Witness narrates Stephanie Moraa’s last moments

Mourners view the body of the late Stephanie Moraa who were shot during post-poll riots in Mathare, Nairobi on August 12, 2017. A witness on May 24, 2018 narrated to court Moraa's last moments before she was shot dead on the balcony of their house. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Witness tells court that they were four children playing on the balcony, including 10-year-old Moraa on August 12, 2017.
  • Witness said there were youth pelting police officers with stones.
  • A neighbour asked the children to move away from the balcony but Stephanie continued playing, witness said.

A 15-year-old girl on Thursday recalled the last moments of Stephanie Moraa, the girl who shot dead as she played with her friends on the balcony of their house in Mathare after last year’s General Election in August.

The girl, a Form One student at a Nairobi school, said they were playing in a balcony on the third floor of their house in Mathare North Area II when the incident happened.

She said they were four children playing, including 10-year-old Moraa, on August 12, 2017.

From the balcony, she said, she could see young men pelting the police with stones on the main road.

Moments later, she said three police officers moved near the building and chased away the youth.

The girl told Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi that one of the officers approached the house pointing his gun at them.

A man she only identified as Max came out of the house and told them to move away from the balcony because it was not safe, she added.

According to the girl, she heeded the advice and moved from the balcony but Stephanie remained behind playing.

SHOT

A few minutes later, she said Stephanie fell down and her friends laughed thinking she was scared of the police.

“But as she lay down facing upwards, we saw blood flowing,” she said.

It was then that one of them screamed alerting the neighbours.

“I ran downwards to their house on second floor and alerted her mother,” she said.

Back on the third floor, she said Stephanie was played with a neighbour identified as Moses when she was shot.

“She said help me three times before closing her eyes,” she added.

Stephanie’s mother, Ms Marube, arrived at the scene to find her daughter dead.
The witness said that the incident drew a huge crowd and more police officers were sent into the area.

Moraa, a Standard Four pupil at Mathare Primary School, was shot dead as police officers battled with protestors unhappy with the declaration of President Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner of the August 8 General Election.

The then Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko ordered an inquest into the death of the minor.

In February, Mr Andayi visited the area as another young girl demonstrated how the incident happened.