Two police officers linked to the shooting of city hawker Boniface Kariuki during anti-police brutality protests in Nairobi have denied any role in the incident.
The officers — Police Constables Klinzy Barasa Masinde and Duncan Kiprono — are facing investigations after Kariuki was shot while selling face masks during Tuesday’s demonstrations in the capital.
Their lawyer, Felix Keaton, dismissed the allegations as speculative, insisting the officers were not armed with live bullets at the time.
“No officer deployed had live ammunition. They carried shotguns with rubber bullets,” Keaton told the press. “If any shots were fired, they were rubber bullets — not live rounds.”
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The protests, which began as a peaceful demonstration against police excesses, descended into violence when unidentified armed individuals disrupted the march and attacked both civilians and business premises.
In the aftermath, the National Police Service (NPS) confirmed the interdiction of the two officers, stating that they were being processed by the Homicide Unit at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters.
“The National Police Service deeply regrets this act and commiserates with the victim and his family, while reaffirming its full commitment to ensuring justice is served,” read a statement from the NPS.
Kariuki is currently in critical but stable condition at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), where he underwent emergency surgery after being referred from a city clinic with a gunshot wound to the head.
KNH CEO Dr. William Sigilai said the hawker arrived at the facility critically ill and bleeding from the left side of his head. A CT scan revealed a bullet lodged inside his skull.
“At 8:50 p.m., a team led by neurosurgeon Dr. Sam Njiru conducted a two-hour operation to remove the object believed to be a bullet,” said Dr. Sigilai. “He is now in ICU under close observation.”
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