Kenyans of goodwill who volunteered their time and skills to retrieve bodies from from an abandoned quarry in Kware area have fled the city for fear of their lives.
The families of victims whose bodies were retrieved during the exercise have also left the city, claiming that they have received threats and opted to relocate elsewhere.
Speaking to Citizen TV, the youth who were retrieving bodies from dumpsite claimed that they have been harassed and threated by DCI ever since they participated in the exercise.
They stated that they had received warnings that anyone who retrieves a body from the quarry will bear responsibility and will be treated as
“DCI walisema kwamba ukitoa mwili Itakuwa ni wewe uko accountable. Hiyo mwili mbona umeitoa na ani wewe uliiweka hapo juu wewe ndio umeiona. DCI walikuwwa wametutishia sana hiyo wakati. (DCI told us that anyone who retrieves a body from the quarry will be held accountable for the same and will be linked to dumping the body in the quarry. DCI really threatened us at the time)” A volunteer who helped in the retrieval of bodies lamented.
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“Ni kama ni kama kumaanisha tukifika pale tutawekelewa hiyo kesi. (It implies that a case will be planted on anyone who retrieves bodies),” added another youth who participated in the exercise.
Families of victims also claimed that they are under constant threats and intimidation from the DCI to a point where majority have fled the city in fear of their safety.
They claimed that the threats started shortly after they participated in DNA testing in a bid to help identify the victims whose decomposing bodies were retrieved.
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They shared that they have been receiving threatening calls from strange numbers are not assured of their saftety.
“Hata kufikia saa hii ni mimi pekee yangu niko Nairobi. Hatujui watatukujia. (At the moment I am the only one left in Nairobi as all the rest have fled. We don’t know when they will come for us).” A family member to one of the victims stated.
Human rights activists blamed the government and the police for frustrating the process so that the truth does not come out.
They further questioned why the exercise to retrieve body parts believed to be in the quarry was halted.
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Families also decried frustrations from the government noting that they had been told that bodies parts retrieved from the quarry will only be released to them once all parts of a body have been retrieved yet the exercise to search for the remaining parts has been halted.
