The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has demanded that the government takes action against the officer who allegedly shot and killed a protestor on Thursday evening.
Rex Kanyike Masai was shot and killed at about 7 pm along Moi Avenue in Nairobi during protests against the Finance Bill, 2024.
ODM said Masai’s only crime was to carry a bottle of water, a handkerchief and lifting his fist up to oppose the Finance Bill, 2024.
“We demand that the government takes action against the overzealous police officer who allegedly shot and killed Rex Kanyike Masai,” the Opposition party said on X.
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has said the Opposition will make sure Masai’s sacrifice is not in vain.
Speaking when he joined the family of Maasai at the City Mortuary ahead of the post-mortem, Owino said he was pained to see parents in anguish following the unspeakable tragedy.
“To die at the prime of one’s life, fighting for a future that has been brutally snatched away by the oppressor, is a terrible price to pay,” said the ODM MP.
At least one person was shot and killed during the anti-Finance Bill protest in Nairobi.
Police said they are investigating the circumstances under which Masai, 29, was shot and killed.
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 they had gathered to air their opposition to the Bill when they gathered outside Moi Avenue.
They started to dance to music that came from a club at the site.
Witnesses claimed it was then that a cop in a cap and plain clothes emerged and started to shoot at the group while dispersing them.
Rex was hit in the leg and fell on the road crying for help.
Other protesters stopped for help and rushed him to Bliss Hospital Moi Avenue where he was pronounced dead while being attended to.
