Mask Hawker Boniface Kariuki Shot By Police Declared Brain Dead
The family is now awaiting the doctors’ formal declaration of clinical death.
Marvin Chege 
Boniface Kariuki, a mask vendor who was shot by a police officer during the Tuesday, June 17 protests, has been pronounced brain dead.
Addressing the media at Kenyatta National Hospital on Sunday, Kariuki’s family said doctors had informed them that his brain had ceased to function.
The family is now awaiting the doctors’ formal declaration of clinical death. However, the family has said that the life support machine Kariuki is on cannot be switched off due to legal issues.
Family spokesperson Emily Wanjira confirmed that medics at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) stated that Mwangi's organs are still functioning.
Jonah Kariuki, father to Boniface Kariuki, a 22-year-old hawker shot by police in Nairobi CBD, addresses the press on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. /OKIYA OMTATAH
"Mwangi is confirmed brain dead. We know what it means. We are just waiting for the doctor to tell us he is no more," she said.
"We received a call from the hospital at 12.47am saying that they needed to have a brief with us, and we have been told what is happening," she disclosed.
What It Means To Be Declared Brain Dead
When someone is declared brain dead, it means there is a complete and irreversible loss of all brain activity, including in the brain stem, which controls basic life functions like breathing and heartbeat regulation.
Unlike a coma or a vegetative state, where some brain function may remain, brain death is final — there is no chance of recovery. Doctors use strict medical tests to confirm that the brain has permanently stopped working before making this declaration.
Once a person is brain dead, they are legally considered dead, even if machines keep their heart beating and their lungs working temporarily. Families sometimes struggle with this because their loved one may still look “alive” — warm, with a heartbeat — thanks to life support.
However, medically and legally, brain death is death, and life support is only maintaining the body’s organs, not consciousness or awareness. After a brain death declaration, doctors will typically prepare to withdraw life support unless there are reasons to delay, like organ donation.
The family further stated that additional bullet fragments remain in Kariuki’s brain and have yet to be removed.
Kariuki has undergone two surgeries at Kenyatta National Hospital to extract the bullet lodged in his head and has been recovering in the Intensive Care Unit under constant monitoring.
Earlier, his father, Jonah Kariuki, disclosed that the hospital bill had already reached Ksh 1 million and was growing by the day.
"The reality of things is that Boniface Mwangi Kariuki is declared brain-dead. The hospital bill is now higher than Ksh3 million. We are praying and hoping for the well-wishers because when someone is declared brain dead, we know what it means, so the brainstem of Boniface Mwangi Kariuki is not working any longer," Wanjira continued.
Providing an update on protest-related casualties the following day, Kenyatta National Hospital CEO Dr. William Sigilai confirmed that the mask vendor had already undergone surgery to remove a bullet-like object from his brain.
While further forensic analysis was pending, Sigilai suggested the object could potentially be a rubber bullet.
As Kenyans demonstrated for justice for Albert Ojwang, who died in a police cell, two police officers were caught on camera harassing Kariuki before one of them shot him at close range, leaving him unconscious.
Tragically, shortly after the incident, the family was defrauded of Ksh 200,000, compounding their struggles as their son continued to fight for his life in hospital.
The distressed family has since appealed to the judiciary to deliver justice by convicting and sentencing the police officers involved in the shooting.
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