24-year-old Borniventure Ounza and his younger brother, 20-year-old Carlistus Apwoka, tragically lost their lives in Kasarani on February 21st while on their way to work.
The two brothers from Lugari worked as casual labourers at Neema Livestock and Slaughtering Investment Company (NLSIC), a meat exporting company.
On the tragic day of their death, the brothers were stopped by police officers in Kasarani. They cooperated willingly, surrendering and knelt with their arms raised over their heads to the officers.
They were requested to hand over their identification details. The brothers asked the officers to walk them to their workplace which was a few metres away.
Reportedly, the police refused and instead opened fire at close range on the two boys, according to Lugari Member of Parliament Nabii Nabwera.
Joab Otindo, the father of the two boys, recalled his last conversation with them on the previous evening before the tragic morning.
“They called me in the evening, around 9:00 pm, I asked them when they would report to work and they said they were to go at odd hours, 3:30 am. I wished them well and asked them to be careful,” said their father.
Later, Mr. Atundo struggled to trace his sons the following day. He called one of his children, but the phone rang for a long time without being answered.
At around 6:00 am the following morning, the father learned that his two boys had been injured by police gunfire before succumbing to their wounds.
“I went ahead to call Borniventure whose phone rang unanswered before it went off. Their in-laws then told me they could not be found after leaving for work. A friend then revealed they were shot by the police,” he said.
The boys’ mother eulogized them as lively children who were hardworking and never had conflicts with anyone.
“My children were always calm and playful. I wish the bullets caught me instead of my children,” she inconsolably spoke at the burial.
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Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera condemned the actions of the officers from Kasarani, revealing that they also prevented the family from reporting the case and obtaining an OB number.
He denounced the brutality and impunity in the senseless killings of innocent lives and vowed to ensure that the officers responsible are held accountable.
Nabwera further added that he had sought the audience of IPOA and CS Kithure Kindiki who assured they would get to the bottom of this case.
“I want to condemn the Kasarani OCPD. He is using the police to kill and then do a cover-up. He blocked the parents from obtaining an OB,” he said.
