Ian Mwangi, injured protester undergoes surgery to remove lodged bullets

Ian Mwangi Maina, who was shot twice during the protests in Nairobi, is among those admitted at Kenyatta National Hospital. After waiting since Wednesday, he was finally taken to the theatre on Saturday evening. 

As thousands of youth stormed the streets of Nairobi on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary since the June 2024 protests, there are those who stood out from the crowd; Ian Maina was one of them. 

Dressed in a white t-shirt with flower prints, a national flag tied around the neck and another one on his hand, he was conspicuous as he went about capturing every moment. From police officers to fellow protesters, Maina made sure all who turned up got a space in his phone. 

Even when he joined fellow protesters to play football along the empty streets his phone never his left hand. It is the same phone that captured the moment when a police officer cut short the 25-year-old content creator's participation in the protests. 

He was shot twice while sitting down along Kenyatta Avenue by police officers in a moving Land Cruiser. 

“When I was shot I was actually seated and I happened to record everything and I was half a meter from Okiya Omtatah," Maina noted. 

Maina was rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital, where at least 100 protestors who were injured were taken for urgent medical care. The victims have, however, raised concerns over the delay in being attended to as Maina attested to us on Saturday morning. 

“One is touching the bone and it kinda started swelling yesterday and the pain is agonizing, yes they are giving me painkillers and pumping glucose so that I don’t get hungry, I feel weak, I’m getting weak day by day."

Fortunately, Maina’s case was attended to on Saturday evening and he was taken to theatre. Another victim who shared his ordeal online was this man who captured the moment when he was hit by five rubber bullets while escaping from police. The rubber bullets hit his right arm and he was rushed to KNH.

The two victims represent 531 victims who were injured during the protests witnessed in 23 counties. Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has put the number of those who died at 19 in seven counties, 15 cases of enforced disappearances were reported.