NAIROBI, Kenya – Boniface Mwangi Kariuki, the hawker who became a national symbol of the human cost of police brutality during Justice for Ojwang protest, is fighting for his life after undergoing a second high-risk brain surgery.
Doctors at Kenyatta National Hospital wheeled Mwangi back into surgery on Thursday—just 48 hours after performing an initial operation to remove a bullet lodged in his skull.
This time, the mission was to extract dangerous fragments still embedded in his brain.
The surgery lasted four tense hours. When it ended, Boniface was returned to the ICU, where he remains fully dependent on life support. His prognosis is critical.
The 29-year-old street vendor had been selling face masks to protesters when he was shot at close range—unarmed, and by all accounts, uninvolved in any violence.
The shooter: a police officer. The moment: another flashpoint in Kenya’s long-standing struggle with excessive force in law enforcement.
As the country reels from the incident, the calls for accountability are growing louder. Civil rights groups, activists, and citizens online are demanding answers, questioning not just the actions of individual officers, but the broader culture of impunity surrounding the use of lethal force.
Human rights observers have flagged Boniface’s case as a glaring example of abuse—one that underscores systemic issues within the police service.
Meanwhile, Boniface’s family waits—his hospital bed surrounded by machines, his future uncertain.
But for them, the mission is clear: justice not just for Boniface, but for every Kenyan who’s been silenced or scarred by unchecked power.
