Nelson Amenya slams the military at Raila Odinga’s viewing in a fiery takedown that’s reignited scars from Kenya’s darkest days, with the vocal activist warning that the forces dodged a national bullet by not botching the late icon’s farewell worse than they did at Westgate.
Nelson Amenya, the outspoken Gen Z firebrand who’s become a thorn in the establishment’s side, didn’t mince words during a packed presser outside Nyayo National Stadium, recounting how troops manning the perimeters at Nyayo and Kasarani turned what should have been a solemn tribute into a tense standoff.
“The military showed mourners bad things – rifles cocked, attitudes cocked higher. We dodged a bullet, but let’s be real: the Kenyan military is worse and cannot be left to do something like this alone,” Amenya thundered, his voice cutting through the murmurs of a crowd still raw from Odinga’s October 14 passing.
Some mourners claim that they were hit with batons on their backs, so they had to run past the casket instead of viewing the body.
The vignettes Amenya painted were stark: lines snaking for hours under a relentless sun, only for families to face barked orders and pat-downs that felt more like interrogations than security checks.
At Kasarani, where thousands queued to glimpse Odinga’s flag-draped casket in the stadium’s echoing halls, he alleged soldiers “herded us like cattle, flashing batons at elders who just wanted to pay respects.”
Nyayo fared no better, with reports of scuffles when tempers flared over entry delays. “This wasn’t protection; it was provocation,” Amenya added, drawing a gut-punch parallel to the 2013 Westgate siege.
Back then, elite units stormed the mall in a hail of chaos, their heavy-handed tactics leaving a trail of friendly fire and civilian casualties that a judicial inquiry later slammed as “reckless”.
“Westgate was a masterclass in military mess-ups – bodies misidentified, operations botched. Here at Raila’s send-off, we saw echoes: overkill where empathy was needed. Imagine if they’d gone full throttle? Catastrophe.”
“They can’t handle crowds without turning tyrants,” one user vented, echoing Amenya’s call for civilian-led security in public events. The activist, fresh off leading anti-tax marches that forced Ruto’s partial U-turns, framed the situation as systemic rot: “Odinga fought for a people’s army, not this iron-fisted relic.
Contrast Westgate’s bloodbath with how the Brits or Yanks drill restraint – ours? It’s a colonial hangover on steroids.” Government spinmeisters are scrambling.
“Baba would applaud the truth-tellers,” Oburu said softly. For Amenya, 28 and unbowed, it’s personal fuel. “I grew up hearing stories of military overreach – from Saba Saba to now. Raila’s viewing should’ve been healing, not haunting.”