Silverio Omari
David Chege, one of the youths killed by police during the country’s anti-tax protests, was buried on Tuesday at his parents’ home in Turiru village, Gatundu. Chege was shot dead outside Kenya’s parliament as a crowd of protesters overwhelmed anti-riot police and broke into the August House as the protests intensified.
His send-off attracted a few Kenyan activists, including Haki Africa’s Khalid Hussein, Boniface Mwangi, and Hanifa Adan. Chege, who was shot in the head, was a celebrated IT professional and a Sunday school teacher at the Jubilee Christian Church until his untimely demise. Politicians were conspicuously absent from the funeral, where mourners decried police brutality and draped the national flag around their necks.
During the burial, activists presented his family with a flag, saying that the late Chege had paid the ultimate price for his patriotism. Activist Boniface Mwangi implored Kenyans to sustain the fight against bad leadership, urging them to replace portraits of President Ruto with the Kenyan flag.
The government maintains that 25 people were killed in protests across the country, disputing figures from rights groups which place the death toll much higher at 43. According to official government figures, about 400 people sustained injuries during the three-week protests.
Dj Vnyash
