Did you know that the first Kenyan politician to be assassinated was of Asian descent?
Pio Gama Pinto was born of a family of Kenyan-Asian descent in Nairobi on 31 March 1927.
In 1945, upon return from India for his academics, Pinto joined local politics, joining other leaders of the time in the push for independence before turning to journalism where he worked with the Colonial Times and the Daily Chronicle.
Just like most of the other known freedom fighters, Pinto was severally arrested and detained, including his detention in Manda Island in 1954 and confinement in Kabarnet between 1958 and 1959.
He was assassinated outside his house in Nairobi on February 1965, only two years into independence and was with his daughter in the car at the time of his death.
The then 22 year old Kisilu Mutua, a handcart pusher, was accused of committing the crime, with investigations later indicating that Pinto was shot at close range.
Kisilu would later sue the government over his arrest, detention and torture and was in 2017 awarded 2.5 million shillings for the trouble he underwent in the hands of the government in line with the allegations.
Pinto was 38 at the time of his death.
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