Agony as families' search for loved ones end in morgues

Tears and screams echoed through the corridors of City Mortuary in Nairobi on Thursday. Grief hung heavy in the air.

Families who had spent the night searching for their missing loved ones were now facing their worst nightmare. Cold, lifeless bodies lay on metal trays.

Inside, the silence was unbearable. Some stood frozen, unable to move. Others clung to hope, even as reality stared back — in body tags, torn clothes and bloodstains.

One by one, names were called. Each person stepped forward to identify a son, a husband, a brother. All were victims of what was meant to be a peaceful protest.

The pain came in waves. Some cried quietly. Others sobbed loudly. Mothers collapsed onto the cold tiled floor. Fathers stood motionless, hollowed by sorrow.

Among the victims was 17-year-old Ian Opango, a welder from Ongata Rongai, whose body arrived at the morgue with a gunshot wound to the head.

He had stepped out briefly on Wednesday, just as the Gen Z protests swept through the streets.

By dusk, his aunt Fatuma Opango was frantically checking hospitals. Instead, she saw his photo circulating on social media — a still image of a boy whose future had been silenced.

“I had warned him not to leave the house,” she said, her voice cracking under the weight of loss. “He was my brother’s son. He lived with me. He was our only hope.”

Fatuma, like many others, started her Thursday at Kenyatta National Hospital, holding on to the slimmest of hope that Ian was among the wounded. Instead, her search ended at City Mortuary, where she was asked to identify his body.

Across the same hallway, Winfred Wangare Mwangi, only 22, stood in shock, clutching her two-month-old daughter.

Her husband, Kelvin Njau, 23, had also been killed — reportedly shot in the head during the Kikuyu demonstrations. Just hours earlier, they had spoken on the phone.

“I talked to him around 6 pm,” she said quietly. “Minutes later, someone else picked his phone. That’s how I found out. It’s not fair. I just want justice for my husband.”

Njau had been walking home from his construction job when he was caught up  in the chaos.

“His mother is very sick. She depended on him. Now we have lost everything,” said David Wainaina, his uncle.

The pain of these families is echoed in households across the country, as the death toll from the protests — initially sparked as a commemoration of youths killed in last year’s Gen Z movement — continues to rise.

Civil society groups now estimate at least 15 people have died, many of them young and shot at close range.

Voice Africa CEO Hussein Khalid expressed outrage, saying most casualties sustained head injuries from police gunfire.

“So far, we have received reports of at least 15 bodies taken to various mortuary across the country,” Khalid told the Star. “We remain very disturbed by this news; we don’t expect such a thing to happen — especially after police had okayed the protests.”

City Mortuary alone received four bodies by Wednesday night.

Some families were fortunate to find their loved ones injured but alive in hospitals.

Another case is David Njuguna. When he told his mother that he was on the way going home, she assumed it was to their home in Turi area, Molo but fate had heaven in mind.

The 17-year-old Form 4 student had just come from school. The mother was waiting to receive her boy but will now only get the cold body, raptured by bullets.

According to the mother, the student at Njenga Karume Secondary School encountered a group of protesters confronting the police on his way and was shot. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the nearby hospital.

The story of Njuguna is not far withdrawn from that of William Mutevu, 21, who got shot on the stomach, ripping the intestines to his death. Mutevu was caught up in the riots in Matuu town in Machakos on Wednesday as the police dispersed the increasingly violent crowd.

He had been employed in a car wash within Matuu, but left the job. According to his mother Victoria Mutheu, Mutevu was doing manual jobs to survive before he met his died. The second born in the family of eight died while undergoing treatment at Matuu Memorial Hospital.

For Victor Odhiambo, 24, he had joined the protest, often telling his friends that he was incensed by how things were going in the country.

According to Mercy Wanjiru who was his friend, Odhiambo was an ardent believer in the Gen Z vision of a tribeless country, equal economic opportunities and fair treatment of all.

He had sat out the 2024 Gen Z protest but the reports of police brutality that claimed the life of Albert Ojwang’ pushed him to the streets this time around.

“Odhis liked political discussion a lot and said he could not sit out the protests this time around. He wanted fairness and was fed up by the corruption in our country. He gave his life, he is a hero,” she said.

At a tender age of 24, the blood of the diploma in supply chain management student from Bungoma will continue to water the dream of a fair and equal Kenya.

Another death was of Abdiqani Adani, 21, who was felled by police bullet in Makongeni area of Thika.

Ken Ouma was not in the protest or anywhere close. In fact, he thought the walls of the gym where he was exercising, offered enough protection and safety. He was fatally wrong.

A stray bullet tore through the walls and struck him, killing his dream of an impressive body shape and fitness.

Erick Mulwa, 20, was lucky to escape with his life. He is under treatment at Kitui Level 5 Hospital, nursing gunshot wounds.

He was shot during the protests in Matuu, Machakos. His uncle Richard Mulwa says he is in critical condition.

"The orphan was shot at the back, a bullet entered through the back and exited through stomach," Mulwa said.

Another young man’s body is lying at Matuu Level 4 Hospital mortuary marked unknown. He was brought to the morgue without identification but his body had gunshot wound.

Police in Eldoret arrested 72 people linked to violence and looting during Wednesday's Gen Z protests.

Uasin Gishu county police commander Benjamin Mwanthi confirmed that one person died and an unknown number were injured in the chaos.

A police lorry and an ambulance were also damaged, while several shops, including Khetia’s Supermarket, were looted.

Mwanthi said the violence was especially intense along the Eldoret-Bungoma road, lasting until midnight. The deceased, suspected of theft, was attacked by members of the public in Eastleigh and later died at Moi Referral Hospital.

Among those arrested were five suspects accused of torching a police vehicle in Huruma along the Eldoret-Webuye highway.

Mwanthi said most of the suspects were caught engaging in criminal activities and will face charges once investigations are complete.

He added that police were caught off guard, as there had been no prior reports of planned demonstrations in the city.

With the rising toll and mounting pressure, human rights organisations are demanding an immediate public inquiry, as questions swirl around use of lethal force and the fate of dozens still unaccounted for. As the protests persist, many families across the country continue the painful search — some still clinging to hope, others left with only memories and unanswered questions.