedy struck after he and a team of protesters marched towards Parliament.
"There were a lot of us but I was among the people at the front,. I was telling the police we came in peace but they threw tear gas at us," he said.
He continued:
"Sa hawa wa mbele ndio walikuwa wanaangalia sana, lakini wenye walikuwa kando ndio wali shoot( The ones at the front were looking keenly but the ones on the side are the ones who shot)."
He was shot and videos later showed him being carried into an ambulance where he was rushed to the KNH.
He woke up days later at the medical facility, where doctors had operated on him multiple times to try and dislodge the bullets.
"A friend of mine came and told me people I had already been pronounced but I assured him I was alive and well."
He was discharged and is now bedridden.
"Kutoka nitoke hospitali, hakuna mtu ananishughulikia. Maisha tu ni kulala hapa yani venye tu niko hapa, siwezi pinduka (Since I was discharged from the hospital, no one is helping me. Life for me is about sleeping and the way I am positioned now I can't even turn)," he said.
His struggle with pain is something his grandmother shares.
He was slapped with a hospital bill of Sh45,000.
"Bill ya elfu arubaini and tano, na sina hata shillingi moja, niko na kitabu saa hii na nimechanga shillingi mia tano (You can imagine having a hospital bill of Sh45,000 yet I dont have even a shilling. I have book for fundraising and I have only managed Sh500 so far)," Okothsaid.
