Assassination of a Pan-African debater‏

We are deeply saddened to report the death of George Paul Oulu (also known as GPO) who was assassinated by unknown assailants. Many readers will remember GPO as a participant at the just recently concluded Pan Africa Universities Debating Championships in Gaborone in December 2008.

GPO died in company of Oscar Kingara, Executive Director of OSCAR Foundation at around 6.30 pm on State House Road. He was shot dead less than 1KM to Kenya's State House where the President of Kenya resides.

Eye witnesses, students from University of Nairobi, who saw the occurrence from the vantage point of their nearby hostels say the killers were 2 men smartly dressed in suits and who did not seem to be in any hurry over their mission. "They accosted them in the traffic jam and shot them point blank" said one eye witness. Their vehicle was blocked by two vehicles - a minibus and a Pajero full of men - and two men walked to their car and shot them through the windows at pointblank range. The vehicles had been trailing them. (Eyewitnesses say that the driver of the minibus was wearing a police uniform.) All the other men were in suits. They also shot another man who was walking by the road (the closest eyewitness) but the bullet went through his leg.

GPO Oulu was a former University of Nairobi student's leader. Since he left university he worked in the area of grass root mobilization and was never known to have any criminal links. Others in the grass root mobilization movement, say they knew him as “a patriotic and law abiding citizen who frowned at social injustices and wished for another Kenya with no impunity”.

There is speculation that this was a politically motivated assassination as the two men were working on very serious allegations of extra judicial killings of more than 6000 men by the government.

Here is an account of one eye witness "I was there in person to witness our activist shot to dead. It was a shocking scenario that will never be erased from my mind. Six bullets in a somebody's head ,reason ...he is a threat to the police extrajudicial findings ,as a witness .Which Kenya do we stay if this happens in public ,after the government spokesman publicly announces that the Oscar foundation are funding Mungiki and an action will be taken to shun it down and indeed it was taken-a harsh one . Meanwhile, the vehicle of the activist was pushed to the university compound after a battle of hot suit between the students and police. The body of the activist was hidden in hall two for a half an hour after students decided to take it to Chiromo mortuary. The policemen intervened and retrieved the body, this is where another student was shot. Otherwise we hope things will change let this end the impunity."