Jackson Kahonge, 61, who died four days after sustaining injuries during the June 25 anti-government protests in Nyeri town.
The name “Wamatha” needs no introduction in Nyeri town.
One could hear it long before seeing Jackson Kahonge as his voice rang out across the town’s three bus terminals, traffic and streets calling out to all to buy boiled eggs.
“He used to call out to customers, ‘Wamatha!’, slang for ‘customer’. That is how everyone came to know him,” recalled his cousin, Peter Kiama, a shoe-shiner.
Then the voice went silent on June 25, 2025.
The man behind the morning call, 61-year-old Kahonge, left his house early, hoping to make quick sales during the Gen Z protests anniversary. He never returned home.
Kahonge had boiled more eggs than usual that morning. With most businesses shut and locals pouring into the streets, he seized the opportunity and followed demonstrators, selling eggs to young people chanting anti-government slogans.
The demonstrations were largely peaceful until noon. A rowdy crowd then tried and failed to storm Chieni Supermarket owned by Kieni MP Njoroge Wainaina.
Moments later, the crowd turned towards Naivas Supermarket, near the town’s main bus terminal.
Kahonge’s one wrong move was following the protesters even when they confronted police.
When teargas canisters were lobbed into the crowd, many scampered for safety. In the confusion, Kahonge fell and was trampled on.
Jackson Kahonge, 61, who died four days after sustaining injuries during the June 25 anti-government protests in Nyeri town.
“He was discovered after the looting stopped and the crowd had cleared. Someone found him lying alone and called for help. They took him to Nyeri County Referral Hospital,” Mr Kiama said.
He added that the family later found Kahonge lying in the casualty ward in pain.
Kahonge died four days later, with doctors attributing the death to a broken rib cage.
That morning, Kahonge and Mr Kiama had stopped by their usual bar for beer before heading out to work.
“It was a routine. He was unusually upbeat as he believed the protests would mean more people on the streets and more sales,” he said.
Kahonge was buried in Gikondi village, Mukurweini Sub-County, on Wednesday.
His kin “mortgaged” the family’s quarter-acre ancestral land to raise Sh40,000 for the funeral, hospital and mortuary bills.
The father of three lived alone in a rented single room in Majengo. His eldest son Duncan Matheri, 33, said he was working at a construction site in Githurai when the devastating call came.
“I had not seen him for two weeks but we had spoken on phone a week earlier. He told me to work hard,” Mr Matheri said, adding that it took four days for him and his mother – who also lives in Githurai – to raise enough fare to Nyeri.
The funeral originally budgeted at Sh50,000 was postponed three times as the family struggled to raise money.
“We raised Sh6,000 for the casket, Sh2,000 for transporting the body and Sh5,000 was paid to the grave diggers,” Mr Matheri said, adding that there was no food for mourners.
