UPDATE Monday, March 30: The family of 49-year-old Bernard Juma Hamisi who succumbed to injuries sustained after a brutal encounter with the police says the boda boda operator had taken a pregnant woman to hospital before he was attacked by law enforcement.
On Friday, March 20, at around 7:30 p.m., the first day of the curfew, Khamis received a call from an expectant customer asking him to take her to the hospital, the family narrated
He would later meet officers enforcing the nationwide curfew at Ujamaa stage on the Mombasa-Lungalunga highway where he was allegedly attacked. The family says he managed to ride home where he complained of excruciating pain in the belly area but, out of fear, they were only able to take him to hospital in the morning.
A 49-year-old Matuga resident lost his life while undergoing treatment at the Msambweni Hospital, after meeting the wrath of police officers enforcing the dusk-to-dawn curfew by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Benard Juma Hamisi succumbed to injuries sustained from beatings by police officers who were trying to control crowds at the Likoni Ferry.
Addressing reporters on Sunday, March 29, Matuga MP Kassim Tandaza, condemned the police for using excessive force while trying to contain crowds.
"It is sad that today we have lost Benard Juma who succumbed to injuries sustained from brutal police officers. There is no law that states police should use excessive force if a person defies curfew guidelines, the individuals should be arrested,'' said the legislator.
Kenya Police officers were accused of using to excessive force on Friday, March 27, while trying to enforce the curfew meant to curb the spread of the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) with images showing victims writhing in pain from police beatings.
The victim met his death at Mkunazini area of Mombasa, a few meters from his place of residence while from work, with a colleague managing to escape with his life.
According to a survey done by the End-Line Survey in 2019 within 36 counties, abuse by the police rose to 46.2% compared to 30.4% in 2013 when a similar assessment was conducted.
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"Benard was with his colleague going home from work when they met law enforcers, he was not lucky enough to escape their wrath, as he fell into a ditch where police officers rained on him with their buttons, and today he succumbed to injuries,'' narrated the Matuga MP.
The death of Benard brings the number of deaths directly related to the curfew to two.
Calvin Omondi, a boda boda operator in Homa Bay County also succumbed to injuries associated with police brutality during the enforcement of the cufew.
Omondi had ferried a client to Kendu Bay from Oyugis on Friday, March 27, on the first day of the curfew and was on his way back home when he met his death.
Omondi's father George Onyango said that his son succumbed to head injuries while at Rachuonyo South Sub-county hospital in Oyugis where he was receiving treatment.
