“Their goal is to kill” – BBC identified security forces that fired Kenyan anti-tax protesters
The BBC identified anti-tax protesters who fired fire in the country’s parliament in June last year.
The BBC’s analysis of more than 5,000 images also shows that the people there are not armed and pose no threat.
The constitution of East African countries guarantees the right to peaceful protests, and the death caused strong public outcry.
Although the parliamentary committee ordered Kenya’s Independent Police Supervisory Agency (IPOA) to investigate deaths on the streets of the capital, Nairobi – and published its findings – has not released a report on the killings of the parliament and no one has been detained.
The BBC World Service team analyzed videos and photos taken by protesters and journalists that day. We determine when to use camera metadata, live broadcast time and common clocks to be visible in the lens.
We mapped the three kills of the killings in a 3D reconstruction of the Kenyan parliament, allowing us to trace the deadly shooting back to police and a soldier’s rifle.
Next is the detailed schedule of events from BBC Africa Eye, with Kenyan MPs participating in the final vote of parliament on the government’s controversial financial bill, while protesters gathered on the streets on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.
Warning: This story contains images of the corpse
Young people are known as Gen Z protesters who mobilized on social media, starting to flow into central Nairobi in the early morning – the third massive protest in the capital since the introduction of the financial bill on May 9.
“It’s a beautiful party,” said Boniface Mwangi, a well-known human rights activist there.
“The kids come out with Bluetooth speakers and water. It’s carnival.”
Protests earlier this week have already increased taxes by lawmakers on bread, cooking oil, mobile currencies and motor vehicles, as well as an ecological tax that will increase the cost of goods such as diapers and sanitary towels.
However, other measures to raise $2.7 billion (£2 billion) say it needs to reduce its reliance on external borrowing, such as higher import taxes, while another retains it for specialty hospitals.
“This is the Kenyan people – the working class, the middle class and the lower class – against the ruling class,” Mwanji said.
The protesters have one goal – parliament, and the final vote is underway.
By 09:30 local time, the last member of parliament applied to the House of Commons.
Outside, thousands of people headed toward Parliament Road from the east, north and west of the city.
Map shows Kenya’s parliament and three hovering areas considered as police fronts [BBC]
“For me, it’s just a normal day,” said Ademba Allans, a 26-year-old student journalist.
He added that people were broadcasting live on Tiktok and Instagram accounts, while the incident was broadcast live on national television.
At first, protesters were blocked by tear gas and through-Kongzi, and then police began using water cannons and rubber bullets.
By 13:00, there were more than 100,000 people on the street.
“The numbers are starting to get bigger and people are actually starting to get arrested,” Allens said. “Police is everywhere. They are trying to push people back. People are even climbing on top of those water cannons.”
Despite the chaos outside, members of Congress were still in the conference hall and the vote began.
By 14:00, protesters pushed police back to the northeast corner of the parliament.
Inside at 14:14, the Financial Act was voted for 2024: 195, versus 106. Opposition MPs rushed out and immediately reached the masses outside.
“It’s everyone’s saying, ‘Whatever happens, we’re going to go into parliament and show the members of Congress our belief in everything we’re after.”
At 14:20, protesters finally broke into the police blockade and arrived at the road next to Congress.
An abandoned police car stationed outside the gate was burned. The fence was torn off and protesters stepped onto parliament for reasons. The invasion is short-lived. Parliamentary security forces quickly cleared them.
Meanwhile, the police returned to Capitol Road and drove the protesters back.
When this happens, the reporter is shooting, making one-minute shots from many angles.
One of the videos captured a regular policeman yelling “UAA!”, which is “killed” Swahili. A few seconds later, a police officer knelt down and heard gunfire and protesters in the crowd collapsed – a total of seven.
David Chege, 39, a software engineer and Sunday school teacher, and Ericsson Mutisya, 25, were shot and killed. Five other men were injured, one of whom was paralyzed from the waist.
Student journalist Ademba Allans attempted to reach out to David Chege and another casualty after the shooting [BBC]
Video shows student journalist Allans lifting the Kenyan flag as he tried to reach Chege after gunfire and another casualty bleed.
But who turned on those shots?
In a video where the officer shouts “UAA!”, the shooter’s back is a camera. But the BBC compared his bulletproof cover and headdress with the riot shield and headdress of every policeman on the scene.
In his case, he had an upper neck guard. We match his unique uniform with the officials in the video a few seconds later. There, he made sure to cover his face before firing at the crowd. We don’t know his name.
Even after the fatal shooting, officials in ordinary clothes could still be heard urging his colleagues to look forward to “kill.” He was not cautious about hiding his identity: his name was John Kaboi.
Several sources told the BBC that he is located in the Central Nairobi Police Department.
The BBC filed charges with the Kenya police station, which said the unit could not investigate itself, adding that the IPOA was responsible for investigating alleged misconduct.
Kaboi has been exposed to comments but has no answers.
No one is responsible for the death of Chege or Mutisya. The BBC found neither of them was armed.
But these are not the only lives that have been killed. Instead of frightening the demonstrators, the killing incited them, and they worked hard to join the parliament again.
At 14:57 they entered.
Video shows them breaking the fence and passing through the ground of the council. Many people raise their hands. Others held placards or Kenya flags.
The warning shot is turned on. The protesters dodged and continued toward the building, taking pictures with their phones.
After indoors, momentum turns into chaos. The door was kicked in, part of it set up a complex, and the last of the councillors escaped the building.
The damage was serious, but five minutes later, the video showed them leaving the same way.
At 15:04, the shooting rang out again and protesters fell on the flat fence. As the smoke cleared, the camera footage showed three bodies lying on the ground. Two were injured – one raised his hand but couldn’t stand up.
Third place, 27-year-old finance student Eric Shieni, died – shooting from behind as he left the ground. The BBC once again found that, like in the case of Chege and Mutisya, he was not armed.
BBC Africa’s eyes analyzed 150 images taken before and after Shieni was shot. We were able to fire from 25m (82ft) away from the back of his head – again, we didn’t know his name.
“The video is very clear,” said Faith Odhiambo, president of the Kenya Bar Association.
“The purpose is to kill those protesters. They could have arrested him. But you shot his head – obviously the intention to kill.
“You have become Eric’s judge, jury and verdict executor.”
The Kenyan Defence Force (KDF) told the BBC that the IPOA did not forward any requests to investigate its participation in parliamentary operations.
It added: “KDF remains entirely committed to upholding the rule of law and continues to strictly enforce its constitutional mandate.”
After the shooting, Allans was seen again and the leader evacuated. The video shows him carrying a man on his back and blood gushing out of his legs.
“I’m worried about my life, my parents will never see me again,” he said.
“But I’m also afraid to let others die when I help.”
Anyone outside the UK can watch it here
As the sun sets on June 25, the country is rolling up. After a week of protests, Kenya’s National Human Rights Commission declared 39 dead and 361 injured nationwide.
That night, President William Ruto thanked his security officials for their “defense” of the “organized criminals” who “hijacked” the protests.
The next day, the financial bill was removed.
“Listen keenly to the people of Kenyan, they say loudly that they don’t want to have nothing to do with this financial bill,” the president said in a state televised speech.
But to this day, no security officials have been guaranteed to account for the death, and no official investigation has been published.
Other reports from BBC movie editor Valeria Cardi and Emile Costard
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