This archive report was first published on 15 July 2020.
On July 13, 2020, a tense standoff between police and protesters erupted along Juja Road in Nairobi, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Among the chaos, two casual laborers, Samuel Mbuva Musyoki and Paul Gichuki Githaiga, were accused of willfully and unlawfully damaging the Sh5,000 mirror of a police vehicle, GKA 227H, belonging to Pangani police station.
The incident occurred after the two were turned away by national government administration officials hiring youths for the National Hygiene Program (NHP), also known as Kazi Mtaani, under the state department of housing and urban development.
As the situation escalated, officers on patrol sought reinforcement from their colleagues at the Pangani police station, who arrived immediately led by the station commander.
However, upon arrival, they were pelted with stones by the rioting youths, and during the commotion, Githaiga attempted to snatch a pedestrian's phone before being rescued from the lynch mob by police.
The broken side mirror was a casualty of the chaos, and the two suspects, Musyoki and Githaiga, were subsequently charged with malicious damage of government property.
During their court appearance before Makadara chief magistrate Heston Nyaga, they denied the charges and were freed on a cash bail of Sh10,000 each. The hearing of the case is set to start on September 29, 2020.
Five police officers, including the driver of the police Landcruiser, constable Joseph Soi, have been listed as witnesses in the case.
