IPOA Appeals for Information on Rex Masai Fatal Shooting

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) is urging Kenyans who witnessed the fatal shooting of protester Rex Kanyeki Masai on June 20, 2024, to come forward with information to aid their investigation.

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The authority commenced its probe into the incident last month and was given 21 days by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to investigate the shooting, which occurred during the anti-Finance Bill 2024 protests.

“IPOA is once again calling upon anyone who witnessed the fatal shooting of Mr. Rex Masai on June 20, 2024, to come forth and volunteer information to advance its investigations,” the authority said in a statement. “This information will help not only bring closure to the family and friends but also contribute to police accountability.”

Rex Masai was fatally shot while returning home during the protests along Moi Avenue in Nairobi. He was allegedly shot by a plainclothes policeman around 7 p.m. Aerial footage captured the incident as protesters, pushed from Kenyatta Avenue and City Hall Way, regrouped outside a club on Moi Avenue.

Gillian Munyao, Rex’s mother, told Nairobi News that reports from both government and family pathologists indicated Rex had sustained a fatal thigh wound, causing significant blood loss.

“One of the police shot him in the left thigh, and his friend tried to take him to the nearest hospital, Bliss, but unfortunately, he died before reaching there,” she said.

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In a statement on Friday, June 21, 2024, the Authority disclosed it was also investigating several injuries suffered by other demonstrators, including police officers who were quelling the unrest.

“Accordingly, and in accordance with Section 7 of the IPOA Act, the Authority has this morning launched investigations into the fatal shooting and our investigation team has since established contact with the family of Mr. Masai, and all the serious incidents documented during the demonstrations,” said IPOA chairperson Anne Makori in the statement.

Masai was laid to rest on July 5 in Kamuthanga, Machakos County. He was 29 years old.