Several people were injured after chaos erupted outside Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos town, the venue of this year’s Mashujaa Day national celebrations.
Trouble started when thousands of citizens who had been locked out of the venue due to the limited space inside the stadium attempted to force their way in, moments after President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived.
Officers drawn from the Administration Police, General Service Unit, Anti-riot police as well as the National Youth Service (NYS) swung into action to disperse the agitated crowd that was chanting “haki yetu” (our right) slogan.
Dozens of people sustained injuries, one of them critical, after a stampede outside the stadium but were rushed to Machakos Level 5 referral hospital in ambulances as the crowd protested against brutality of NYS officers.
“Why do you want to kill me on Mashujaa Day and I am not armed or a threat to anybody’s security?” shouted one of the victims of brutal beatings by NYS officers.
