Residents of Gotkeyo Village in Nyatike, Migori County are still in shock after two men brazenly attacked and seriously injured their elderly relative in his home.
The victim died a few weeks later while receiving treatment at Homa Bay Referral Hospital.
What is even more baffling is that the suspects have not been arrested and the area assistant chief, the chief and the police at Sori police station seem unperturbed.
Raphael Adero Got, 71, was reportedly attacked by his grandsons on the night of August 14, 2023 at around 10pm.
"The attackers went to my father's house at night and were let in. One asked my father if he had seen him since his return from Nyatike. He also asked if he had seen his sister," said Adero's son Dickens Okinyi, 40.
The attackers then claimed that my father had disrespected his mother," Okinyi said, according to his son who was with the septuagenarian on the fateful night.
Dickens Okinyi and his sister Hellen Anyango at their father's grave in Gotkeyo village, Nyatike, Migori County on September 22, 2023.
Photo credit: Ruth Mbula | Nation Media Group
Mzee Adero was staying with Okinyi's son, who managed to escape through a narrow opening between the wall and the roof.
His attackers then reportedly accused him of illegally occupying a piece of land before delivering a chilling message to the Mzee.
"They told my father: 'We have come to kill you and we have to kill you'. They then descended on him with rungus dragged him outside to the cowshed and continued to beat him before leaving him for dead," Mr Okinyi said.
The grandson managed to alert neighbours, but they arrived after the attackers had fled.
"We found him wrapped in a blanket. He was moaning in pain. I called the assistant chief, who only insisted that the victim be taken to hospital," said John Wanga, a village elder.
Good Samaritans rushed him to nearby Sori Lakeside Hospital, then to St Camillus Mission Hospital before he was later referred to Homa Bay Referral Hospital.
According to Okinyi, his father sustained injuries all over his body. His skull, chest and neck were badly fractured.
A post-mortem conducted by Dr Ogolla Owino at the Homa Bay Referral Hospital mortuary revealed that Mzee Adero had suffered severe head injuries due to blunt force trauma.
Mzee Adero's daughter, Hellen Anyango Adero, 33, said she had a telephone conversation with her father on the day he was attacked.
"My father called me and asked me to give him Sh2,000 because there was money he was waiting for and that he needed to go to Eldoret to fill some forms," Ms Anyango said.
She continued: "I did not have the money and dad called again later in the evening to tell me that he had received Sh1,000 and that all he needed was another Sh1,000, which he insisted I should help him with."
It was the same night that her father was attacked and left with life-threatening injuries. After hearing the bad news, Anyango went home the next day, where she and her brother called the area chief.
They reportedly told the chief that those who beat my father were known family members, but the chief did nothing. "The chief told us to investigate the matter and find out where the culprits were," Anyango said.
Mzee Adero's children now strongly suspect foul play and accuse the local security team of inaction.
"There is no justice here. My father is dead, but no one is doing anything," said the distraught daughter.
The first is for assault, while the second was reported after Mzee Adero breathed his last and is for murder.
The third is about the theft of the family's 12 cows, allegedly by the same suspects.
But no investigation has been launched and no suspect has been arrested, Mr Okinyi claimed.
The Nation contacted the Nyatike Sub-county Police Commander Dorothy Migarusha for comment on the status of investigations.
"The case is with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and they are investigating. Our officers were present during the post-mortem and this shows that we are making good progress," said Ms Migarusha.
A village elder, John Wanga, noted that the suspects had been seen hibernating in the remote town of Sindo, sometimes disguised as fishermen.
Mr Wanga argued that there was no boundary dispute in the family as everyone had their title deeds, so the suspects' claim that Mzee Adero had grabbed their share of the land was untrue.
The suspects, according to Mr Wanga, are known criminals with several cases against them. Mr Wanga suspects that Mzee Adero is a victim of impaired judgement on the part of the attackers as they had consumed a lot of chang'aa, an illegal liquor.
"One of the suspects posted on Facebook that 'we killed a witch'," Mr Wanga said. The suspects reportedly told another old man in the village, 'we killed your brother and we will come back for you," Mr Wanga said.
"We want justice for our father. My son, who witnessed it all, is still traumatised," Okinyi said.
