The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Davji Bhimji Atellah has regained consciousness a day after he was injured. KMPDU Boss Davji Atellah makes a contribution during a meeting. The outspoken unionist was leading a protest over the delayed posting of medical interns and the payment of fees to postgraduate students when the police assaulted him. Atellah was reportedly struck by a teargas canister from the police, an act that has sparked widespread condemnation.What happened to Atellah during doctors’ protest During an interview from his hospital bed at The Nairobi Hospital on Friday, March 1, the KMPDU boss said he was shot at from a close range by an officer positively identified. Atellah claimed it was the OCS at Capitol Hill Police Station, Evans Kangangi, who took aim at him. “We were just moving down in a procession, then the police came and parked to the side, and they walked in front of us, and immediately, we were about 200 meters in a distance, the first shot he took hit my head,” recounted Atellah. He opened up about the moments immediately after he was hit, stating that he was scared of what he believed was an attempt on his life. “I was very scared…I thought that because the bleeding was profuse and I did not know the degree of the injury. The interns picked me up and took me to a Good Samaritan who drove me to the hospital,” he explained. Subscribe to watch new videos How did Atellah get medical attention KMPDU Deputy Secretary General Dennis Miskellah reiterated Atellah’s remarks, giving a vivid description of the confusion following the assault on his boss. Miskellah said they begged a good samaritan who rushed Atellah to the hospital, where he underwent surgery due to an extensive head injury. He further assured the country that Atellah was slowly recuperating in the High Dependency Unit (HDU). “The same officer took a gun around 10 to 20 meters away from us and aimed at the SG and shot at him. Our SG collapsed bleeding and we had to regroup and get him and beg for a good samaritan to take him to the hospital. He underwent surgery; he suffered extensive head injury and right now he’s in the HDU,” he said.
by Didacus Malowa
