Ruto Sends Personal Apology to Rex Masai’s Family 2 Years After Fatal Shooting During Gen Z Protests

President William Ruto has issued a personal apology to the family of Rex Masai, who was fatally shot during anti-government protests in Nairobi in June 2024.

Professor Makau Mutua visits Mama Rex Masai in Kayole on Thursday, October 29, to deliver President William Ruto’s apology over her son’s death during the June 2024 protests. Photo: @compensationke. Source: TwitterThe apology was delivered on Thursday, October 29, by Professor Makau Mutua, chairperson of the panel of experts on compensation of victims of human rights violations including from demonstrations and public protests. Makau and his team visited Rex Masai’s mother in Kayole, Nairobi.

In a statement shared on X after the visit, the panel said it had conveyed both Ruto’s personal apology and that of the State to the family over their loss.

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Representatives from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) also attended the meeting.

The panel said the visit reaffirmed the importance of justice, healing, national reconciliation and the ongoing compensation process for victims of protests and riots.

However, the statement did not indicate whether the family had received compensation under the programme or whether the apology was accompanied by any specific commitments on accountability for Masai’s death.

Masai was shot dead in Nairobi on June 20, 2024, during demonstrations against the Finance Bill 2024. His death became one of the most prominent cases associated with the deadly crackdown on protesters and triggered widespread demands for justice and police accountability.

In the weeks following the shooting, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said identifying the person responsible had proved difficult because the available CCTV footage did not clearly identify the individual who fired the fatal shot. The office appealed to members of the public to provide information that could assist investigations.

An inquest into Masai’s death was closed in 2026 after a forensic expert testified about the authenticity of CCTV footage presented by IPOA. The expert told the court that his examination had found no evidence of technical or deliberate alteration of the recordings.

Harry Ivan Mboto (Current affairs editor) Harry Ivan Mboto is an accredited journalist with the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) and a Current Affairs and Politics Editor at TUKO.co.ke. He is a Linguistics, Media, and Communication student at Moi University and has five years of experience in digital journalism. Have a news tip, query, or feedback? Reach him at: harry.ivan@tuko.co.ke.