Mama Victor honoured in death for rights activism

Benna Buluma championed the fight against police brutality and extrajudicial killings until she died in floods in Mathare slums, Nairobi, early this year.

Her efforts will be immortalised by a prestigious posthumous lifetime award. Buluma, widely known as Mama Victor, lost her two sons to police bullets during protests called by the opposition in the aftermath of the 2017 elections, plunging her into activism.

Pushed by the pain of her loss, she wanted to make sure no other mother would ever lose her child to trigger-happy police.

The activist once told this writer that “if anybody forgets about me as a proud mother of my sons, because the state snatched them from me, they will never forget the fight I brought to them in challenging police impunity and violence.”

Her prophecy has now come true, as the Defenders Coalition plans to give her a posthumous award on Friday at the Danish Embassy in Nairobi.

The award is formally known as the Munir Mazrui Lifetime Achievement Award. The Star has learnt Buluma is the only nominee in the category, hence stands a good chance of being declared the winner.

The award has been won by notable names, including renowned lawyer and Kiambu politician Paul Muite last year.

Buluma lost her sons Bernard and Victor Okoth on August 9, 2017, at the hands of police who used live bullets to disperse protesters at Mathare Number 10.

Bernard was a tailor at Gikomba market, while Victor was a casual construction worker. On that day, the mother expected them back by 3 pm as they had left their children with her.

But they were caught up in the chaos as they walked down to their mother’s house. Buluma courageously spoke about her pain in every forum she got to encourage families who had been victims of police terror.

Supported by the NGO International Justice Mission, she founded and led a network of mothers of victims of police violence.

Mama Victor suddenly died earlier this year when a torrent of floodwaters swept through Mathare in the dead of night, killing her alongside scores of others.

Following the tragedy, Defenders Coalition described her life as “marked by resilience, and her commitment to seeking truth and justice for victims of police impunity will forever inspire us.

“She chose to speak up about the cold-blooded killing by police of her two sons, Victor and Benard, in August 2017. Despite the unimaginable pain of losing her sons Mama Victor inspired countless others who have suffered similar losses to develop the Network of Justice Warriors of mothers whose sons were victims of police killings and impunity.”