Foot burial fees for youths killed in protests, government urged

Family and friends of the late Wilson Sitati, who was killed during protests, collect his body from the City Mortuary in Nairobi on Thursday, July 4. [Collins Kweyu, Standard]

The government has been urged to compensate families of those killed during the anti-finance bill protests.

Mourners of one of the fallen victims said the government should compensate family members as some of the victims were championing the right cause.

"Majority of the youths killed in the protests come from poor families whose parents cannot afford transporting the bodies of their loved ones to different parts of the country for burial," said city businessman Zacharia Barasa.

He spoke on Thursday at the city mortuary, when the body of Wilson Sitati who was among the 39 people killed in the anti-finance bill was leaving the morgue for burial.

Barasa said he volunteered to finance the transportation costs of the 22-year-old man, who was a college student at the Olympic Vocational Training Center in Nairobi.

"His family was not able to transport his body to Kimilili in Bungoma county for burial slated for Saturday this week," said Barasa.

He called on the government to heed the youth demands, adding that if the concerns are not addressed controlling the youths will be difficult in future.

The deceased cousin, Andrew Sitati, said the late Sitati left the college to pick up a parcel that had been sent to him from his rural home.

He said that Sitati, who was pursuing a course in electrical training at the college, was new in the city having joined the college in May.

Florence Ochieng, the manager of the Olympic Vocational Training Center, said Sitati left school for the parcel but never got a chance to pick it up.

"... He may have not known where to hide in the city centre as the running battle between police and protesters went on," Ochieng said.

Ochieng said Sitati was studying at the college under a scholarship from a charitable organisation, after completing his secondary education in Bungoma county in 2023.