The death of 36-year-old Vitalis Owino in Nairobi's Mathare Constituency on Sunday, May 3, sparked an angry protest from area residents who accused police of being behind Owino's demise.
The residents refused to allow Owino's lifeless body to be taken away on the morning of Monday, May 4, until journalists arrived, with a large crowd building up over time.
They claimed that Owino was badly assaulted and left for dead by police for flouting the dusk-to-dawn curfew, at around 7.30 p.m. as he returned home after taking his wife to the nearby Baraka Hospital.
They alleged that the officers had failed to take the body despite being aware of the death since the night of May 3.
Eventually, the residents resolved to take the body to Muthaiga Police Station, wrapping it in a white sheet and loading it onto a hand-cart better known as mkokoteni.
Owino's close relatives were captured crying out, devastated as they sought to make sense of the controversial death.
With Mathare among areas often in the headlines for high crime levels and extra-judicial killings, the protesters demanded an explanation from the officers over Owino's death.
Mathare MP Anthony Oluoch was yet to respond to queries made by Kenyans.co.ke about the alleged incident by the time of publication.
The death brought back to the fore cases of alleged police brutality in Nairobi, with investigations into the shooting of a 13-year-old boy in April as he watched police enforce the curfew yet to be concluded.
The boy, Yassin Moyo, was allegedly hit by a stray police bullet in an apartment block in Kiamaiko, also in Mathare Constituency.
His family demanded justice, and at one point were paid a visit by leaders including Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja, Oluoch and a representative from the Inspector-General's office.
Sakaja promised the family that, as the chair of the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Covid-19, he would ensure that the officers responsible were brought to book.
In the early days of the curfew, President Uhuru Kenyatta apologised for the excesses witnessed in the enforcement of the directive meant to counter the spread of Covid-19.
"I want to apologise to all Kenyans, maybe for some excesses which were conducted or happened," he stated on April 1 in an address from State House, Nairobi.
The numerous incidents witnessed in various counties including Mombasa and Nakuru, however, have tainted the government's response to Covid-19 and drawn criticism from around the world.
Watch a video from before the video was carted away below:
The people of Mathare have refused the body of a man killed by police last night to be picked until the media shows up. Police are brutalizing citizens while enforcing Corona curfew @StateHouseKenya @NPSOfficial_KE @thekhrc @IPOA_KE #UkweliMtaani pic.twitter.com/XCwnljM7mt
— The People’s Watchman (@bonifacemwangi) May 4, 2020
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