Kenya Police on the spot over killing of boy in Pipeline, Nairobi

The scene at Pipeline Estate, Nairobi, on November 28, 2017 where a class two pupil was shot dead. PHOTO | FRED MUKINDA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • It is not clear why they were shooting since, according to the family, the area was calm at the time.
  • Mr Odinga said he will call for a convention of the people, People’s Assembly, to swear him.
  • The aborted memorial service was to pray for the families of 54 people allegedly killed by police.

A seven-year-old boy was shot and killed in Pipeline Estate on Tuesday in a day of protests and violence in Nairobi’s Eastlands.

Earlier, police had blocked access to Jacaranda Grounds where Nasa leader Raila Odinga had planned a prayer meeting.

Opposition leaders and supporters were tear-gassed and prevented from reaching the venue.

The boy, Geoffrey Mutinda, was playing on the balcony of their first floor apartment in Pipeline, off Outer Ring Road, in an area that had experienced protests earlier in the day.

PROTESTS
Residents said he was shot by men they said were Administration Police officers from a nearby post.

They were riding a motorcycle and were not in uniform but were known to locals, residents said.

It is not clear why they were shooting since, according to the family, the area was calm at the time.

The Nation found his father Peter Mutuku watching his son’s lifeless body with tears rolling down his cheeks.

“There were no demonstrations or political rallies here. We do not know why the police shot. They were riding on a motorcycle and shooting indiscriminately,” Mr Mutuku said.

PUPIL
Another resident, who asked not to be named, said the officers who were in plain clothes and are stationed at the nearby AP Camp in Tassia.

He said eight policemen on four motorcycles were moving around the estate when the shooting happened.

Mutinda, a class two pupil at Remedy Academy Mwala, Machakos, was shot in the head.

While the father lives in Pipeline, he lived with his mother Elizabeth Katungwa in Mwala.

Mother and child had come to visit after schools closed for the holidays.

Residents used stones, boulders and old tyres to barricade roads into the estate to prevent police from accessing the estate to collect the body.

PRESIDENT

A pregnant woman, their neighbour, who was also on the balcony during the incident, was shot in the leg.

It was a day of running battles pitting Nasa supporters against the police who had banned the rally on grounds that the Opposition failed to follow the law.

On Tuesday, Mr Odinga announced that he would be “sworn in” on Jamhuri Day, December 12.

The opposition leader lost on August 8, successfully petitioned the outcome but boycotted the repeat election.

KILLINGS
In law, Kenyan presidents are given the oaths of office by the Judiciary, upon being certified winner in an election by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

Mr Odinga, who spoke on Manyanja Road, opposite Greenspan Estate, and later at Kibera after police tear-gassed his motorcade, condemned the killings.

“We condemn the killings that happened today as Uhuru was being sworn in. Five people were shot by police today including a child and a mama mboga (vegetable vendor),” he claimed.

The Nation could, however, not independently verify the alleged death of the five as claimed by Mr Odinga.

PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY
The Nasa leader added: “We won in the August 8 elections and we decided we were not going to have anything to do with the October 26 elections. At Jacaranda we said we don’t recognise Uhuru as the president.

“On 12th of December I will be sworn in as the people’s president,” he said.

Earlier on Manyanja Road, Mr Odinga said he will call for a convention of the people, People’s Assembly, to swear him in while invoking Article 1 of the Constitution of Kenya.

“We will use Article 1 of the Constitution touching on sovereignty of the people. Citizens will swear me in on December 12 where we will have the People’s Assembly to swear me in.

“We told you that if they swear in we will also do so. I want you to listen to me keenly. You know Raila Odinga is not a coward,” Mr Odinga said.

VOTE RIGGING
He drew parallels to the self-swearing-in of long-time Uganda opposition leader Kizza Besigye and last week’s swearing in of former Zimbabwe Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa to replace Robert Mugabe, saying that his swearing-in would reflect that of President Mnangagwa.

The ODM party leader insisted that he won the August 8 elections, claiming that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s server had his votes at 8.5 million against President Kenyatta’s 7.1 million votes alleging that the electoral agency later doctored the numbers thus their refusal to agree to open the server for scrutiny.

He was accompanied by co-principal Musalia Mudavadi, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o, Suba South MP John Mbadi and seven MPs.

MEMORIAL SERVICE
Earlier, at least four people were shot and seriously injured when Nasa supporters engaged police in running battles.

Those who were injured were taken to Mama Lucy and Aga Khan hospitals by the Red Cross.

A woman and her child were injured by a tear gas canister hurled at them by the police.

The aborted memorial service was to pray for the families of 54 people allegedly killed by police between November 17 and 21.

SEWAGE
At some point, the police would throw tear gas into private homes, flushed people from their houses, beat them up or made them to crawl on the ground.

At least a half of Jacaranda Grounds, including the point where the podium was to be erected, was covered in sewage.

It is not clear who brought the sewage to the field.

The stench forced the journalists to retreat.