By Denis Harvey Okeyo

Once upon a time, there lived a woman called Mama Leah. She was a farmer. One morning, she noticed that a thief had stolen some maize cobs and vegetables from her shamba. She reported the case to the chief, but the stealing continued.

Mama Leah became very worried. One night, her favourite cow, Phoebe, was stolen. When Mama Leah went to milk her in the morning, she could not find her! She wailed and wailed, rolling on the wet ground. Her clothes became muddy. She decided to report the matter to the Ramula Police Station.

By evening, police officers had arrested three people who were found with Phoebe. One was Isaka, a man who used to roam aimlessly around the village. Another was Othicho, a known chicken thief. The third suspect was Sonny, a naughty pupil at

Rock Primary School where his father was also the headmaster. They all claimed Phoebe was theirs.

READ MORE

 Police to detain jewellery theft suspects for 21 days

 Naivasha residents lynch three chicken thieves as crime surges

 Why Angata Barikoi has been slapt with night curfew

 Farmers demand answers after gang steals 15 bags of coffee

The chief had come up with a clever way to find out who the real owner was. He hid Phoebe behind a screen. The chief then ordered the three suspects to call out to her if she could recognise their voices. They sang and shouted commands to Phoebe in turns but she never responded.

Then it was Mama Leah’s turn. She stood in front of the screen, opened her mouth and uttered just one word, "Phoebe!" There and then, Phoebe the cow responded with a loud "moooooo!"

Mama Leah went home with her favourite cow. She was the happiest person in the entire village. Meanwhile, the three thieves were heavily punished.