Eric Kayioni Shieni’s brilliance with numbers fired up his ambition for a stellar career in finance, promising his family that he would one day be the Treasury CS in Kenya that seals all corruption loopholes.
The finance option student at the University of Nairobi, was due to graduate this coming September and had concluded his CPA studies that had made him a fully baked accountant. That will no longer happen.
The 27-year-old's ambition, brilliance, hope for his family and promise of his contribution for a better Kenya will not see light of day as a sniper fire took him out near Parliament during the protests last Tuesday.
His first-born brother Meshack Leshan — whom he lived with in South B — told the Star that he spoke to Shieni at 1:25pm on phone and he told him he was protesting in town but he asked him to withdraw and go back to the house.
When he tried to reach him at 2pm, the phone was not going through.
“I told him to go back to the house because he had protested enough and he agreed. At 2pm, he was unreachable and his girlfriend later confirmed that he was no more.”
In the days running up to June 25, Shieni often discussed the contentious Finance Bill 2024 with his family, telling them “this one will finish you guys completely.”
Leshan said Shieni would analyse the bill to the family “because he had read it and understood it very well.”
For example, he said, “he believed that the removal of some of the taxes were just a tip of the iceberg and that the tax on bread was put there to distract the public yet the main problem was deep in the details.”
Postmortem result showed that he had been killed by a single shot to the head that raptured the brain.
Another protester, Evans Kiratu, 21, worked as a plumber and did some design work on the sides. But the cost of living bore hard on him, sending him to the streets on June 25.
But a rubber bullet and a teargas canister hit him, killing him hours later at Kenyatta National Hospital.
His father Karobia Kiratu told the Star that his son was killed by the impact of being hit by a canister and rubber bullet, making him the second protester to die at the hands of the police while fighting for a better Kenya.
“My son was the second hero to be killed by the police after Rex Masai in this protest. It is sad that the government let this death happen yet they could have heard the youth weeks ago about their concerns on the Finance Bill.”
Karobia, who is a human rights defender based in Naivasha, said he spoke to his son some two weeks ago but did not know that he would go to the protests.
He said he will team up with other activists to document cases of police brutality and ensure justice for the loss of lives.
“I will team up with entities like IJM, Kituo cha Sheria and others to ensure that justice is served, not just for my son, but also for others. Just like the victims of state torture during Moi years, we will pursue for compensation however long it takes.”
Kennedy Onyango, 12, is another victim of police brutality whose story has been publicised.
His father Michael Ouma, told the Star that his son was in Grade 8 and was gifted in drawing.
“He could draw you as you were by just looking at you. He always promised me good life, that his gift would elevate him and save us from poverty,” Ouma said.
“He was an obedient boy. On the day that he was killed, he had left home to go pick a book from his classmate to do homework. I didn’t know that it was the last time I would see my son alive,” he said, his voice cracking.
Perhaps the story of Carlton Mwangi tops the list of heart wrenching tales.
He worked as an artist and matatu tout in Rongai and last Thursday, he was among the crowd that took to the street in protest.
Police officers responding hit his head using a baton sending him to the ground. He was then arrested and taken to the police station. This was at 7pm.
At the station, his condition was on a down turn progressively and his aunt Lucy Wanjiru went to the station to ask that he be accorded medical care.
An officer chased her a way, brutalising her but later, an ambulance was called to pick him at around 3am for the hospital where he died.