'He arrived dead'; Bliss Hospital tells court in Rex Masai inquest
Crime and Justice
By
Nancy Gitonga
| Sep 02, 2026
Activist Rex Kanyike Masai arrived at Bliss Medical Centre along Moi Avenue unresponsive and with severe bleeding from his left thigh before doctors declared him dead; an inquest into his killing has been told.
Medical doctor Josephine Michael told Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo on Wednesday that Masai was brought to the facility at about 6:38 pm on June 20, 2024, shortly after he was shot during anti-Finance Bill protests in Nairobi.
Josephine said the 29-year-old was received at the emergency ward, where medical staff immediately assessed his condition.
“He was brought here, I would say, in an emergency and was received in our emergency ward. He came with previous bleeding,” she told the court.
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Asked where the bleeding was coming from, the doctor said it was from Masai’s left thigh.
She told the court that Masai was not responsive when he arrived and that his vital signs could not be recorded.
“Yes, they were not responsive,” Josephine said when asked by state prosecutor Jalson Makori whether Masai responded to voice or pain.
“All vital signs were unreportable,” she added.
The doctor further testified that Masai had no respiratory response and that examination revealed a deep wound on the medial part of his left thigh.
“There was no respiratory response,” she said.
The witness told the court that the medical records showed Masai was declared dead at 7:40 pm following assessment.
Asked about her initial assessment of the patient, Josephine gave a grim account of his condition.
“From the reception of this patient, this patient died before I met him,” she said.
She explained that emergency treatment begins with doctors checking basic functions such as breathing and circulation before deciding whether resuscitation should be initiated.
“These are the basic things you are looking at to determine, for us to determine the initiation of resuscitation,” she said.
Josephine said the team could not proceed with treatment because Masai was already unresponsive and had no vital signs.
“There was no treatment,” she told the court.
She also confirmed that a medical report was prepared based on information recorded at the facility at the time.
“This is a medical report that was generated from the information that was determined at that particular time,” she said.
The testimony provides a detailed account of Masai’s final moments after he was shot during the protests.
The inquest has previously heard that Masai was shot in the left thigh and later died from excessive bleeding.
Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor testified in April that Masai died from haemorrhage caused by a gunshot wound.
“Rex Masai died from haemorrhage, excessive bleeding from one gunshot wound,” Oduor told the court.
The inquiry has also been confronted with major gaps in the investigation, including the failure of Nairobi’s police CCTV network to capture the shooting.
On Tuesday, senior police officer Andrew Limo told the inquest that CCTV cameras operated by the National Police Service in Nairobi’s CBD were not functioning on the evening Masai was shot.
Earlier evidence has included CCTV and photographic material analysed by an IPOA forensic expert, who told the court that video evidence presented to the inquest was authentic and showed a man opening fire during the demonstrations.
The inquest continues before Magistrate Onsarigo as the court seeks to establish the circumstances surrounding Masai’s shooting and identify the person responsible for his death.