By Peter Ochieng
The number of people allegedly killed by police during two weeks of anti-Finance Bill 2024 protests has been revealed.
According to a joint statement by six national associations of content creators, journalists, lawyers, medical practitioners, and human rights defenders, 24 people had died as a result of either being shot or brutalized by the police, as of Sunday night.
“As of last night, 24 human beings had been killed by police officers, and at least 361 people have reported several injuries. One of the youngest fatalities is twelve-year-old Kennedy Onyango (12). There have been 627 arrests and 32 abductions,” the statement reads in part.
However, President William Ruto on Sunday night said that only 19 people had died during the demonstrations.
Many of those abducted by state officers, the statement said, were not read the charges against them or booked into a police station.
“Tens have been held incommunicado and denied access to their families, legal representation and medical assistance.”
The associations are however opposed to President William Ruto’s plan of holding talks with youth, popularly known as Gen-Z and millennials, over governance issues raised during the protests.
They say a decisive executive action, not a state-led national conversation, will restore the generation’s faith in the Kenyan state.
“It will restore confidence in our constitution and governance institutions and create a nation united and driven by our constitutional values. We call on the national administration and 47 county administrations to listen to and act on Gen Z’s considerations and demands. Numerically, they represent the majority of Kenyans and those with the greatest stake in re-directing the current crisis to a more hopeful future for us all,” adds the statement.
The statement was signed by the Kenya Medical Association, Bloggers Association of Kenya, Law Society of Kenya, Kenya Union of Journalists, Medics for Kenya and the Police Reforms Working Group among others.