Henry Omondi Ochieng, 32, a resident of Bondo, Siaya County, faces an uncertain future after he was shot in the thigh on June 25 during the famous Generation Z protests against the 2024 Funding Act.

Gunshots and tear gas canisters filled the air as Kenyans protested tax hikes, bad governance, constitutional violations, extrajudicial killings, the high cost of living, among other issues.

Omondi would face a life-changing setback when a police bullet grazed his left leg, subjecting him to physical pain.

“I was walking along the road when a bullet pierced my leg. The Boda Boda riders took me to the hospital where a doctor said the bullet was lodged in my leg,” he recalls.

He stated that through the intervention of Siaya Governor James Orengo, doctors at the Bondo sub-county hospital were able to remove the bullet that was lodged in his thigh. However, he could not continue the treatment as he could not raise Ksh 50,000 for the operation.

Over the four-month period, Omondi took painkillers only to reduce the severe pain in his leg as he cannot raise the amount required for the corrective surgery.

Citizen Digital visited him in his one-room rented house in Onyata Estate on the outskirts of Bondo. Here, he narrates how his life has been completely shattered as he can no longer undertake the boda boda business he used to do for a living.

“It’s difficult to get food, we survive on porridge and water,” Omondi recounts as tears fill her eyes.

This had an important economic effect on his family. For four months, he was unable to pay the rent or provide for his wife and two children, adding that the burden of the injury was very heavy on his family, to the extent that it became almost impossible to get even a single mass.

The burden of looking after the family now falls on the shoulders of his wife, Lucy Akoth, who often has to do manual labor to support the family as she endures a painful journey since her husband was injured in the Generation Z protests.

As their hope extended beyond recovery, Omondi and Akoth pleaded for support to allow him to undergo corrective surgery so that he could resume his normal duties.