Photo: Courtesy
Jacinta Achieng’, the mother of Kennedy Onyang’o, the young boy shot in Ong’ata Rongai, has made a heart-wrenching plea for the police to return her son.
Kennedy was tragically shot dead last week during the protests against the Finance Bill 2024 in Rongai, which has since been withdrawn.
In a video shared by human rights activist Hussein Khalid, Josinter Anyango pleaded with the President to intervene and assist her in gaining access to her son’s body.
According to the distraught mother, the body of her son was taken to a nearby mortuary following a court order.
“You have all the powers. After God, you are the second most powerful person in Kenya. Those who have taken my baby are under your authority. Ruto, return my baby,” she pleaded tearfully.
Preliminary reports suggest that the burial was halted due to a dispute within the family.
“At the burial of 12-year-old Shujaa Kennedy Onyango, Mama Kennedy appeals for help after a court order stopped her son’s burial in Rusinga, Homa Bay County. The body is currently at Kirindo Mortuary in Mbita,” Khalid stated.
During the week, a man claiming to be the father of Onyango emerged.
Speaking to NTV on July 4, Denis Okinyi claimed that he was the father of the 12-year-old. He alleged that he and Anyango were married until 2015, when they divorced.
He further stated that he had not seen his son since learning of his death and expressed a desire to verify the news by viewing the body. Okinyi also expressed a wish for his son to be buried at their ancestral home in Suba.
“In 2020, the mother came and took him, and they moved to Nairobi. I also want the government to assist me in bringing my son from Nairobi so that he can be laid to rest in Suba.
Onyango tragically lost his life after being shot during the anti-Finance Bill protests. According to President Ruto, the 12-year-old was not shot by police but by a criminal who seized a firearm from an officer and began firing indiscriminately.
“Kennedy Onyango was shot by a criminal who grabbed a gun from an officer and started shooting indiscriminately,” the Head of State revealed during the X-Space engagement on Friday.
Will President Ruto meet Kennedy’s family?
During an engagement with Kenyans on X Space on Friday, July 5, the Head of State disclosed that he had attempted to reach out to Kennedy’s grieving family.
Ruto mentioned that initially, the family was unreachable, but he left a message expressing his intention to meet with Kennedy’s mother.
