Millie Odhiambo Says Mask Vendor Shot by Police is from Homa Bay: "We Are Tired with Mourning"

Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo told Parliament she was shocked to learn that the young man shot by police during protests in Nairobi is from Homa Bay county

 The man was vending face masks during the anti-police demonstrations before being accosted by two officers who shot him on the head

 Millie linked the killing to other past incidents involving residents of Homa Bay, saying the continued loss of lives was both tragic and unacceptable

 Harry Ivan Mboto is a journalist for TUKO.co.ke. He has been covering politics and current events in Kenya for more than three years. It started out like any other protest in Nairobi's streets, but tragedy struck Homa Bay County's core.

Millie Odhiambo, a member of parliament representing Suba North, has made it clear that the young man who was shot by police during a demonstration against Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat was from her district. The victim was reportedly caught in the commotion while selling face masks during the protest in Nairobi. Speaking during the National Assembly sitting on Tuesday, June 17, Millie said she was stunned to discover that the deceased hailed from Suba, although his exact identity and whether he was from Suba North or South remain unclear.

 “Madam Speaker, it would be careless on my part if I don’t say that I have just learnt that the young man I am talking about, I’m being told he is from Homa Bay, and from Suba,” Millie said, visibly emotional.

 She called the police officer's actions careless and reckless, arguing that such brutal acts were reversing the country's progress and undoing the progress made by the government. I've watched that video. That police officer's actions are completely careless and irresponsible, and they are doing this government a disservice. She stated, "We must move forward as a nation, even if you take ten steps forward and fifty backwards." The MP, clearly troubled by the incident, wondered what she would say to her Suba constituents now that the county was exhausted from mourning young lives lost in similar tragedies. “It is unfortunate.  We are sick of mourning, Homa Bay,” she continued. Millie also drew parallels between the shooting and previous high-profile deaths involving individuals from Homa Bay, including Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were, who was killed by unknown assailants in Nairobi, and blogger Albert Ojwang, who died in police custody.

 “Let us die of natural causes, not by being killed.  Who will remain in Homa Bay if we are all killed, Ong'ondo Were, Ojwang? she asked Parliament.