The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has condemned the killing of a 30-year-old Murang'a resident by a police officer during protests that followed the fatal shooting of another man by a security guard.
In a statement released on Wednesday August 13, the commission revealed that Stephen Marubu was shot in the chest on Tuesday while the police were dispersing a crowd of protesters.
On Monday, August 12, KHRC reported that a 31-year-old vendor had been shot by a guard at a pineapple plantation in Gatwekera, Murang'a, on Friday, August 8.
The man had reportedly been shot over an accusation of pineapple theft.
In the report, KHRC highlighted the high number of violence in the agribusiness sector, terming it as militarisation, especially around the area that has left several dead or injured.
"On Monday, we reported that a guard contracted by Del Monte Kenya fatally knocked down 31-year-old vegetable vendor Michael Muiruri in Gatwekera, Murang’a, on Friday," the statement read in part.
"On Tuesday, as residents protested his killing, police, backed by guards, opened fire and fatally shot 30-year-old Stephen Marubu in the chest."
KHRC further pointed out the persistence of police brutality across the country, despite the government seemingly putting on measures to curb the repeated police brutality during protests.
It specifically cited the recent establishment of the Presidential Proclamation on the Framework for Compensation of Victims of Protests and Riots, which was established to compensate victims of protests between 2017 and 2025.
