This archive report was first published on 24 July 2019.
Mark Nyamweya, a 27-year-old man from Kisii, died in Industrial Area Prison on July 9, 2019, after being jailed for failing to pay a fine of Sh200 for being drunk and disorderly.
The family is now seeking help to raise Sh300,000 for his burial, which is scheduled to take place on Friday at his home in Kisii.
Despite seeking help from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the Kenya National Human Rights Commission, the family claims that all their pleas for justice have fallen on deaf ears.
According to his uncle, Dennis Nyamweya, the family is 'seriously frustrated' and has not received any assistance towards getting justice.
'We have not gotten any assistance towards getting justice. All the relevant authorities that we had earlier approached have gone silent,' Dennis Nyamweya said.
The family is also seeking the Nairobi county government to waive a pending bill of Sh14,700 at City Mortuary, where a post-mortem was conducted on Monday.
Relatives say the circumstances surrounding Mark's death are suspicious, and they want to know the nature of the drug administered to him, who diagnosed him, and why the prisons administration did not take him for emergency treatment.
His brother, Daniel, said they grew up orphans, and Mark had only stayed in Soweto for two months before his death.
Mark was arrested with 42 others on July 8, 2019, but only six were arraigned in court. He pleaded guilty and was fined Sh200, with an alternative sentence of seven days in custody.
A police source from the prison said Mark died after developing stomach problems, vomiting, and diarrhoea.
However, the family disputes this account, saying that an officer brought Mark some drugs and water around midnight, but no officer responded to their cries for help when Mark started groaning in pain at 4am.
Mark took the porridge brought to him at 6am and later died.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has sought documents from the Soweto police station's boss through a letter, but the police have refused to provide the information, citing that the family is not an IPOA official or a police officer.
