BBC identifies the security forces that shot against protesters against taxes

Kenya Security Force Members who shot dead tax protesters in the country’s parliament last June were identified by the BBC.

The BBC analysis of more than 5,000 images also shows that the killed there were unarmed and did not pose a threat.

The East African Nation’s Constitution guarantees the right to a peaceful protest, and death has caused a public protest.

Despite the parliamentary committee ordering the independent authority of Kenya police (IPOA) to investigate death on the streets of the capital, Nairobi – and to announce their findings – no report on the killings in parliament has yet been issued and no one has been considered reporting.

The BBC World Service team analyzes videos and photos taken by protesters and journalists on the day. We have determined when each was taken with the help of camera metadata, live times and public watches visible in the frames.

We drew three of the killings at 3D reconstruction of Kenya’s parliament, which allowed us to follow the fatal shots back to the rifles of a police officer and a soldier.

What follows is a detailed time line of BBC Africa Eye events, as Kenya MPs entered parliament for the final vote on the controversial government to finance the government, while protesters accumulated on the street off Tuesday, June 25, 2024.

Warning: This story contains images of dead bodies

Young people, Tagged protesters Gen Z who were mobilized on social media, began to move to Central Nairobi early in the morning – what would be the third large -scale protest of the capital, as the financial bill was introduced on May 9th.

“It was a beautiful party,” says the famous human rights activist Boniface Muangi, who was there.

“The kids came out with Bluetooth speakers and their water. It was a carnival.”

Protests earlier during the week He had already led the legislators to increase with the owl tax on bread, cooking oil, mobile money and motor vehicles, as well as an eco tax that would increase the cost of goods such as diapers and sanitary towels.

But other measures to raise $ 2.7 billion (£ 2 billion) the government said it was necessary to reduce its reading on external loans, as higher taxes on imports and another in specialized hospitalsstayed.

“For the first time, it was the Kenyan people – the working class and the middle class and the lower class – against the ruling class,” says Mwangi.

The protesters had one goal – a parliament where the final vote was held.

At 09:30 local time, the last of the MPs submitted to the lower house.

Thousands were pushed to the parliamentary road from the east, north and west of the city.

“For me, it was just a normal day,” says 26-year-old student journalist Adeba Allens.

People were live on their Tiktok and Instagram bills as the events were broadcast live on national television, he adds.

At first, protesters were detained on tear blocks of tear gas and banks, after which police began to use water cannons and rubber bullets.

At 1:00 pm, over 100,000 people were on the street.

“The numbers are starting to get bigger and people are actually starting to arrest themselves,” Alani says. “The police are everywhere. They are trying to push people back. People even climb to the top of these water cannons.”

Despite the increasing chaos outside, the MPs remained in the House and the vote began.

At 2:00 pm, protesters have pushed the police back to the northeast corner of parliament.

Inside 14:14, the Finance Finance bill was voted in: 195 in favor, 106 vs.. The opposition MPs broke out and the word instantly reached the tables out.

“This is when everyone says,” Whatever happens, we will enter parliament and show the deputies that we believe in what we are fighting for, “says Allens.

At 14:20, the protesters finally broke the police blockade and reached the road, which goes with parliament.

An abandoned police truck located outside the gates was set on fire. The fences were demolished and protesters stepped on parliamentary grounds. The invasion was short -lived. Parliamentary security forces quickly cleared them.

At the same time, the police returned back to the parliamentary road to drive away protesters back.

As it happened, the journalists were shooting, producing footage from minute by minute from many angles.

One of these videos is filming ordinary police officers who shouted “Uaa!”, Swahili the word “murder.” Seconds later, a police officer kneeling, the shots were heard and the protesters in the crowd collapsed – a total of seven.

David Cheege, a 39-year-old software engineer and teacher on Sunday, and Ericsson Mutisya, 25-year-old butcher, were shot dead. Five other men were injured, one of whom was left paralyzed from the waist down.

The footage shows that Allens, the student journalist, raising the Kenyan flag as he tried to reach Cheege and another case of a victim after the shooting.

But who shot these shots?

In the video of the officer who shouted, “Uaa!”, The shooter’s back was to the camera. But the BBC compares its armor, Riot Shield and hats with that of any police officer at the scene.

In his case, he had an inverted neck guard. We were in line with his distinctive uniform with an officer in a video recorded seconds later. There he took care to hide his face before shooting in the crowd. We do not know his name.

Even after the fatal shots, the ordinary branches could still be heard, calling for his colleagues to “kill”. He was not so cautious of concealing his identity: his name was John Coiboy.

Numerous sources have told the BBC that it is based on the Central Nairobi Police Department.

The BBC has made its allegations to the Kenya Police Service, which said that power cannot investigate its own country, adding that IPOA is responsible for investigating the alleged misconduct.

Cabboy turned for comment and did not answer.

No one has been responsible for the death of Chege or Mutsia. The BBC found that none of them were armed.

But this would not be the only lost life. Instead of scaring the demonstrators, the murders galvanized them and they tried again for parliament.

At 14:57 they did it.

Their footage shows that they break the fences and pass through the grounds of parliament. Many were hands. Others held posters or the Kenyan flag.

Warning shots were fired. The demonstrators went down, then continued to the building, taking pictures of their phones as they went.

After entering, inertia became chaos. The doors were kicked out, part of the complex was lit and the last of the deputies fled the building.

The destruction was difficult, but after five minutes the footage showed them that they were leaving the same way they entered.

At 15:04 the shots again and the protesters broke up through the flattened fence. As the smoke cleared, the frames of the camera showed three bodies lying on the ground. Two were injured – one raised his hand, but it couldn’t be.

The third, 27-year-old finance student, Eric Shini, was dead-headed in the head while leaving the grounds. The BBC found again, as in the case of Chege and Mutisya that he was unarmed.

BBC Africa Eye analyzes more than 150 images made minutes before and after shooting. We are able to identify the soldier who shoots at the back of his head from 25 m (82 feet) – again, we do not know his name.

“The video is very clear,” says Vera Odhiambo, President of the Law Society in Kenya.

“The goal was to kill these protesters. They could arrest him. But the fact that you were shooting on his head is obviously an intention to kill.

“You have become a judge, jurors and executioner of Eric’s sentence.”

The Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) told the BBC that IPOA had not sent a request to consider any of its staff involved in operations in parliament.

He added: “KDF remains fully committed to complying with the rule of law and continues to act strictly within its constitutional mandate.”

After the shooting Alan is visible again, the leading evacuation. Shots show him that he carries a man with a blood that crashes from his feet.

“I was afraid of my life that my parents would never see me again,” he says.

“But I was also afraid to let other people die when I could help.”

People outside the UK can watch here

As the sun was setting on June 25, the country was trying. After a week of protests, The National Human Rights Committee in Kenya That 39 people were killed and 361 were wounded throughout the country.

That evening President William Ruto thanked his security staff For their “protection of the sovereignty of the nation” against “organized criminals” who “abducted” the protests.

The next day, the Finance Bill was dropped.

“Listening to Kenya’s people who said strongly that they did not want anything to do with this 2024 funding bill, I admit,” the president said at a national television address, adding that he would not sign it in law.

But to this day he has not been held a security officer to take into account deaths and no official investigation has been published.

Additional reporting by BBC films editors Valeria Cardy and Emil Kostard