 |
| The coffin containing the body of Leeds University student Carilton David Maina is pictured during the funeral at Kangema in Murang’a County on December 29, 2018. PHOTO | NDUNGU GACHANE | NATION MEDIA GROUP |
Twitter users in Kenya woke up to #JusticeForComrades hashtag as the number one trending topic on Tuesday.
The hashtag is about university students whose deaths have not been resolved, a situation many feel has not been adequately addressed by police and other state actors.
“We call for peace and justice. Justice delayed is justice denied. Comrades are no longer safe. Let the police and other law enforcement agencies come clear and give justice to fallen comrades,” tweeted Edward Mavido.
Brian Musta weighed in: “It seems like it’s illegal to be a young person in Kenya.”
“Why kill our future generations?” said Harlim Sagwa. “Justice must prevail.”
“Comrade murdered today, comrade murdered tomorrow. Shall such headlines be forever? As comrades, we are tired with such headlines,” Christopher said.
Joe posted: “To all trigger-happy cops, politicians and sponsors, youths’ lives have value. Before you reach to those weapons listen to our grievances. Remember, a nation that doesn’t value her youths has no future.”
Here are some of the names mentioned in the hashtag:
EVANS “KIDERO” NJOROGE
Being the secretary-general of Meru University of Science and Technology Student Association placed Evans on the warpath with the police. On February 27, 2018, students at the university held a protest demanding the reduction of school fees.
Unknown to Evans, it would be his last day alive. Police charged at the protesting learners and witnesses say they saw a police officer shoot Evans at close range.
In July 2018, Administration Police officer Leaky Maina was presented before a Meru court and charged with killing Evans, an accusation he denied. The trial is ongoing.
TIM SYDNEY AOMBA
Tim died on the night of May 4, 2018 when he was accosted by suspected muggers in Juja town.
Known for sporting dreadlocks, Tim was a student at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT) and was a promising player in the university’s team blazing the trail in the little-appreciated American football.
“After he was stabbed, he tried to run away but could not get far as he was bleeding profusely so he fell in front of a shop owned by some woman who paid a nearby boda boda rider to rush him to the JKUAT students’ hospital.
Unfortunately, he had already lost too much blood by then and was declared dead on arrival,” said a police report on his death.
CARILTON DAVID MAINA
The news of Carilton’s death in late December hit many with a sting given the promising future that lay ahead of him. Carilton, who scored a straight A in the 2013 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination, was a student at the University of Leeds.
He had secured his place there partly because of footballing skills.
Carilton had travelled back to Kenya to spend the festive season with his relatives when he was felled by police bullets in Kibera on the night of December 21.
The police version of events is that he was part of a group robbing locals.
A few days after the incident, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority said it had launched independent investigations into the killing.
KENNETH ABOM
Circumstances leading to the death of Kenneth, a student at Strathmore University, are still hazy.
How he jumped from the fourth floor of an apartment in Nairobi’s Woodley Estate on Thursday, and whether musician Henry Ohanga aka Octopizzo had any role in his death, are matters being investigated by police.
A post-mortem on his body showed that he had multiple fractures on his limbs, abdomen and head.