Former chief kills wife over Sh580,000 dowry payment

?The police are holding a former chief for allegedly stabbing his wife to death over "missing" Sh580,000 at Lunyelelia village in Malava sub-county.

Mollyne Lubanga is said to have inquired about the money they had jointly saved for dowry payment.

The suspect got enraged by the questioning and stabbed his 34-year-old wife, a primary school teacher.

The victim, a second wife, is survived by five children.

According to witnesses, the suspect attempted to commit suicide after killing his wife.

The former chief runs a boutique in Kitale town after he was sacked by the Ministry of Interior and Coordination.

Heard screams

Speaking to The Standard Thursday, Jenipher Lumumba, a community health worker and neighbour, said she heard screams from Lubanga at around 1pm. She rushed to the home only to find the woman on the floor with blood oozing from her neck.

“She was already dead and the husband was sitting next to her. He was sweating, running out of strength after poisoning himself. We rushed him to hospital and alerted the police,” said Ms Lumumba.

A relative of the suspect said the family was preparing to take bride price on Saturday, and they had even bought five cows and a goat, all worth Sh84,000.

She said the former chief told them at the hospital that the Sh580,000 was to be used to educate his five children.

“The teacher wanted the money to be paid as bride price to her parents but the husband objected since he had already spent Sh84,000 to buy five cows and a goat,” she said.

She said the suspect told them that he had left a will in the house with directions that the money be used for educating his children and not to pay dowry.

“They have never had a fight. This is just a bad omen that has befallen our family to the extent of losing a teacher, who has been the family breadwinner,” added the relative.

But a teacher who sought anonymity told The Standardthat the woman had disclosed to her earlier that they were having disagreements on the amount of money they should take to her parents despite having saved the money jointly.

Malava sub-county Deputy County Commissioner Patrick Meso confirmed the incident, saying the body had been transferred to Webuye Hospital in Bungoma County for postmortem examination.

Mr Meso said preliminary investigation showed the woman succumbed to stab injuries she sustained on her neck.

“The husband is the key suspect though we are waiting for him to be discharged from hospital before he can be arraigned in court. He took poison after the incident,” he said.

Meso said the suspect told them that the woman killed herself with a knife and he thought it wise to take poison so as not to be blamed for killing her.

Fake documents

He noted the suspect was sacked after presenting fake academic documents to the Interior ministry to be promoted to a chief.

Elsewhere in Vihiga County, a man was lynched for allegedly stealing a chicken at Esirabe village in Emuhaya sub-county.

The suspect, Harun Aluche, was accused of selling the stolen bird to his neighbour.

Vihiga Police Commander Beatrice Gachago said the suspect was flushed out of his uncle’s house by irate villagers who descended on him with crude weapons.

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