Families in Kiambu are grieving after six people, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed by police during the Saba Saba Day protests on Monday, June 2025. The victims’ families are calling for justice, compensation, and an independent investigation into the police’s use of live ammunition.
One of the victims, Lucy Ngugi, is mourning the loss of her 12-year-old daughter, Bridgit Njoki, who was shot and killed while watching TV at their home in Ndumberi village.
A heart-wrenching account of violence during the Saba Saba Day protests in Kiambu has left several families grieving the loss of loved ones.
“It was around 6:20 pm, we were at home as a family when a stray bullet penetrated our house and caught my daughter on the head,” recalled Lucy Ngugi, mother of 12-year-old Bridgit Njoki, who tragically died while being resuscitated at St. Brigid’s Hospital. Their home, just two kilometers from the main road where protests were unfolding, became the site of unimaginable grief.
Dennis Mutuma Mwangi, 23, was another casualty. Shot dead outside his home in Kiambu town, his mother, Friday Kawira, tearfully recounted, “My son was shot from the back, meaning he was running away. The bullet came through his neck, killing him instantly.” Kawira insists her son wasn’t involved in the protests—he had merely stepped outside to see what was happening after washing his clothes.
In Ndumberi village, Laban Kamau, also shot in the head, left his mother, Margaret Wangui, in shock. “Ndumberi is a village, not a town center,” she said. “We were shocked to see such protests. It has left me without a son. It’s so hurtful since my son was no criminal to be gunned down like that.”
As these families struggle with their loss, they are also burdened with mortuary and post-mortem bills at Kiambu Level Five Hospital. They’re calling on the government to cover hospital bills and burial preparations, asserting that the killings—executed with live ammunition—were unprovoked and unnecessary.
The violence didn’t stop at death. Kevin Muiruri, 18, was injured with a gunshot wound to his left leg while running from the chaos in Kabete constituency.
Former Kiambu MP, Jude Njomo, who visited the mourning families, voiced the need for an independent investigation into the police’s actions. “How can the police, who have killed these young people, investigate themselves?” he questioned. “We need international bodies to investigate and give the dead justice.”
Njomo also criticized the police for allegedly downplaying the extent of the violence, citing reports that only one death was officially confirmed in Kiambu, despite six fatalities being confirmed by grieving families.
