Families of Saba Saba demos victims seek support, justice
By Faith Macharia, July 9, 2025The families of those who died during the Saba Saba protests yesterday gathered at the City Mortuary to identify the bodies of their loved ones and demanded justice following the killing of their loved ones.
Among those killed is 25-year-old man Elvis Musavi, and Peter, 37, who were allegedly shot by police, re-igniting outrage over police brutality.
According to Faith Indechi, mother to Elvis, his son just left home like any other day but he did not make it back alive.
“He was my first-born child. Yesterday, he left for work in the morning. When he came back, I was called, and when I arrived at where he was, he was already dead,” she said through sobs.
Indechi, a single mother from Kangemi, said Elvis was brutally murdered with bullet injuries in the arm and another that penetrated through the back.
“I raised him alone, paid his school fees. Now he’s no more and I don’t know how anyone can help me. Even my family lives far away. I’m begging for help from anyone,” she said, pleading for support to transport her son’s body back home for burial.
According to the family, police officers brought the body to the mortuary after collecting it from the chief’s office and police station in Kangemi.
“Today we have come to confirm, and yes, it is true. He is dead, and there is no way we can bring him back to life,” Indechi added.
Sniper fire
Peninah Mwikali, the mother to Jeremiah Oscar, 24, one of the victims who died in Ngong, also confirmed that his son died while coming back from work.
“My son was coming from the garage to fix his boda boda when he was shot in the neck by a sniper. He was rushed to the hospital. Right now, I have confirmed that my child is dead. He has left behind a wife and two children,” Mwikali explained amid cries.
Human rights activists joined the grieving families to condemn what they called blatant extrajudicial killings. Hussein Khalid of Voice Africa, speaking outside the mortuary, confirmed that both Elvis and Peter were shot in Kangemi during the protests.
Khalid is calling on the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to immediately investigate the shootings and prosecute those responsible.
Khalid accused the government of enabling the killings and openly defending the use of excessive force by police officers.
“Murkomen said last week that police have the authority to shoot and kill. This is being done with full knowledge of the authorities. But no one is above the law. We must get justice for the victims,” he said.
Activists are working closely with the families of those killed on Monday, to ensure evidence is collected to follow up on justice. They are also pushing for the post-mortem reports so that the families can move forward with the burial planning
“We’ve met families of the dead at the city mortuary and Ngong hospital. At the city mortuary, there are 5 bodies and at Ngong Hospital, 3 bodies. These 8 bodies are recorded as deaths from the protests,” Khalid said.
Speaking in a different event, Chief Justice Martha Koome, while not directly addressing the Kangemi shootings, spoke about the importance of upholding constitutional rights and the need for professionalism in policing during protests.
“When our democratic fabric is tested through waves of public protests. We must maintain a balance between the constitutional right to peaceful assembly and the imperative for people-centred, professional policing,” Koome said.
The CJ urged citizens to demonstrate peacefully and condemned acts of vandalism or destruction. At the same time, she emphasised that police must act with restraint and distinguish between peaceful demonstrators and those committing criminal acts.
“Police must avoid actions that could cause unnecessary harm or loss of life,” she said, adding that those who infiltrate protests to incite violence should be processed through the justice system.
The latest killings have added to growing tensions in the country, as protesters, many of them youth, continue to take to the streets to voice grievances ranging from the end of police brutality, accountability and poor governance.
Many citizens are airing their grievances and they are also increasingly sounding the alarm over the government’s heavy-handed response, which they say is unconstitutional and endangers lives.
As the bodies of those who fell during the Saba Saba protest, including Elvis and Pete,r lie in the City Mortuary, their families await answers and justice and are seeking assistance from anyone during this hard time.