Did they have to die? Families in agony as loved ones killed in Tuesday demos

They were unharmed. Some only waving the national flag but their respect for the country’s identity could not stop police bullets from killing them.

Some were brutalized to death while others sustained life-threatening injuries from police batons and bullets.

Yesterday, as the country internalized the events of Tuesday, several families were in grief as they struggled to come to terms with the loss of their loved ones and breadwinners.

This happened as the bodies of some of the protestors remained unidentified in some counties across the region.

In Mombasa, Paul Tata struggled to hold back tears as he viewed the body of his son who died after choking on tear gas fumes.

“I never imagined that a government I voted in would two years later kill my son,” he says.

The second-year student at Meru National Polytechnic, Emmanuel Tata, was caught up in the clash between the police and the demonstrators at Mombasa’s Mwembe Tayari Bus terminus.

Tata said yesterday that his son was not part of the protestors and that he left their home in Mikindani to Mombasa Central Business District with his friends to run some errands.

Like other parts of the country, hundreds of anti-government picketers in Mombasa engaged the police in running battles, leading to the death, injuries, and destruction of property.

“I received a phone call from his friends at around 4pm to inform me that Emmanuel had collapsed after inhaling tear gas smoke,” said Tata.

Speaking during a press briefing at Muhuri legal clinic, Tata said Emmanuel was taken to Al Farouq Hospital where medical personnel were unable to save his life.

A medical report indicates that Emmanuel arrived at the hospital in a state of unconsciousness, with his eye pupils non-reactive to light while there was no cardiopulmonary activity.

“He was my firstborn child who was God-fearing and a staunch Christian who never got into trouble with anyone.  I hoped he would complete his education and help turn around the family fortunes,’’ he said.

The mourning father had a special message for President William Ruto’s government, telling him that the youths engaged in the protests have nothing to lose.

“We surviving parents are left mourning their loss. I have toiled hard to make ends meet and give my son a decent education to lose him at the tender age of 20. Let the President consider meeting with the protesting youths. It would have been better if it was me who died since I have lived for long enough,” he said.

And as relatives try to come to terms with the death of their son, family spokesman Dan Njamba said that it was grappling with funeral costs as they prepare to bury Emmanuel at his parents’ home in Athi River, Machakos