Magdalene Mwongeli, a single mother of two from Kithiani in Machakos County, is still reeling from the loss of her 17-year-old son, Elijah Muthoka, who died on June 25, 2025, after sustaining severe injuries during the anti-government demonstrations.
Weeks after laying her son to rest, Magdalene, who spoke to NTV says Elijah appeared to her in a dream. betonred
“He smiled at me before disappearing,” she recalls, her voice breaking. “Maybe he was telling me he is at peace… but I still want to know what really happened to him.”
On the fateful afternoon of June 25, Elijah, a Form Three student who was home for the holidays, left their Zimmerman home in Nairobi to drop some clothes off at a tailor. He never returned. Hours of searching ended in heartbreak when the family was informed that Elijah had been rushed to the hospital with serious head injuries.
The family managed to speak with him briefly before his condition worsened.
“He told me he had a head injury but promised to explain everything once he got out,” said his sister, Ngina. “He was too young. His life ended before it truly began.”
For Magdalene, who worked odd jobs to ensure her children’s education, Elijah was more than just her son; he was her source of strength and hope for a better future.
“He was my future. My protector,” she said, clutching her Bible and rosary, her only sources of comfort. “Even in death, I pray his soul is at peace. I had placed all my hopes in that boy because sons are usually protective of their mothers.”
An autopsy cited blunt force trauma as the cause of death, but it made no mention of the gunshot wound the family was initially told about, raising further questions and deepening their pain.
As Magdalene and her family seek answers, their story stands as a harrowing reminder of the human cost of political unrest, young lives cut short, and families left in unimaginable grief.
