By Mercy Imali
A university student shot inside State House grounds may have a mental disorder. According to his father, the last three years have been difficult for the family.
Brian Bera, a fifth-year student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, trespassed into the State House Nairobi on Monday. He was shot when he defied orders to stop and instead drew a knife.
His father David Bera, told The Standard that the final-year mechanical engineering student has been in and out of hospital over mental troubles.
“In June last year, Brian was admitted to Reale Hospital in Eldoret town for two weeks. After diagnosis, it was established that he had a brief psychotic disorder,” said Mr Bera. He displayed a discharge sheet from the health institution.
The copy indicates that Brian exhibited “disorganised behaviour/speech, violence, wandering and needed psycho-education/family therapy”. He was due for a psychiatric review in August, 2018.
The president is said to have been at State House when Brian Struck. The alert level was raised near the President and his guards took “precautions”. The President and his family were briefed about the shooting immediately. They were informed that there was no threat.
Police are yet to establish why Brian risked his life by sneaking into the heavily guarded compound. His Facebook posts in the last week were quite alarming.
“Tomorrow I attack State House,” read part of his posts. He also indicated that he was fighting for what he termed as ‘land injustice’ in his home area in Trans-Nzoia County. The Facebook account was deactivated yesterday in the afternoon.