A mother who tragically lost two sons to police brutality on Friday, July 21, in Kisumu City during Azimio's anti-government protests shared a blow-by-blow account of how the officers raided their home on a silent night and unleashed terror on them.
Speaking during a funeral service on Saturday, August 12, the woman revealed that her two sons, aged 22 and 24, were allegedly beaten by police officers as she helplessly pleaded for them to be released.
According to the grieving mother who both resides and works in Nyalenda Estate, anti-riot police officers conducted a raid on the house she had rented for her sons.
During this incident, her sons were forcibly brought outside the residence and brutalised by the officers.
"I ran to their aid and found them being beaten while sleeping on the dusty ground," the lady narrated.
"I pleaded with the officers to leave my children, telling them that the boys did not take part in the protests but they heard none of it. Instead, they chased me away," she added.
As she recounted the harrowing events, tears streamed down her face, forcing her to wipe them with the back of her hands as her voice quivered with anguish.
At some point, she paused and held her stomach, reeling from the pain she felt on that fateful night. Amidst her despair, her friends stood by her side, offering her unwavering support and encouraged her to muster the courage to continue speaking.
According to her account, the beatings went on for several minutes, forcing her husband to summon the courage to confront the police officers, who she claimed knew their family.
However, the police officers reportedly attacked her husband, compelling him to flee, leaving his children at the mercy of the aggressive officers who persisted assaulting the young men.
"I couldn't bear staying in the house, hearing the sounds of my children being beaten and pleading for help. I returned to the scene for the third time and discovered they had been brutally assaulted, and the police officers had departed.
"I don't know how the boys made it back to the house. Upon entering, I found them in a state of shock, unable to respond due to the severe beating they were subjected to," she emotionally recounted with her grief palpable in her every word.
She explained that the two brothers were immediately taken to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Hospital, where they were immediately booked to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Unfortunately, the eldest son died less than 24 hours later despite the doctors' efforts to revive him. The younger one (22) succumbed a day later at the same hospital.
"They never got a chance to speak to anymore. My children were savagely beaten. We are burying very innocent men who were killed for no reason at all," the distraught mother narrated.
"Yes, you can argue that the younger son is not mine as he is my brother's child but I have raised him since he was of a tender age. I know all his secrets which are now mine," she eulogised while leaning on the shoulders of her friends.
She lamented that her sons were not involved in the protests and were simply sleeping in their house at night when the police attacked them.
"Whenever protests broke out, I always urged them to lock themselves inside their house and they obliged. They have never harrassed nor disappointed anyone," the woman broke down as she demanded justice for her sons and an end to police brutality in Kenya.
Speaking at the burial event, former Prime Minister and opposition leader Raila Odinga noted that the story of the boys is just one of many stories of police brutality in the country.
Raila condemned President William Ruto for congratulating the police on a job well-done, as far as dealing with protesters was concerned, rather than calling them out.
The former Prime Minster claimed that police officers killed more than 70 people during the anti-government protests, noting that most of those targeted were innocent.
“You praise police brutality and say your next responsibility is to take Raila to Bondo. Raila knows how to get to Bondo.
"You travel all around the world and say you will stump your authority on us and that you have been hard on us then claim that you are a legitimate leader and head of a country?” Raila escalated his onslaught on President Ruto.
His allies, including former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya called for the ouster of Inspector General of Police, Japhet Koome, for claiming that the opposition hired dead bodies to garner sympathy.
