Protestors Block Outering Road After Police Shoot Dead Man In Failed Operation
The chaos spread to the major roads including Outering Road as well as Juja Road and adjacent roads with protestors blocking the routes and engaging police in running battles.
Marvin Chege 
Parts of Outering Road in Nairobi were on Tuesday, July 25 blocked for hours by angry protestors who took to the streets to protest the killing of a man in the Kiamaiko area.
This followed a botched operation to recover a suspected stolen motorcycle whereby a man in the informal settlement was allegedly shot and killed by police, igniting a day-long clash between them and the residents.
The chaos spread to the major roads including Outering Road as well as Juja Road and adjacent roads with protestors blocking the routes and engaging police in running battles.
Videos seen by Viral Tea showed smoke billowing from a distance along the busy highway amidst traffic that built up along the road and parts of Thika Road at the Alsopps area, with motorists advising each other to avoid the snarl-up and the aforementioned roads for security purposes.
Scene as protests break out along Outering Road on July 25, 2023. /ALINUR MOHAMED
According to police, they went to a house in the area to recover a stolen motorcycle when the mission turned deadly, with some residents resisting the operation and stoning the officers, prompting them to respond by opening fire.
One young boy was reported to have been fatally shot in the process. According to Nairobi police commander Adamson Bungei, as the police withdrew from the area, armed youths stormed a house they claimed belonged to a police informant and set it on fire.
“This broke out to fight between two groups even as police tried to calm the otherwise worse situation,” he was quoted by The Star, adding that they are investigating the shooting.
The youth lit bonfires on the roads, rendering them impassable for hours, as they expressed their dissatisfaction with police operations in the area, asking to be left in peace.
Police were forced to redirect motorists on the affected routes as Bungei added that they were engaging the affected people to solve the standoff.
“We were shocked by the way police were stoned and chased from the scene. It is a sign of trouble on the ground,” said one officer.
The matter of excessive police force and police brutality has been a subject of uproar across the country and once again resurfaced during the Azimio la Umoja anti-government protests.
On Tuesday, Azimio leader, Raila Odinga lamented that Kenya is witnessing unprecedented police brutality as well as an unprecedented phenomenon of the State resorting to armed militia to quell protests.
"First, there is no legal backing for police breaking up protests. The protests are protected by Section 37 of the Constitution. We are left wondering whether the Constitution has been suspended or whether the Constitution itself is a lie.
"Even if we were to assume that police have a right to break up protests, which they don’t have, there is no justification whatsoever for the use of live bullets against unarmed civilians. If the aim is to break up protests, then what is the justification for police to pull people out of their homes and shoot or clobber and kill them as is happening in parts of the country, particularly in Kisumu and the slums of Nairobi? When police follow you into your house and start clobbering or shooting, what are you supposed to do?" Raila posed in a televised interview with international media houses.
Raila Odinga addressing the media on July 25, 2023. /COURTESY
