Tired of being physically abused by her spouse, Lucy Mwangi admits that she was happy seeing her 18-year-old son fighting with her husband James Mwangi, aged 46. At least in her son, there was a protector.
"I was happy that my son had come of age and was acting as our saviour against his father's violence. Only that I became a widow in this fight," laments the 39-year-old.
A framed photo of the late James Mwangi Kamau at Gikandu village in Murang'a County. He was killed by his son in December 2022, after a family squabble. The son was consequently sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi
Matters only got worse for her, as her son was arrested for the murder of his father, after pleading guilty at the Murang'a High Court and was jailed for 30 years.
"In retrospect, father and son should have talked out their differences. They should not have fought. But it is the father who started it. I think the judge was harsh on my son. He was only defending himself after his father attacked him and personally, I thought he was justified," says Lucy.
Lucy says the trouble started brewing at around noon on that fateful boxing day when the son, Patrick Kamau, cut down green bananas from their farm valued at Sh200.
Kamau says he wanted to give the fruits to his friend who had visited from Nyeri county, although his mother confesses that he intended to sell them to raise money to celebrate Boxing Day.
"His father claimed that the banana was his and Kamau should not have cut it down without seeking permission from him. On the other hand, Kamau argued that he is the one who planted that particular banana some three years earlier," Lucy says.
It was during the altercation that Mwangi became incensed, and decided to disown as well as curse his son.
Lucy, who is a mother of four had been married to her husband for 20 years. She claims the husband had grown into an abusive man who loved picking tiffs.
"It was not a surprise then when he picked a quarrel with our son on this Boxing Day over those bananas...My son offered to give him Sh200 as compensation but the gesture was turned down. Instead, my husband announced that he would beat up our son, demolish his small hut and banish him from the compound," she narrates.
While her husband worked in the nearby quarries, her son survived by doing menial jobs after dropping out of primary school.
"My husband armed himself with a crowbar and started demolishing our son's small hut which was next to our main house. Our son protested and the father dared him into a duel," Lucy narrates
Lucy says her husband then ran to the boy, raising the crowbar high and aiming for his head but in a mad rage, he missed.
"He rose from where he had fallen and took another lunge towards the son. The son stood his ground and he head-butted his father hard on the forehead causing a small crack as blood gushed out. I told my husband to stop the fight but he announced that he would beat the two of us and chase us out of the compound," Lucy says.
She adds: "Instead of stopping the fight, he started complaining that I was conspiring with our son to undermine his authority in the family and he would see to it that we suffered appropriate punishment, starting with the son".
"Mad of the assault, the father raised the crowbar and parried. The son sidestepped and the father fell with the swing of his weapon...The son picked a piece of timber that had been removed from his hut and hit his father hard on the head," she says.
Lucy says, "my husband passed out and we rushed him to Murang'a Level Five hospital where he remained in critical condition for three days before he eventually died".
Consequently, her son was arrested and charged with his father’s murder to which he pleaded guilty.
On April 26, 2023, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The grave of the late James Mwangi Kamau at Gikandu village in Murang'a Count. He was killed by his son in December 2022, after a family squabble. The son was consequently sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi
"Though my home has more peace nowadays, I sympathise with my son who now continues to languish in jail for defending himself against his quarrelsome father. My son too erred in remaining rooted to the fight...peace would have been safer but there was no wisdom at all in that fight," she says.
She notes the banana that was the cause of the fight benefited no one since villagers who responded to the distressed cries trampled on it.
"After my husband was taken to the hospital, I fed the bananas to our family cow," she recalls.
After the sentencing Lucy recalls her son telling her to be at peace, and that he would cope.
