A protester who was in company of slain activist Rex Masai told a Nairobi court that he saw police officers firing live bullets at the protesters.

While recounting the last moments with Masai before trial magistrate Geoffrey Onsaringo, Fredrick Otieno said that given a chance he could identify the officers.

 “I saw a police officer shooting live bullets, and if given a chance, I can identify him,” he stated.

The witness also mentioned that he had collected several spent and live cartridges from various locations, specifically along GPO and near Kencom.

 “They were shooting live rounds. I could tell from the sounds. But these were not from the Rex Masai scene,” he said.

He described the aggression as being one sided: “The police were always moving toward the protestors,” he noted.

In his testimony, Otieno detailed one specific instance where he saw an officer in civilian attire, wearing a black cap, armed with a pistol and a club, shooting directly at protesters.

 “He was shooting live rounds of ammunition using his pistol,” he said.

The officer was dressed in white sports shoes, dark blue jeans, a black cap, and a dark jacket, did not witness any goons or gangs participating in protests against the Finance Bill.

While recounting the last moments with Masai before trial magistrate Geoffrey Onsaringo, Fredrick Otieno said all the witnesses were police officers who were shooting at them.

“I never saw goons or gangs. It was just the police and the protestors,” he explained, describing the scene during the protests.

He said he saw both uniformed and plainclothes officers present during the protests

 “The first time I saw the plainclothes officers, they were among those in uniform. Later, they left the group of uniformed police officers and moved into the crowd,” he said.

Otieno recounted that the shooting began shortly after the protesters passed the KCB building on Mama Ngina Street.

However, he made it clear that he was not present at the scene where activist Masai was shot.

In his testimony, Omondi detailed one specific instance where he saw an officer in civilian attire, wearing a black cap, armed with a pistol and a club, shooting directly at the protestors.

“He was shooting live rounds of ammunition using his pistol,” he said.

The officer was dressed in white sports shoes, dark blue jeans, a black cap, and a dark jacket.