Gang attacks in Matungu leave families scarred

The brutal attacks on villagers in Matungu constituency, Kakamega County, have left deep scars in the lives of families caught up in the mayhem unleashed by criminal gangs - 42 Brothers and 14 Brothers - in the past two months.

Twenty-one people have been killed by the gangs while two suspects were shot dead by police and five others beaten to death and their bodies set on fire by boda-boda operators.

The stabbing to death of seven-year-old Malik Wamukoya Murunga, a Grade One pupil at Bulimbo Star Academy by unknown assailants six days ago, has laid bare the brutal and vicious manner the criminal gangs have snuffed out the lives of their victims.

Malik was playing in his parent’s compound in Panyako village, Kholera Sub-Location, when the attackers struck.

His parents had gone to pray in a nearby mosque. The attackers stabbed the boy in the neck and stomach.

BIZARRE KILLINGS

A search by neighbours found the boy lying limp on the floor in a house still under construction.

He had been badly injured and died as he was being rushed to Kakamega County General and Referral Hospital.

His mother, Ms Miriam Kaluki, was inconsolable when she saw her son lying in a poll of blood. “Why would anyone want to harm such an innocent boy in such a manner. Malik was lively and playful. He was a prayerful and hardworking boy.”

In Sayangwe village, Ejinja Sub-Location in Matungu, the gang hacked to death a pregnant woman and her three-year-old daughter two weeks ago.

Petronilla Mung'ayi Rapachi, 28, and her daughter, Shaline Okhasia, were killed while her husband, Mr Stephen Rapachi, and their eight-year-old daughter sustained serious injuries.

Their second-born child, who had slept with her stepmother, escaped the attack.

GSU

Mr Rapachi and her surviving daughter had been admitted to Kakamega County Teaching and Referral Hospital, where their condition stabilised before he was informed of his kin’s death this week, ahead of the burial.

Another bizarre killing happened in Simba Wanyika village on March 30. A trader, Mr Yusuf Shiundu, 30, and his wife, Shiro Wanjiku, 18, were hacked to death in their home.

The killers dumped the trader’s body near Kholera bridge on Bungoma-Mumias Road while his pregnant wife was found lying in a pool of blood in their house.

As the wave of attacks escalated, the government deployed the General Service Unit (GSU) in the sub-county after Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai visited the region a week ago to assess security.

KILINGILI MURDERS

The killings started in neighbouring Vihiga County on the night of March 4 when the gangs visited terror on the villages of Illungu and Kilingili on the border with Kakamega.

In the wake of the attack, six night guards were brutally murdered and their bodies dumped in nearby thickets.

The incident left the region horrified and exposed loopholes in the security system as the attack happened barely 50 metres from a police station.

After the attack, 10 suspects were arrested and charged with robbery with violence.

Families of the victims still live in fear as they struggle to pull through life after their breadwinners perished in the attack.

COMPENSATION

Those who died included Linus Anyika, 68, Thomas Minao, 70, Charles Kalume, 60, John Shiroha, 65, John Ondachi, 63, and Francis Osayo, 65.

Boaz Oleta, 65, survived the attack with life-threatening injuries and spent more than a month at Vihiga County Referral Hospital in Mbale.

The families are still waiting for the Sh300,000 promised to them by the government and announced by Kakamega County Commissioner Abdinuzak Jaldesa during the joint requiem mass at Kilingili on March 15.

Dr Matiang’i announced government plans to set up a Sh10 million modern police station at Kilingili. He said the money had been factored into the budget.