Christopher Atieno and Mary Ocholla have always left their three-year-old son and their grandson locked inside their house in Ombok Village, Homa Bay County as they go to the market.
The couple, just like several other parents, have always considered the house to be the safest place to leave the minors whenever they have to be away.
Not far from the house, there are two water pans which Mr Atieno and his wife have always believed to be a serious threat to the children.
“We prefer leaving the youngsters locked inside the house to minimise the risk of drowning in the water pan,” explained Ms Ocholla.
However, on January 29, that belief, that the children are safer indoors than outside, was tragically proven wrong.
Two children have died in a suspected arson attack in Lambwe in Homa Bay county.
Photo credit: George Odiwuor| Nation Media Group
“I got a call from my husband that left me shocked and distraught. I was at the market when he phoned to inform me that my son and grandson were dead. That they were killed in a house fire,” Ms Ocholla said amid sobs.
Mr Atieno explained to his wife on the phone that while he was riding his motorcycle from Kipasi Market where he runs another business, he noticed that something was amiss at home after spotting smoke billowing from the house.
“It was unusual because the view is always clear. Right then it struck me that there was trouble at home,” Mr Atieno said.
As he inched closer to the house several thoughts flooded his mind one of them being a recent incident where some relatives threatened to harm his family because of a land dispute.
“I concluded that they(relatives) had executed their evil plans since they had threatened to hurt me,” Mr Atieno said.
When he finally got home, Mr Atieno called out the names of the two children hoping that he would get a response from them. However, when the youngsters failed to answer back a strong feeling of premonition gripped him.
Two children have died in a suspected arson attack in Lambwe in Homa Bay county.
Photo credit: George Odiwuor| Nation Media Group
“I raised an alarm which attracted several neighbours. But there was nothing much we could do to save the children since the house was still on fire,” he said.
When the blaze finally died the people who had responded to the distress call decided to conduct a search for the bodies of the children.
They found them after a brief search lying next to each other at one of the corners in the house. They were burnt beyond recognition.
It is at this point that Mr Atieno telephoned his wife to break the tragic news. Mr Atieno disclosed that he had received several threats from the people he claimed wanted to throw him out of his land but treated the threats lightly.
“My father sold a six-acre piece of land belonging to the family several years ago. However, I later bought back two acres of the same land from the buyer. But it seems that this did not go down well with some of my relatives. They have always been opposed to me occupying the land,” Mr Atieno explained.
The land dispute was later reported to the authorities and investigation was launched. A land surveyor was later invited to help determine the boundary between the two parcels of land.
“Still, the threats kept coming. My family was warned that they would be harmed but I did not consider it to be this serious,” Mr Atieno said.
A meeting bringing together the wrangling parties was held on Friday last week in an attempt to resolve the boundary dispute, but the talks failed to bear fruit.
Ms Ocholla claimed that some of her in-laws were behind what the authorities are now treating as an arson attack.
Lambwe Central Chief Roseline Oguttu said the case was under investigation and confirmed that she had received a report from Mr Atieno touching on threats to his family.
“He called to inform me that he was being threatened by close family members,” she said.
“Disputes cannot be solved by taking the law into your own hands. Always report to police when you feel aggrieved,” the administrator said.
