The mother of Rex Masai, the man killed during the anti-Finance Bill protests in Nairobi, has revealed that she was informed of her son's shooting by his friends.
Speaking at the City Mortuary on Friday, Jillian Munyau said she received the call around 7 pm on Thursday. By the time she arrived in town from Nyama Villa, Rex had already passed away.
Rex had been rushed to a clinic in the Central Business District but was pronounced dead on arrival.
"I was called yesterday around 7 pm and told he had been shot in the left thigh. They took him to the nearest clinic at Archives called Bliss... When I got to town, he was dead," she said.
Munyao recounted that a friend of Rex used his phone to inform her of the tragic incident. She explained that Rex and his friends had planned to meet at Afya Centre in case of any trouble.
Rex's mother added that her son was shot while running for safety from a teargas canister thrown towards the protesting youths in Nairobi CBD.
"The friend called me using his phone. He told me when they left work, they were going somewhere in town and had agreed to meet at Afya Centre in case of anything.
While they were standing around Archives, a teargas canister was thrown. He got shot in the direction he ran for safety. His friends ran away to save their lives," Munyau said.
She added that after the police left, one of the friends returned and found Rex bleeding. The friend then called on a passerby to help carry Rex to the hospital.
Munyau claimed that their pleas for police assistance to get an ambulance or take Rex to the hospital were ignored.
Rex was the firstborn in his family. His mother described him as well-raised and very respectful. She stated that his only mistake was participating in peaceful protests and standing up for the rights of all Kenyans.
She called on the government to ensure justice for her son.
Rex was reportedly shot and killed along Moi Avenue in Nairobi during protests against the Finance Bill 2024 on Thursday. Police said they are investigating the circumstances under which Rex, 29, was shot and killed. An aerial video captured the moment he was shot.
A group of protesters had been pushed by police from Kenyatta Avenue, City Hall Way, and other gathering points when they assembled outside Moi Avenue.
They began dancing to music from a nearby club. Witnesses claimed that a plainclothes police officer in a cap emerged and started shooting at the group while dispersing them.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has launched an investigation into the shooting of a protester on Thursday, allegedly by a police officer.
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