In a heartbreaking incident in Nairobi’s Mathare slum, an 18-year-old Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidate lost his life during a demolition exercise.
The tragic event unfolded as the government carried out a forced evacuation, demolishing structures near riverbanks.
The victim, identified as Ian Otieno, was reportedly attempting to salvage belongings from the church when a bulldozer brought down a wall, leading to his untimely demise.
Winnie Makinda, the boy’s grief-stricken mother, recounted the harrowing details of the incident, painting a vivid picture of the chaos and devastation that unfolded.
According to Makinda, the excavator operator refused to heed the pleas of residents, who begged him to pause the demolition to allow more time for the evacuation of children and the salvaging of belongings.
Mother recounts how she learnt her son’s demise
Tragically, the boy tried to flee the scene, but was caught by the excavator, which crushed his skull.
“They asked the operator to pause as there were children around, but he told them off. My son tried to run away, but the excavator held him by the skull. He doesn’t have a skull now,” the distraught mother cried.
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The tragedy was made worse by the fact that Makinda had briefly left the area to pick up medicine for her son, who was reportedly suffering from sickle cell anemia.
Upon her return, she was met with the devastating news of her child’s death, delivered by a neighbor.
The mother’s anguish was visible as she recounted the sequence of events, questioning the authorities’ actions and the role of the police in the incident.
Mother accuses the police in the handling of the Mathare Tragedy
Makinda accused the police of instructing the bulldozer operator to flee the scene, potentially to avoid repercussions from the angry community.
She also claimed that the authorities denied her the opportunity to take her son’s body to the mortuary, leaving her unsure of where he had been taken.
“How are they burying someone’s child and then escaping? They are telling the driver to run. Then again when they come back to pick up my child from the road, they are refusing for me to take him back, so I don’t know where they took him,” the distraught mother lamented.
The tragedy did not end there, as the family and residents attempted to transport the boy’s body to the police station, a clash erupted between the community and the police.
The officers retaliated by lobbying tear gas and firing shots in the air, dispersing the crowd.
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The demolition exercise was part of a broader government effort to evacuate residents living on riparian land, in a bid to avert further tragedies caused by flooding.
However, the lack of adequate notice and the immediate displacement of many people have raised concerns about the humanitarian implications of such drastic measures.
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