Baby Pendo’s father: Let my child’s blood be the last to be shed in a general election
The parents of the late Samantha Pendo, Lencer Achieng’ and Joseph Abanja, have on Monday pleaded with the political class to avoid a repeat of what happened in the 2017 presidential elections.
Speaking at the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) launch at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi, the two lauded the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Joseph Abata, Baby Pendo’s father: Naomba Rais Uhuru vile mumeshikana na Raila Odinga msiachane mkono. Naona BBI italeta mabadiliko kwa maisha yetu. Wacha damu ya mwanangu iwe ya mwisho kumwagika. Rais kumbuka familia ya Baby Pendo msituache hivo. Mumetuacha tunateseka#BBILaunch pic.twitter.com/8uZSZNYEkb
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) October 26, 2020
“Naomba Rais Uhuru vile mumeshikana na Raila Odinga msiachane mkono. Naona BBI italeta mabadiliko kwa maisha yetu. Wacha damu ya mwanangu iwe ya mwisho kumwagika. Rais kumbuka familia ya Baby Pendo msituache hivo. Mumetuacha tunateseka,” said Pendo’s father.
Baby Pendo was killed by police during post-election violence on August 11, 2017. The violence erupted after the presidential elections were annulled by the Supreme Court.
“A flower was uprooted from my garden and it cannot be replaced. I can be given another person but not the same person as Pendo. Naomba wanasiasa ikue mwisho kile kilitendeka 2017,” Pendo’s mother, Lencer Achieng said.
Lensa Achieng – Mother to Baby Pendo; six-month-old girl killed by police in the August 2017 elections, speaks at the BBI report launch:
A flower was uprooted from my garden and it cannot be replaced. Naomba wanasiasa ikue mwisho kile kilitendeka 2017. #BBILaunch pic.twitter.com/74WEgkw5af
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) October 26, 2020
Achieng asked politicians to accept the results if one loses and allow Kenyans to read and vote on the BBI as they dim fit.
“When you (politicians) are coming chunga vitu zinatoka kwa ulimu zenu. Msifanye tupigane halafu wewe unasonga mbele na maisha yako,” Achieng’ said.
Pendo’s mother reiterated the words of his husband that the government has not checked on their welfare after losing their six-month-old baby.
“Don’t leave us with pain and agony. When we are aggrieved…look at how the victims are faring on,” she said.
