Ms Sasida Njeri, 75, had just finished supper at around 9pm on July 12, 2024, and was on her knees praying before she could retire to bed when shouts and curses in her compound shattered her world.
Despite being disabled and walking with the help of a cane, the granny ventured out and was met by the commotion from a gathering outside her son's house.
"Although it was dark, by the light of the torches, I identified the five men outside my son's house as my neighbours and swore that they were there to mete out death. My son, Martin Kamau, aged 46, had been hounded out of his house and, amidst the beatings, accused of being a livestock thief. The crowd tried to drag him from the compound, saying they had to kill him,' she says.
Ms Njeri says she pleaded with the five men, calling them by their names, to drop their violent mission.
“I immediately regretted my words because one of the men gave me a hard slap on my left cheek. I fell and as I struggled to get up I saw another of my sons - John Mwangi, 38 - brandishing a machete and threatening to kill anyone who dared attack his mother and anyone who did not leave our compound immediately. In the ensuing melee, I heard one of the attackers screaming that he had been cut on the head as he ran away," she told Nation.Africa in her home village of Muchungucha in Kiharu Constituency, Murang’a County.
Ms Sasida Njeri, 75, shows a note dated July 20, 2024, threatening to kill her family, found on the grave of her son, who was murdered on 14 July 14, 2024.
Photo credit: Mwangi Muiruri | Nation Media Group
Ms Njeri said it was only after the pain from the blow on her head had subsided that she found her tears.
"The tears flowed freely down my face. I missed my husband, Mr Peter Githathai, who died in 2016. Had he been in the compound, I'm sure the attackers would have thought twice before attacking us. I wish we had died together," she says.
She says she called her two sons and their six children, aged between 11 and 14, who had also woken up, for an impromptu prayer meeting that ended around midnight.
"In these prayers I asked God to protect us from evil, and if my children had gone astray, to reform them so that they might be safe. The two sons had sworn with the living God that they were not thieves... But since I had no proof whether they were thieves or not, I left their judgement in the hands of the living God," she says.
She says Kamau dropped out of Grade Three and, after helping with the home's agricultural activities, eventually settled into small-scale farming, "and I knew that was his occupation because even at this moment when he is already dead and buried, I can show you a plot where he has ripe French beans ready for the market".
As for Mwangi, she said he had dropped out of Grade Six and started his life as a casual labourer in the village, occasionally venturing into the towns in search of work on construction sites. Coincidentally, both had been deserted by their wives.
Saturday came and went without incident and Ms Njeri was happy that peace had returned to the village.
"But I was wrong... On Sunday morning at about 10am, as I was preparing to go to church, the same five men who had attacked us on Friday night showed up. They were armed with clubs and whips, and one of them was carrying a jerrycan full of what I later discovered was petrol," she said.
She says the gang forced their way into Mr Kamau's house, dragged him into an open yard on the compound and beat him severely, this time saying they had permission from the authorities to kill him because he was a thief.
Ms Sasida Njeri, 75, at her Muchungucha home village in Murang'a County on July 20, 2024
Photo credit: Mwangi Muiruri | Nation Media Group
"I was warned that if I tried to intervene, I would be murdered... It is my son who, in his distress, raised his left hand and waved me off, shaking his blood-soaked head to warn me to stay away... Then he raised his left hand again and waved goodbye to me and his three children," she said.
Ms Njeri said she could not bear to watch the barbaric violence meted out to her son and threw herself on him.
"As I wept my son whispered to me: Mama, blame our poverty... I am not a thief. I am not dying for anything except that we are defenceless," she told Nation.Africa.
She said she was held by the legs, dragged away from her son and moments later her son's body exploded into a rolling ball of fire as he writhed and twisted in pain after being doused with petrol and set on fire.
"They proceeded to burn three houses in my compound. The assailants ordered Kamau's three children and me to stand guard while he burned to ashes. After the fire had died down, leaving charred remains, the gang, which had now grown to about 11 men, ordered us to lie on the ashes in readiness to be set on fire. I told them that I was ready to die because after 75 years of life, having given birth to nine children, I had my share of life... I told them to spare the three children," she said.
It took the intervention of elderly neighbours watching from a distance to stop the planned lynching of the granny and her grandchildren.
Police arrived at around 4pm and took Kamau's remains to the mortuary after crime scene investigators had processed the compound and collected evidence.
In what Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu has since described as 'an act of raw barbarism and lawlessness', County Commissioner Joshua Nkanatha said: "We cannot allow such an act to go unpunished."
Mr Nkanatha said the case was being actively investigated by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) with the aim of "identifying all those involved in this act of murder".
The post-mortem report filed at the Murang'a County Mortuary indicates that "the victim died of severe burns...with indications that he suffered fractures to his legs and hands before he was burnt".
The report indicates that "the injuries inflicted by the use of blunt objects were not life-threatening, but the fire injuries were started while he was alive - he was burnt alive".
Mr Nkanatha added that "we have already recorded statements from key eyewitnesses, including Ms Njeri, and we assure that justice will be done".
Scene of burnt houses after a village gang raided the home of Ms Sasida Njeri on July 14, 2024, murdered her son and committed arson
Photo credit: Mwangi Muiruri | Nation Media Group
Murang'a Chapter Law Society of Kenya President Mr Alex Ndegwa, said: "This is a clear testimony of a village where the rule of law has collapsed and security machinery is suspiciously non-existent if such an incident could be planned for three days and executed without any interference from law enforcers".
"Where systems of governance have collapsed, anarchy thrives and the best redemption the security agents can afford is to ensure that the perpetrators of this unfortunate murder are arrested and punished," he said.
After burying Mr Kamau on July 19, 2024, the family found a note written in Gikuyu on the grave on the morning of July 20, 2024.
The note, written with a pencil on a piece of paper warned: "This death is not enough, we will come back and kill all the rest of your family because it is full of thieves...also remember to produce Mwangi who you are hiding from us even after he attacked and injured one of us with a panga."
Ms Njeri says she is living through the worst period of her life. "I am now worried that whoever wrote the note will execute the threat.
