Dispute over Sh2,000 authorities stipend takes deadly flip in Laikipia

At a village in Laikipia County, locals collect to hope and condole with the household of a 49-year-old girl, the sufferer of a cold-blooded homicide allegedly executed by her youthful brother following a dispute over using Sh2,000.

Just a few metres from the momentary tent at Male space the place mourners are conducting prayers and funeral conferences, villagers converse in hushed tones, making an attempt to return to phrases with the brutal killing of Rebecca Muthoni final Saturday.

A hammer blow to the again of her head lower quick the lifetime of the mom of 4.

Her ailing and ageing mom, Ms Mary Wahito, who witnessed the chilling incident, is distraught and says she doesn’t want to see her son close to her once more.

“So long as I reside, I’ll by no means once more take into account him my son. Let the federal government take care of him in whichever approach they deem match realizing that none of his members of the family will assist him within the courtroom case,” she says.

Quickly after the incident, the suspect, Mr Joseph Gitahi, 45, surrendered to authorities at Matanya police station 5 kilometres away.

He was arraigned on Monday to face homicide expenses however didn’t take a plea following a request by police for extra time to allow them full investigations, which can embrace a autopsy on the sufferer and a psychological evaluation of the suspect.

Again on the dwelling of the suspect, his mom describes her fourth-born little one now aged 45 and nonetheless a bachelor, as a troublemaker who has by no means given her peace since her husband died eight years in the past.

She recollects how a heated verbal change between her kids degenerated right into a bodily confrontation and a tragic finish to her daughter’s life.

“My second-born daughter is married within the neighbourhood and on this explicit day had visited me to help typically clean-up and cooking, one thing she has been doing for some time now. As we have been seated within the kitchen her brother got here, picked a quarrel together with her and it ended tragically,” recollects 81-year-old Wahito.

She provides {that a} day earlier, Mr Gitahi, being the trusted caregiver to his mom, had withdrawn Sh2,000 – the month-to-month payout by the federal government to the aged below the Inua Jamii initiative.

Ms Wahito remembers her son turning wild when requested how he had spent the cash and threatening to kill his sister.

“He walked into the kitchen the place we have been seated, picked a quarrel after which walked out to fetch a hammer from the shop. He hit Muthoni in the back of the top sending her sprawling to the ground, unconscious. The son was nonetheless decided to hit her once more however I intervened,” explains the mom.

She recounts how she took her strolling stick and hit her son on the again, forcing him out of the home, the place he warned neighbours to not reply the misery name or he would kill them.

It took about three hours for kinfolk and neighbours to collect braveness and reply to the incident. Muthoni was rushed to Naromoru Stage 4 Hospital, the place she succumbed to go accidents whereas present process remedy.

Muthoni’s husband Peter Gachure says on that specific day, he had travelled to Naromoru to ship some meals to their daughter, who’s a school pupil in Nyeri.

“We wakened usually and shared the day’s duties. My spouse was to go to my mother-in-law to assist in washing her garments and cooking whereas I packed some cabbages and potatoes to ship to our third-born daughter in Nyeri city,” he says.

It was whereas in Naromoru city that he was knowledgeable that his spouse was badly injured and was requested to go to the hospital.

“On arrival on the hospital, I pressured my approach to the emergency room and pushed the medics apart, held my unconscious spouse carefully and a few intuition informed me she would by no means get up once more,” recalled Mr Gachure.

The incident has despatched shockwaves throughout the sleepy village that has now been thrust into infamy, with villagers warning that such incidents are prone to recur sooner or later except authorities deal decisively with alcoholism in addition to drug and substance abuse.

Ms Alice Mwai, a village elder, says such an incident has by no means been witnessed there earlier than. “I’ve watched some weird homicide incidents on tv and by no means imagined it might occur in my village. We must always all be part of efforts to struggle drug and substance abuse, which is slowly eroding society’s morals,” notes Ms Mwai.

Tigithi Location Chief Wilson Thuo admits that alcoholism and drug abuse are rampant within the space however accuses mother and father of failing to cooperate with authorities in eradicating the menace.

“Some members of the family are protecting of their kin and alert them of an impending raid by police. We can’t win this struggle with out the cooperation of residents,” warns Mr Thuo.