‘My husband promised to be home early’

By Peter Mutai

Rather than run to the local Administration Police post to report problems, residents in an area of Kericho West District have been cowering in fear when they see police officers.

In the past two weeks, the residents of Kabianga have have been gripped by fear following two incidents in which two men have died after attacks by Administration Police officers.

A bloody incident that happened last Saturday, when an AP shot dead Kenya Army Captain Bernard Siele, has been the talk of every homestead.

And just when the Government was trying to show remorse for the incident, by transferring all five APs based at Kabianga, another man who had allegedly been beaten up by the officers died on Thursday.

The 24 year-old man who was allegedly assaulted by APs at Kabianga Chief’s Camp, two weeks ago, died while undergoing treatment at Tenwek Mission Hospital.

Bernard Kipkemoi Mutai, who has been at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for the last four days, had sustained serious injuries. Kericho OCPD Peterson Maelo said Police have launched investigations into the incident.

But, it was the death of Captain Siele, a well-known man at Kabianga, that has caused fear and communal grief.

Sound of gunfire

In a rural market centre where many people had never heard the sound of gunfire, the firing of three bullets that killed the military man evoked terror across several ridges.

The late Captain Bernard Siele, his wife Beatrice and their two children during a family outing at Lake Baringo.

It was even more shocking when they later learnt the man who had been shot dead was one they all knew as the ‘UN Soldier’, because he had served in a United Nations peace mission to Sudan.

Siele’s widow, Beatrice Siele, has not tired of repeating the happenings of the fateful evening to villagers who keep streaming into her home.

Beatrice says the late Siele had been jovial all day. He called her from Kabianga market, where he had gone to meet friends, saying he would be home early.

Bring dinner

"He promised to bring meat for dinner, little did I know he would never make it back home," the distraught mother of two said.

"He left at around 3pm to check on a hardware business he was operating at Chepnyogaa shopping centre, a kilometre from their home," she said.

After checking on his business, the 28-year-old soldier of the 78 Artillery Battalion walked back to Kabianga where he entered a local pub.

Inside the bar, he reportedly saw a man assaulting another and stepped in to intervene.

The aggressor, witnesses say, was Administration Police constable Festus Ngetich, now being held as a murder suspect.

Few people at Kabianga would dare stand up to oppose Siele who was respected because of his profile as a soldier.

A heated argument reportedly ensued between the policeman and the soldier.

The late Captain. Photos: Courtesy

According to a witness, Bernard Kiplangat, the argument cooled down but the AP later called Siele outside saying his boss wanted to see him.

The soldier obliged and the three talked for more than 30 minutes before Constable Ngetich walked away in a huff towards the Kabianga chief’s camp.

Armed with rifle

Ngetich reportedly returned to the scene armed with a G-3 rifle and shot the army man three times.

News of the incident was later relayed to Beatrice by a relative.

"I felt the whole world crumble around me. At first I could not believe what I was hearing," she said.

"That was the lowest point in my life. One minute he was full of life and the next he lying dead in a pool of blood," said Beatrice.

The slain soldier’s father, Reuben Ruto, said, "We want the police to ensure justice is done. My son was not a criminal, he did not deserve to die that way."

"This should be treated as murder and we as a family will pursue the matter to the end," he said.

Kericho West DC Jamleck Mbuba confirmed on Wednesday that all APs, including an inspector, have been transferred from Kabianga to other stations.