Leaders shun burial of 3 infants burnt to death

By Gastone Valusi and Dennis Mwikya

Tears flowed freely on Thursday during the burial of Three infants who were burned to death over family land tussle in Kangundo, Machakos County last week.

Bloodbath leaves man,wife dead

By Mercy Mueni in Kitui

Aa enraged man stabbed himself to death after killing his wife in a knife attack today.

The incident happened in Iani village, Yatta- Kwavonza area in Kanyoonyo Subcounty Yatta, Kitui.

The middle aged man  died while receiving treatment at Kitui Level 4 hospital where he was rushed after the blood bath.

His body had serious injuries he inflicted on himself after domestic row with his wife. Details of the dispute were not immediately available to The Anchor. 

The man is said to have waylaid his wife who operates an eatery at Iani market, descended on her with kicks and blows before stabbing her with a knife killing, her on spot.

The attack was so sudden that efforts by neighbours to respond to the distress call from the woman were in vain as he had already stubbed her. They found her bleeding profusely as she gasped for breath.

The rescuers caught up with the man as he was stabbing himself to take his life but he was stopped by the locals who took him to hospital where he died.

Their bodies have been transferred to Kitui Level 4 Hospital awaiting postmortem.

Police have launched investigations into the matter.

3 children killed in arson attack

By Gastone Valusi in Machakos.

Police in Kangundo Sub -County, are investigating deaths of Three children who  were  burnt to death by unknown people at their home  on Tuesday night in kawethei village.

Area police boss Zachariah Bitok yesterday said the three children aged 8,6 and 4 years were burned death at around 8pm  at Kawethei village after their house was allegedly torched by relatives over a land dispute.

Mr Bitok said the minors got burnt beyond recognition after their family members escaped to safety leaving them behind while asleep.

"We recieved reports that there was an attack in the homestead of Mr Richard Mulili but the three children had been already burned to death by the time police officers arrived at the scene. We have launched investigations to establish what exactly happened, " Mr  Bitok said.

He said by the time the officers were headed to the scene, they heard reports that there were people stoning the homestead.

"But later on, it turned out that there were invaders who had set ablaze the homestead and its occupants disappeared into the bushes to hide. But, three children who were sleeping in the houses, got burnt beyond recognition," Bitok said.

The bodies were moved to Kangundo Level Four Hospital Mortuary awaiting autopsy.

The police boss the three bodies were discovered on Wednesday morning.

"We understand that there was a land dispute that has been going on for some time. There were groups of people that were before Kakuyuni Assistant County Commissioner yesterday and they were referred to the court before the incident happened at night," Bitok said.

The police boss warned area residents against taking the law into their hands. "Police enforce the law.Anyone who breaks it will be arrested," he warned. He also appeared to the residents to volunteer information to relevant information authorities when they feel aggrieved.

 Police officers were still at the scene yesterday though no arrests had been made by the time of going to press

Guard killed in supermarket raid

By Gastone Valusi in Tala, Machakos.

Police in Matungulu Sub-county, are holding one suspect following an incident in which a supermarket night guard in Tala town was killed  in a night raid.

OCPD Peter Omondi 

Area police boss Peter Omondi yesterday said Mr Richard Kimeu, 40, who was a guard at Fastmatt Supermarket at Tala Town was attacked and  killed on Sunday night by unknown assailants .They then broke into the supermarket ,where they stole cash and goods of unknown value.

"The watchman was hit on head with blunt object as he tried to confront  the assailants and died on the spot.The assailants also stole goods of unknown value and money from the supermarket," Mr Omondi said.

He said the police have arrested one  suspect who is helping them with the investigation.

"We appeal to wananchi to assist us with any information that will lead to arrest of those criminals," Mr Omondi said.

Area MCA, Jackson Ndaka, who visited the scene condemned the incident and urged the police to get to the bottom of the matter.

The body of the watchman was taken  to Kangundo Sub-county Hospital mortuary.

Man who conned Police boss nabbed

By Sharon Mwende

A prime suspect who defrauded Kasarani Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Peter Mwanzo Ksh600,000 will remain in custody for eight days.

The crime was committed through SIM swapping.

The suspect only ominously identified as Gideon Mark was arrested on January 8,2022 at Bomet county.

He was arraigned before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Ms Wandia Nyamu but was not charged with any offence after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations sought to have him detained to enable investigators complete their work.

According to detectives, it is alleged that the suspect executed the crime on diverse dates between January 4 and 5 this year with help of some staff at Safaricom by unlawfully swapping Mr Mwanzo's Safaricom line and using it to fraudulently transfer Sh 600,000 from his Equity Bank account.

The suspect is said to have conned the Kasarani OCPD pretending to be an agent of Safaricom. The suspect is alleged to have called the OCPD several times using a private number only to defraud him of his funds at Equity Bank account after obtaining his private information.

In an affidavit filed in court by the DCI through Corporal Kapario Lekakeny, DCI sought to be allowed to continue holding Mark,saying the investigations into the case involves weighty issues which require ample time as police are expected to travel to Bomet where they intend to make recoveries of the money.

The court heard that Mark is believed to belong to a syndicate roperating from Mulot within Bomet County that is defrauding members of the public using mobile money platforms.

