Manyatta MP Gitonga Mukunji has challenged the government to release its own version of events from the deadly Gen Z-led protests on June 25, 2024, following the release of the hard-hitting BBC Africa Eye documentary ‘Blood Parliament’.
Speaking on Monday, April 28, 2025, Mukunji expressed outrage over the government’s silence and failure to properly investigate the deaths of young protesters.
He said the blood of those young people had been shed unfairly and condemned the lack of a tangible investigation to establish why they were killed.
Mukunji called upon the government to release an alternative documentary if it had one and demanded that the families of those who lost their loved ones be compensated.
“The blood of those young people, and I want to condemn the fact that there has not been any significant investigation to establish why these youth were killed. I want to call upon the government, if they have an alternative documentary of what transpired, to release it,” Mukunji stated.
He described the killings as very inhuman, noting that the victims were speaking and fighting for rights enshrined in the constitution.
“And they should compensate the families that lost their loved ones, because that was very inhumane for people who are speaking and fighting for rights that are in the constitution,” he added.
The lawmaker also criticised the government for leaving it to the BBC to ask the hard questions, adding that those young people who died were not just fighting for themselves but for everyone.
“It is also a shame that the BBC had to release a documentary to ask the hard questions. Those young people who died were not fighting for themselves; they were fighting for everyone, ” the parliamentarian stated.
June 25
In just a few hours of its release, ‘Blood Parliament’ has reignited national outrage and grief over the deaths of unarmed protesters. The documentary, released on YouTube on Monday, meticulously pieced together the events of that day using 3D modelling, forensic video analysis, and eyewitness testimony.
It captured chilling footage of security forces opening fire on civilians as they breached Parliament grounds in protest against the controversial Finance Bill 2024.
On June 25, 2024, tens of thousands of mainly Gen Z protesters flooded Nairobi’s streets to oppose the bill, which proposed sweeping new taxes. Despite fierce public opposition, Parliament passed the bill by a vote of 195 to 106. Minutes after the vote, violence erupted outside the National Assembly.
According to the documentary, the first fatalities occurred on Parliament Road, where David Chege, a 39-year-old software engineer and Sunday school teacher, and Ericsson Mutisya, a 25-year-old butcher, were shot dead.
BBC’s 3D reconstruction showed a police officer kneeling and opening fire directly at protesters, killing Chege and Mutisya and injuring at least five others.
As tensions escalated, protesters stormed the Parliament complex, the first time this had happened in Kenya’s post-independence history.
In the chaos that followed, another life was lost. Eric Shieni, a 27-year-old finance student at the University of Nairobi, was shot in the head while trying to escape through a broken section of Parliament’s perimeter fence. He collapsed on the rubble and died instantly.
The BBC documentary went a step further by identifying Shieni’s shooter. Through careful forensic analysis of video footage and photographs, investigators determined that the assailant, dressed in a matte green helmet, tan boots, a white shoulder patch, and carrying a solid stock rifle, was a soldier from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).