NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 1 — Two police reports on an incident involving Youth Affairs Principal Secretary Jacob Fikirini’s security detail leave a critical question unanswered: how did a confrontation described as involving warning shots end with a young man fatally shot?
The first report, recorded at Pangani Police Station at 8:05 p.m., states that the incident occurred shortly after 5:00 p.m. as the Principal Secretary and his security team left Kariokor Social Hall in Kamukunji Sub-county after attending a youth sensitisation meeting.
According to the report, the convoy was “accosted by rowdy youth who surrounded and hung onto the PS’s motor vehicle… demanding for handouts.”
Police say the group, estimated at about 100 people, followed the convoy from the meeting venue, opened vehicle doors and allegedly stole mobile phones belonging to two police officers attached to the Principal Secretary’s security detail.
The report further states that the vehicle’s rear windscreen was smashed with stones as the driver sped away.
According to police, the bodyguards then “fired shots in the air to disperse them” before officers on patrol intervened and stopped the crowd from pursuing the convoy further.
The Principal Secretary was later escorted safely to his residence, while one suspect, identified as Bob Moses Ogweno, was arrested and is expected to face charges.
However, a second report filed later the same night records the death of a man from multiple gunshot wounds but does not explain how, where or under what circumstances he was shot.
The report, entered at 10:00 p.m., states that Park Road Nursing Home notified police at about 9:00 p.m. that a person with gunshot wounds had been brought to the facility and later died.
The deceased was identified as Cecil Otieno Ouma.
Police officers who visited the hospital found Ouma’s body with two gunshot wounds to the left hand and another below the left breast, according to the report.
The reports do not directly connect the fatal shooting to the confrontation involving the Principal Secretary’s convoy. However, they leave unresolved questions about the circumstances under which Ouma sustained the gunshot injuries.
While the first report states that security officers fired “shots in the air” to disperse a crowd, the second documents a victim with three gunshot wounds, including one to the torso.
Neither report explains where Ouma was shot, who fired the weapon, whether he was among the crowd that confronted the convoy, or whether investigators have linked any firearm used during the incident to the fatal injuries.
The initial report also makes no mention of any civilian being injured despite detailing the alleged theft of phones, damage to the official vehicle and the discharge of firearms.
Similarly, the death report confirms the gunshot injuries but provides no account of the events leading to the shooting, the location where it occurred, whether witnesses have been identified or whether any firearm has been recovered for forensic examination.
Witnesses, however, have offered a markedly different account of the events.
According to witnesses, Ouma was among youths mobilised to attend the empowerment forum at Kariokor Social Hall that was attended by the Principal Secretary.
They alleged that after the event ended at around 5 p.m., the Principal Secretary gave the youths money, but a section of those present rejected the amount.
Ouma was allegedly chosen by the group to follow the Principal Secretary’s vehicle and return the money.
One witness claimed Ouma was shot inside the Principal Secretary’s vehicle before being pushed out onto the road.
He was rushed to Park Road Nursing Home but was reportedly pronounced dead on arrival after suffering severe blood loss.
These claims have not been confirmed by investigators or police.
The incident has triggered demands for accountability from political leaders and the victim’s family.
A Member of Parliament questioned the circumstances surrounding Ouma’s death, saying the deceased had attended the event after being invited and should not have been treated as a criminal.
“PS, you are a member of our party. The deceased is a member of our party. I need more information. No one has a right to kill the youth of our party because of politics. He was not a goon. You are the one who personally invited him,” the MP said.
The legislator said he would seek disciplinary action over the incident while calling for Fikirini’s resignation.
Ouma’s family also demanded justice.
As a family, we want justice to be served. There is no way you can call people to a function and then shoot them,” a family member said.
The incident is currently under investigation
The inquiry is expected to establish whether the fatal shooting was connected to the confrontation involving the Principal Secretary’s convoy, identify the firearm responsible, reconstruct the sequence of events and determine whether the use of force complied with police procedures.