"The suspect was arrested with the help of the service provider being the person who has been using  the Airtel and Safaricom line that received the money, however the money was not recovered and the investigators require adequate time to travel to parts of Bomet with the help of the suspect with the aim  of making recoveries," the detective informed the court.

Investigations reveal that Mark and his accompliances have turned Mulot into one of the hotspots of mobile phone fraud in the country.

The detective told the court that during the course of their investigations, assorted Sim cards and phones were recovered from the suspect which they require more time to extract information from to enable them arrive at the ideal charges to prefer against the suspect.

"That the DCI would rely on Mark to assist in identifying members of his syndicate who are all using subscribers' numbers registered with other people's national identity cards to disguise their identities," the officer stated.

During interrogation the suspect revealed that he is a member of the sim swap syndicate in Mulot in Bomet county which is known as "Confirmed" which has been swindling members of the public million of shilling through hacking their emails and mobiles number of Safaricom and Airtel. 

Police are also tracking down officials from the two giant mobile service providers (Safaricom and Airtel) who have been colluding with the scammers to siphon money from the members of the public. 

According to police, Mark told investigators that they target the elderly by hacking their emails and phone numbers which enable them to access all their private information and then use it to wipe out the victims' M-Pesa and bank accounts of all cash.

Police further claim that the suspect has since disclosed that in Bomet the syndicate buys the registered numbers at Sh 200 which they use to defraud their victims. The numbers are said to have been registered using Identity cards of the dead or lost ID cards. 

Sim-swapping is a form of fraud in which scammers manipulate unsuspecting mobile phone users to divulge their confidential information.

The scammers then use this information to replace the sim cards without the owners' knowledge, with the new cards then used to wipe out the clients' M-Pesa and bank accounts of all cash.

Slain Makueni lawyer buried

By Boniface Wambua

 in Matungulu

The Makueni lawyer who died after a brutal attack by a police officer was buried today.

The casket bearing the body of the late Onesmus Masaku 

Hundreds of lawyers flocked the the late Onesmas Masaku's home in Kyaume village, Matungulu  Sub County,  Machakos, where various speakers called for speedy prosecution of the suspect.

 Law Society of Kenya led by its president, Nelson Havi and Vice president, Carin Kamende joined family, friends and neighbors in the emotional burrial of the young lawyer who had hardly served one year as an advocate of the High Court.

The late Masaku’s mother, Salome Mwikali tearfully eulogized her son as a precious gift which was her only possession on earth. “My son, my strength and my hope. You were the best gift in my life and you brought joy to every part of this family. I thank God for the years He gave me to spend with you. They are unforgettable memories. You will forever remain in my heart,” Salome said in her tribute.

Aged only 27, Masaku was Salome’s only child. Her grief was written all over her face.

Masaku died last Sunday while undergoing treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital where he was admitted after the attack by a female police officer Nancy Njeri. She claimed to have attacked him while fending off an attempted rape. 

LSK lower Eastern chapter, led by chairperson Justus Mutia led hundreds of lawyers in condoling with the family and promised to do all they can in order to ensure justice was served.

Mutia said it was sad that Masaku’s death can be traced to a police officer, who by law is expected to protect live and property. He said it was primitive for people to solve disputes through physical confrontation.

“It is quite sad to have lost our colleague in the circumstances that we have. It is a painful experience that we would not wish even for our enemy. There must be more sober ways of resolving disputes other than harming people,” said Mutia.

LSK chief executive officer Mercy Kalondu termed the late Masaku’s death as an act of police brutality and called for sobriety in settlement of disputes. “We lost a great man with a brilliant future to police brutality." Kalondu added.

LSK President Nelson Havi challenged High Court judges to ensure dozens of murder cases involving advocates were expeditiously concluded. “There are about six unresolved murder cases in various High Courts concerning advocates. Half of them, the suspects are police officers, said Havi.

Lawyer attacked by policewoman dies

By Daniel Kituku

danielsmth732@gmail.com

The Makueni based laywer- Onesmus Masaku who was assaulted by a female  police officer last week has died.

The late Mr Masaku

The lawyer was assaulted with a machete in his house by Nancy  Njeri of Makueni Police Station.

The officer claimed at the time that the lawyer attempted to rape her after luring her to the house allegedly to be introduced to the lawyer's fiancee.

The police later arrested the officer and has since been in custody  reportedly facing an attempted murder charge in a Machakos court. 

 Today, Mr Mutisya Mutia, who is the chairman of the Law Society of Kenya South Eastern Branch said Masaku succumbed to injuries inflicted on him today morning .

Mutia send condolonces to family members and all lawyers  of the country .

He described Masaku as a hard working legal mind and his death is a shock and  a great loss to this country .

However Mutia urged Kenyans to stop taking law into their hands and condemned the act of the police officer .

‘’ No one should loose life  the way Masaku has’’, said Mutia

Mutia has promised that the society shall continue with case in court .

Laywer Masaku comes from Kathiani, Machakos County.

Ends

Kyalo: Was he executed or a robbery victim?

The late Daniel Kyalo alias Kamsondo

Joseph Ndilo

A sudden burst of gunfire one Thursday evening in March 2013 guaranteed a sudden end to the life of one Daniel Kyalo Mwanza.