When he left their home in Moyale to Nairobi in 2018, Haila Asanake had only one dream: to get a job and support his family.
He had never been to school. His mother had died and the father was sickly and poor. Haila’s uncle took care of him and his two siblings.
At Huruma in the city, the 17-year-old was lucky to get a temporary job as an apartment caretaker and he settled. But Haila’s life was cut short when a stray bullet hit him. He died while undergoing treatment.
Haila was watching a scuffle between police and members of the public from a balcony on the third floor of a residential building in Huruma. A police officer who was scaring away the crowd that had charged at them accidentally shot him.
Haila’s uncle Abraham Cheme, who had been taking care of the deceased before he left Moyale, said the family is deeply wounded and hopes justice is served.
“The dreams of a young boy have been cut short. He had promised to help me pay school fees for his younger siblings,” he said.
The uncle said he took Haila and his two siblings in after their mother’s death eight years ago. Their father was sickly and had no source of income.
“Haila had never gone to school and he was almost 10 years old, so I opted to take the younger ones instead,” he said.
He helped take care of the household as he worked until three years ago when he decided to go look for a job in the city.
A neighbour, who owns an apartment in Kiamaiko area in Huruma, offered him a job as the caretaker.
Branu Boku, Haila’s cousin, said he did not have a house and would sleep under the staircase of the apartment where he worked.
“The landlord had put a door under the staircase holding both walls where he put a tiny mattress. He spent the day working and in church and would only go there to sleep,” Boku said.