Police have summoned Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy Fikirini Jacobs to record a statement as part of investigations into the fatal shooting of 29-year-old youth leader Cecil Ouma following a government youth engagement event in Nairobi.
The shooting occurred on Tuesday evening after a meeting at Kariokor Social Hall, with investigators seeking to establish the circumstances that led to Ouma’s death.
Detectives have seized two firearms issued to officers attached to the Principal Secretary’s security detail for forensic examination.
The probe has since widened, with detectives from Nairobi North Sub-County recording statements from at least seven people, including two bodyguards assigned to the Principal Secretary and a director from the Ministry of Youth Affairs who was reportedly in the vehicle at the time of the incident.
Investigators said the ministry official is considered a key witness.
According to Ouma’s family, the youth leader had been contacted on Monday by a man who identified himself as the Principal Secretary’s personal assistant and asked him to mobilise young people to attend the government function at Kariokor Social Hall.
His elder brother, Jeff Okoth, said Ouma organised about 20 youths, with more participants joining the event as the day progressed.
After the meeting ended, Ouma was reportedly called aside by the organisers to receive what was described as a token of appreciation on behalf of the group. Okoth said his brother later informed the youths that he had been given Sh10,000 to share among them.
The group reportedly rejected the amount and urged Ouma to return to the organisers to negotiate for more.
According to the family’s account, Ouma returned to a government vehicle occupied by the Principal Secretary, his security officers and the personal assistant. The family alleges that moments later, the vehicle drove away towards Pangani as some youths followed behind.
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Okoth said the family had been informed by witnesses that a gunshot was heard from inside the moving vehicle before Ouma was allegedly ejected onto the road.
“My brother was thrown out of the vehicle and landed on the road, bleeding from a bullet wound,” Okoth said.
Good Samaritans rushed Ouma to a hospital along Park Road, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The family’s account differs from the version reported to Pangani Police Station by members of the Principal Secretary’s security team, who alleged they had been attacked by rowdy youths while leaving Kariokor Social Hall and robbed of cash, mobile phones and other personal belongings.
Nairobi County Police Commander Issa Mohamud said investigators were examining the conflicting accounts to establish exactly what happened.
“We have summoned him to record a statement. Everyone who was involved in the incident must record a statement,” Mohamud said, adding that investigations would establish the truth.
A post-mortem examination was expected to help establish the circumstances surrounding Ouma’s death.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs had not issued a statement on the incident by the time of publication.
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