Angry people storm chief's home, slaughter three cows

There was high tension in Kisa East Ward, Khwisero Constituency, Kakamega County after the angry residents stormed the home of the area Chief, stole three cows, slaughtered them, shared the meat among themselves before setting the house on fire, and left.

The move was considered a retaliatory attack following the death of Kisa East MCA Stephen Maloba who was stabbed to death on Saturday after a group of youths allied to an area legislator blocked him from entering a political function organized in his ward by area MP Christopher Aseka stating that he was unwanted.

The irate residents claim that the Emasatsi Location Chief Walter Obuchere and area police officers from Emasatsi Police Station who were in the function failed to prevent the death of the MCA despite being in the event when the incident occurred, accusing the Chief and Police Officers of being compromised and negligent to act objectively.

However, on Sunday residents stormed the home of Chief where they took three cows, slaughtered them in his compound, and shared the meat among themselves.

Chief on the spot

It was not over as the locals burnt down the Chief's house and a motorbike.

One of the residents who spoke to The Nairobian but sought anonymity claimed the Chief had been compromised and failed to intervene when one of the youths drew a knife from his jacket and stabbed the MCA to death.

"We have all to believe that the Chief acted upon some directive and he knew the youths who tried to block the MCA from entering the function and yet the event was in his ward. He failed to call the police to intervene and therefore what has happened at his home is part of the cultural aspect of Luhya culture," said the resident.

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"The worst is that even after the event the person who killed our MCA was known and he was in the event but he was never arrested on that day. Traditionally, when a person is killed and we know the people involved we normally torch their houses so that we chase away the bad spirit of deaths, and the accused normally vacate and do not live among others in the same area."

Another resident said the Chief failed to stop the incident forcing the residents to act to ward off "the spirit of killings."

The angry residents also stormed the Emasatssi Police Station where they vandalized properties and items before stealing 1,240 bags of fertilizers belonging to the County Government of Kakamega alleging that Officer Commanding Station (OCS) declined to act on time despite being at the scene.

The police at the station was overwhelmed and they had to seek help from the police regional headquarters in Kakamega town.

However, Emasatsi Chief Walter Obuchere has distanced himself from the accusations stating that he is a government official who serves all people regardless of political affiliations.

"I was at the political function and everything was okay before I left. The MCA was killed after I had left the function. I am here to serve all the people regardless of political alignment and therefore I did not associate with the death of our leader in any way," said Obuchere.

"The angry residents stormed my home, stole some of my belongings, torched my house and the government motorcycle I used before killing my cows, the damages stand at Sh1.6 million," said Obuchere.

Edward Kipsang, an officer at Navakholo Police Station said only 40 bags out of the stolen 1240 were recovered.

"We're working with officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation to arrest those behind the incident and find the remaining bags of fertilizer," said Kipsang.

On Wednesday, a group of MCAs held demonstrations in Kakamega town where they marched to police regional headquarters in Kakamega and Khwisero Police Station and demanded the arrest of the suspects including MP Aseka alleging he was adversely mentioned. Kakamega County Police Commander Joseph Kigen said the main suspect behind the MCA death had been arrested.

However, Kigen declined to reveal the identity of the suspect to prevent retaliatory attacks.

"We just want to urge locals and leaders to remain calm and cooperate with police to bring culprits to book. We have the main suspect in our custody for the next 14 days and revealing his identity will lead to more attacks which we do not want," said Kigen.