On 19th April 2016, eight young men were shot dead by police officers at Mukuru Kwa Ruben Slums around Industrial Area at around 1800hrs.
According to Police, they received a complaint from a man that there were some suspected criminals who had gathered near his compound. It is alleged that two armed officers arrived at the scene led by the man and opened fire killing all the eight young men on the spot.
Details of the 7 victims are as herein below;
- Albert Nyachae Marita was a 26-year-old male adult working as a casual laborer at the time of his death. According to the postmortem report reference number 585/2016, Albert’s cause of death was multiple injuries due to multiple gunshot wounds. The deceased lungs and heart were perforated. He had several gunshot entries including four to his chest wall, one at the lower back, one on the thigh and a fractured femur.
- Elisha Mwashingadi Kiringa was a 24-year-old student at Rocky Driving School. Through the Postmortem report reference number 570/2016, his cause of death was abdominal and chest injuries due to a single gunshot. His left lung was perforated, the heart and liver had lacerations. Elisha suffered a gunshot wound that entered his right lower back and exited at the left anterior axillary.
- Francis Kioko Mutiso was a minor, age 17-year-old and a student at Ndumbi Secondary School in form 3. His cause of death was chest and abdominal injuries due to multiple gunshots. He suffered a fractured sternum, both lungs and diaphragm were perforated, and the liver lacerated. Kioko had 2 entry gunshot wounds to the right nipple which exited at the left axilla and a gunshot wound which entry at the right anterior chest wall which exited at the left lower back.
- Nixon Obure was also a minor, age 16-year-old and a student at Bridgit Star High School in Form 2. According to the Postmortem Report Reference number 571/2016, his cause of death was head and chest injuries due to gunshot wounds. The deceased left lung was perforated, his skull had several fractures with brain spillage. He had an entry wound at the left frontal scalp and exit at the right palatal scalp, and the entry wound at the right mid-back and another exit gunshot wound.
- Samuel Ndegwa was a 19-year-old male. At the time of his death, he was working at a carwash around the industrial area, Nairobi. Through the Postmortem Report Reference Number 566/2016, the deceased’s cause of death was multiple injuries due to multiple gunshot wounds. His left lung and left diaphragm were perforated and the liver lacerated. He suffered an entry gunshot wound to the right thigh with no exit; entry wound to the liver and exit the left axilla.
- Shadrack Omuroka Ongata was a minor of 16-years. His cause of death as per the Postmortem Report Reference Number 886/2016 was also due to multiple injuries due to multiple gunshots wounds. Both his lungs and heart were perforated by the bullets. He had 4 entry gunshot wounds on his arms and lower back.
- William Mathendu Musyoka was a 20-year-old casual labourer. His cause of death according to the Postmortem Report reference number 583/2016 was due to chest injuries caused by gunshots wounds. William had his left diaphragm and left lung perforated following a gunshot wound entry at the right upper arm and another at the lower back which traveled upwards and lodged itself at the left anterior chest wall. One bullet was recovered from the body and handed over to the officer accompanying the body.
On being informed about what happened to their kin by members of their community, the families of the above-named deceased persons made a report to IPOA under Reference Number IPOA/CMU/755/2016.
As illustrated in the Postmortem Reports of the 7 victims, the preliminary findings of the autopsies conducted in the presence of the family members on 28th April 2016 indicate that each of the victims sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the upper and lower back. In addition, one of the victims, Nixon Obure had gunshot wounds to the back of his head. Prima facie, the reports show that the victims were shot at close range while either kneeling or lying on the ground and died immediately.
However, though the families of the 7 deceased persons had reported the killings of their kin to the 2nd Interested Party, they have to date not been informed of the findings and/or outcomes of the investigations that have been carried out.
Through inquiries carried out by the 24th Petitioner in the Industrial Area Police Station, it was also discovered that the Police through the DCIOs office put together an investigation file into the Mukuru 8 killings and forwarded their findings to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Director of Public Prosecution through a letter dated 14th December 2016 reference number ODPP/CAM/4/787 directed that the matter be placed before a Chief Magistrate for purposes of holding a public inquest. The inquest number of the matter at Makadara Police Station was Inquest 3/2017.
The 24th Petitioner, a thorough perusal of the inquest file, was also able to establish that the matter came up for hearing four times, i.e. 28th February 2017, 23rd November 2017, 3rd April 2017 and 22nd August 2018. The inquest did not proceed on either date. It is however clear that the victim’s families were unaware of these proceedings. It is only through the 24th Petitioner’s inquiries that the families became aware of the inquest. The only investigation that they knew existed was that of the 2nd Interested Party. However, the victims are still unaware of the outcome of those investigations.