Over the course of less than eight hours, Kenyans have raised more than Ksh. 2 million to pay for Rex Kanyike and Evans Kiratu’s funeral costs.
Both young men, Rex and Evans, died from injuries they got during the Thursday Occupy Parliament demonstrations. Rex was shot and killed by police as the demonstrations moved into the night, and Evans was struck by a tear gas canister and passed away a few days later.
A day after an X’space’ sparked national outcry and increased online activity, Kenyans on X came together, moved by the unfortunate circumstances, to give the two men a respectable farewell.
Under the direction of X personality Kimuzi, and with the help of Osama Otero and Hanifa Adan, an ensemble of volunteers gathered swiftly to plan a fundraising for Rex and Evans, putting up an M-CHANGA early on Sunday morning.
Kimuzi posted the fundraiser’s link on social media with the message, “Our Brothers Rex & Evans | M-CHANGA. This is the link. I will send all the funds in my Mpesa here that was contributed. The goal is 2M. We can do this. It will be shared by both families.”
Kindhearted Kenyans soon began to send in their donations; several even shared screenshots of their participation to inspire others to do the same.
Simultaneously, Osama Otero initiated a new X area dedicated to the deceased demonstrators, urging all listeners to contribute even Ksh. 10 as the competition to raise Ksh. 2 million intensified.
Eight hours later, Kimuzi gave Kenyans an update on the fundraiser’s progress, saying with pride that the goal had been reached—indeed, it exceeded the goal by hundreds of thousands of shillings.
“8 hours later, tuko 2M. This week, nimekuwa happy, for the first time as a Kenyan. You can kill a liberator, but will never kill the incoming libération!” he tweeted.
In his subsequent tweets of gratitude, he referred to the donors as “unstoppable” and continued to criticize President Ruto.
“WE MADE IT!! THANK YOU, THANK You. We are unstoppable. We are a movement, Ruto can’t stop this. Unlike Sudi, we’ve done this together!” he stated.
Osama Otero, for his part, just tweeted, “DONE!” along with a screenshot showcasing the extraordinary success of the campaign.
Many Kenyans on X are already organizing intricate plans to attend Rex and Evans’ funerals in large numbers, pushing others to do the same in order to honor the two men’s memory and to send a clear message to the Kenyan government.
