Family members, friends and colleagues are mourning the death of 22-year-old Peter Derrick Machanja, who was reportedly shot during protests over rising fuel prices in Kakamega on Wednesday. Footage shows fellow rickshaw riders rallying in the streets and demanding justice from the authorities.
“He did not have to die for the fuel prices to be reduced; they could have just lowered the prices without killing anyone?” said one of Machanja’s colleagues.
Grieving relatives also gathered at Machanja’s home to pray and say goodbye. “Now my son is dead, he has no father, I don’t even have a place where I will take the body to, I don’t know where to start from, I don’t know where I will bury the body of my son,” his mother said. “To Mr Murkomen (Minister for Internal Security) take action, that the police who finished my brother with the last bullet, I want action,” demanded his brother Edwin.
Footage also shows mourning friends and fellow students gathered at Kakamega General Mortuary to view his body and pay their last respects. “We all feel betrayed by the government because right now, Derrick has been shot dead because of high fuel prices,” said Machanja’s girlfriend.
Machanja, an engineering student and part-time rickshaw rider, was reportedly shot in the head in Maraba. His family said they learned of his death through social media before finding his body at the hospital mortuary. Clashes broke out between protesters and security forces across Kenya on Monday after transport workers launched a strike over rising fuel prices, bringing movement across parts of the country to a standstill.
The strike, dubbed #RejectFuelPrices, began at midnight on May 18 after matatu operators and other transport groups suspended services following a call by the Transport Sector Alliance. Enditem
Source: Viory, UAE
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