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| A mother tears up after her child dies during the protests |
A mother in Kakamega County is struggling to come to terms with the fact that her daughter is dead. Kakamega Mum in Pain After Losing Daughter During Protests: “Siamini Mtoto Wangu Aliuliwa” Alice Nekesa’s life turned upside down when her daughter was fatally shot during the anti-Finance Bill protests on Tuesday, June 25. Citizen Digital reports that 35-year-old Caroline Shiramba was gunned down at Ikolomani market, where she sells fruits. Nekesa recounted the events leading to her daughter’s demise, revealing that the two had a meeting at the market on the fateful day. Shiramba planned on having an early supper before proceeding home, but that was not to be. “All of a sudden, we saw a group of people approaching as officers engaged them in running battles,” she recalled. With everyone running helter-skelter, mother and daughter fled in different directions and lost contact. Nekesa says she heard people screaming that a woman had been killed, but she had no idea who the victim was. She spent the night at a friend’s house because she feared the route to her house following the demos would be unsafe. The following morning, she went to her market stall only for a fellow vendor to approach her with condolences over the loss. “I asked him why he was telling me sorry… He proceeded to tell me that he saw my daughter was shot by officers during the fracas,” she narrated. The mother was in denial despite the man insisting that Shiramba’s body was at the mortuary. Nekesa reiterated that the man had probably confused her daughter with someone else. “I did go to the mortuary and confirmed my worst fears that it was indeed her,” she recalled. The family is calling for justice to be served as the deceased woman was their breadwinner.
by Hillary Lisimba