I’m still alive, says man beaten up by police at chaotic protests

The country spent the better part of Tuesday mourning a man who is alive and well, with no visible sign of injuries.

Mr Boniface Manono, the victim in the video on police brutality that has made the rounds on social media, spoke out for the first time Tuesday explaining how he got caught up in the drama.

He says that he had just come from Uber offices in Westlands to activate his account as a driver for the taxi company when he came across the demonstrators on University Way.

“I was walking on University Way headed towards Nyerere Road. At around 1pm, while at the roundabout to Nyerere road, a tear gas canister exploded at my feet.  I ran towards Uhuru Highway. I saw people running towards one direction and I followed them, also trying to get out of the way of police officers.

But the officers flushed us out and I attempted to run away. One officer tripped me and I fell. I immediately lost consciousness,” he said.

The 36-year-old Manono said he felt nothing during the vicious beating that has been shared widely in the media.

He says that he only came to a few minutes after the police officers were done, when a group of journalists roused and helped him up.

“I was in pain but I tried to walk and made it all the way to Uhuru Park before I gave up. I slept at Uhuru Park until at around 6pm when my uncle came and got me, and took me to his house in Kibera. I have been in the house until a well-wisher came and brought me to Coptic Hospital for treatment,” he said.

At Coptic, the doctors took some X-rays of his back and conducted examinations to check for internal injuries.

They must have been satisfied that he did not need hospitalization because they gave him some pain killers and released him, asking him to report back the following day for follow up.

Mr Manono walks with a slight limp which he says is due to the beating he received.

“I am still in pain from the beating and I have seen the clips about what the police did and it makes me feel bad. But I am alive and I am thankful to be alive. I did not die, like everybody believed,” he said.

He insists that he was not part of the demonstration and has refuted claims that he had carried a rock in his back pocket.

“All I had on me were my wallet and a phone. I was not carrying any stones and I was not part of that demonstration,” he said.