The parents of the deceased baby said the newborn developed breathing difficulties after police lobbed teargas into the house on Thursday, March 30.
Joyce Kemunto, the grieving mother, said police lobbed a barrage of teargas in the neighborhood, forcing her family to seek protection under the coverings in the house but it did not help.
The three days old baby inhaled the toxic gas and died.
Other children who were in the house were left injured.
“A teargas canister broke through our roof and fell into the house, exposing us to chemicals,” Kemunto told journalists.
Kemunto said she could not immediately run outside as police officers engaged protesters in running battles in the area.
She blamed the police for the mess as they are the ones who started to chase locals and stopped them from even leaving.
Torn between trying to save her child from choking and facing the police close to her house, Kemunto resorted to clearing her house and getting rid of the teargas canister.
“I took a wet piece of cloth and used it to try and offer my child First Aid as he was choking. The baby was unable to breathe due to the gas,” Kemunto said as she fought back tears.
“I thought the baby was getting better but he continued to cry uncontrollably and became weaker by minutes. He died.”
She said the running battles outside prevented her from immediately taking him to the hospital.
The newborn died sometime in the evening, and the body was transferred to the City mortuary as the family plans for his burial.
Other families in Kibera and other informal settlement areas lamented that the protests hurt their children.
In Mathare, women were forced to surrender to the police, pleading with them to exercise restraint and protect their babies from suffocation.
Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei did not respond to our calls over the issue.
Five people have been shot and killed in the protests in Nairobi alone.
Two were killed in Kibera and three in the Embakasi area.
In total, about ten people have been killed in the country in the protests as police confronted them.
More protests are planned for Monday, April 3.
