Boniface Kariuki, the hawker shot by police during protests in Nairobi on 25 June, was eulogised as a hardworking person even as calls to end extra-judicial killings dominated his requiem mass yesterday.

At the unusual memorial service - without his body and with only a handful of people present - a sombre mood and tension engulfed All Saints Cathedral as friends and family paid tribute to the deceased.

Kariuki succumbed to brain damage after being on a life-support machine for nearly two weeks.

He was shot in the head at point-blank range by police officers while selling face masks in Nairobi's Central Business District during the first anniversary of youth-led anti-Finance Bill protests.