Kenyan activist Mama Victor killed by floods in Mathare

Benna Buluma an activist well known as Mama Victor has died in the recent floods.

Mama Victor was forced into activism after losing her two sons to police bullets during the 2017 post-poll chaos.

Mama Victor was swept away by flash floods after Mathare river burst its banks on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, her body was retrieved trapped among debris that was swept away by the floodwaters.

Mathare experienced heavy flooding on Tuesday night, with reports suggesting that a man-made dam breached its banks upstream, leading to flash floods that killed at least 13 people.

Rescue and body retrieval efforts are still ongoing.

Buluma’s life changed when her two sons, Bernard and Victor were gunned down at Number 10 in Mathare on August 9, 2017.

Benard, 25, was a tailor and a father of a three-year-old son at the time. Victor, 22, was a casual construction worker and a father of one-year-old daughter.

On that day, the two brothers had left their children with their mother to go for the day’s hustle.

On their way home, they were caught up the melee and their lives were cut short. This left their mother not just with sorrow of loss, but also with the burden of taking care of her grandchildren.

“They had alighted at Huruma estate from town at around 2pm. They had gone to look for money,” she always explained whenever narrating her pain.

But Buluma found purpose in her loss after joining the Mathare Social Justice Centre as an active member to champion causes that hold police accountable.

“My life was torn apart…My sons’ lives were taken as if they meant nothing,” she would always say in momentary episodes of flashback. 

“I want the cold-blood killing of my sons be the last in this slum. Mothers should not bury their sons. It is children who should bury their mothers.” 

Buluma went full throttle into activism, mobilising mothers who have lost children to police bullets and victims to speak up and engage other actors to push for reforms.

She became the convener of the Mothers of Victims and Survivors Network as a special purpose vehicle for harnessing the voice of all who had similar experiences to receive help and speak out.

She mobilised activists to go to Embu in 2021 when Kianjokoma brothers were killed by police.  

“It is with sadness and a heavy heart, I announce the death of Benna Buluma, commonly known as Mama Victor, the Convener of Mothers of victims and survivors Network due to the ongoing floods,” her activist colleagues said after bumping on her body while rescuing residents.

“She and her family were trapped in their house in Mathare. We have lost a gallant soldier who dedicated her life to advocate for police accountability. Three bodies have been retrieved from the house and three are still missing,” they said.

International Justice Mission, the anchor lobby that had been supporting the network Buluma convened, mourned her as a dedicated and self-motivated champion for police accountability.

“Mama Victor was an ardent and experienced advocate of police accountability after losing her two sons, Victor and Bernard, during the 2017 election period,” it said.

Mama Victor tirelessly pursued justice for her sons and rallied other mothers who have lost children in the same manner, IJM added