Mother to state: Let my son be the last to die in protests

Faith Indeche, mother to Elvis Musavi who was shot dead in Kangemi during Saba Saba demonstrations weeps while addressing journalists outside Nairobi Funeral home on July 8, 2025. /DOUGLAS OKIDDY

Faith Indeche, the mother of a man shot dead in Kangemi during the Saba Saba protests on Monday, has appealed for help to bury her son.

Elvis Musavi, 25, was among the 11 people police said died during the protests.

Speaking at the Nairobi Funeral Home (City Mortuary) after identifying his body, Indeche said Musavi — her sole breadwinner — was more than just a son to her.

“He was all I depended on – I have raised him as a single mother. I’m in so much pain,” she said, condemning police for using excessive force to contain protesters.

“Use a method you would have used to discipline your own child. Don’t use a method that leads to the death of someone else’s child yet you are also a parent.”

In a statement on Monday evening, the National Police Service (NPS) said that while the majority of Kenyans protested within the confines of the law, a few individuals engaged in acts of lawlessness, including attacks on law enforcement officers and looting.

The NPS also commended officers “for demonstrating exceptional restraint and professionalism in the face of sustained violence and provocation” by groups it described as “criminals who infiltrated the protests”.

“Regrettably, preliminary reports indicate fatalities, injuries, damage to motor vehicles, and several incidents of looting,” NPS spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga said.

He added that preliminary investigations showed 11 civilians were killed and 63 people injured, including 52 police officers.

Indeche appealed to the government to listen to the grievances being raised by the Gen Z movement, rather than resorting to brute force to suppress their protests.

“You have finished our children. My son was my everything; he was like my husband in everything,” she said amid tears.

“My appeal to the government is that my son is here at City Mortuary. I have no means to transport him to Western for burial. I have no work, my life is not good; I have raised my children in hardship.”

She was flanked by human rights activists led by Vocal Africa CEO Hussein Khalid and relatives of other young men who died in the protest.

Indeche had a final plea to the government: “I hustled to raise my child to that age he lost his life. I ask that he be the last to die.”

“Simamishieni hapo, msiue watoto wengine. Sikizeni kilio cha watoto na sisi kama wazazi. Naomba tu justice kwa mtoto wangu afike nyumbani niende nimzike. Sina kitu ingine ya kuongezea hapo.”

(Stop it there. Don’t kill any more children. Listen to the cries of the youth and us as parents. I just ask for justice and help to bury my son. I have nothing more to add)