Kisumu County Deputy Governor Mathews Owili has released what he says are statistics on the victims of the 3-day anti-government demonstrations.

Owili said that so far, 92 people are undergoing treatment at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH).

“Of these people, some suffered bullets and crude weapon injuries,” Owili said.

Speaking at PAG church headquarters at Awasi Onjiko in Nyando constituency, Owili disclosed that 39 people had bullet wounds, which medics were working around the clock to remove. Among them is a form four student named Castro Otieno, who was shot nine times in the back and arm with a rubber bullet. 

Ochieng, who is a candidate at Olembo Secondary School, is nursing injuries at JOOTRH. 

Bodies

The Kisumu DG also said that nine bodies were lying at the JOOTRH morgue, of which four were taken directly to the mortuary while the rest were taken there after succumbing to injuries inflicted.

Owili added that 37 victims were admitted to various local health facilities and were being treated for fractures and wounds inflicted by crude weapons or police bullets.

Police have been cagey about releasing the victims’ statistics, but Owili said the medical units in Kisumu County were documenting all the records in each of the seven constituencies that dot Kisumu.

“We have all the records of the demonstration victims,” Owili said.

Owili and Majority Leader Ken Ouma moved the church to an emotional recount of the ordeal that befell a teenage boy who was just playing drought in their compound and who lost his manhood to a crude attack, suspected to be a bullet, which ripped off his genitals.

Efforts are still being made to stitch and save the victim’s manhood, but there are fears he could end up being impotent.

Trailed by police

Owili claimed that some leaders now feared appearing in public because the police were trailing them for arrest.

This is why he claimed nearly all Nyanza MPs had gone into hiding as reports leaked that the officers were pursuing them for arrest.

“We are witnessing Kenya slowly sliding back to the dark days of yesteryear, but no amount of intimidation will cow us,” Owili declared.

They rued the incident that happened in Nyalenda estate, Kisumu at the end of last week’s demonstrations, where police went door to door, ejecting people from their houses and beating them, saying it was an abuse of fundamental human rights and freedoms entrenched in the law. 

Owili called on IPOA to investigate and take stern action against the suspected rogue officers acting contrary to their social contract to protect Wananchi and their inalienable rights.

He also put the residents of Kisumu on notice of yet another round of demonstrations starting this week on Wednesday.

“Another round has been called, and we shall come out to continue venting our anger over the high cost of living,” he said.

Owili was flanked by several MCAs led by Kisumu County Assembly Speaker Elisha Oraro, who termed the actions meted out to innocent Wananchi protesting as illegal and against the letter and spirit of the constitution. 

Next protest

Kisumu County Assembly Majority Leader Ken Ouma told elderly men and women to keep off the streets and instead only allow the youth to take part in the protests.

“We want women on the day of the demonstrations to put on sufurias on their heads and run around within their vicinity or compound playing drum beats and cheering the demonstrators from afar to avoid falling victims of tear gas and brutality,” the MCA said.

The leaders declared that they wouldn’t tire of protesting as long as it was premised on the law.