In a worrying trend of lawlessness in Murang’a County, hundreds of irate residents of Karung'e village in Mathioya on Sunday evening raided a police station and a chief's camp, and evicted armed officers who took to their heels.
The residents said they had gotten wind of a murder suspect being held at the Karung'e police patrol base.
The youths, who wanted to lynch the suspect, raided the cells and only left after they confirmed that he was not being held there.
They, however, inscribed the writings from the book of Ecclesiastes 9:5, which reads "The dead know nothing" and another quote "It won't be business as usual in Karung'e".
On August 4, 2024, a resident identified as Mr Jamleck Irungu, a timber dealer, was attacked on his way from a local bar.
A police report at Gitugi Police Station indicates that Irungu, also identified as Jamu wa Mbau and Jamu wa Mbokero, had, before the attack, quarreled with a reveler at a bar in Gachiriro trading centre.
"He patronised the bar until it closed and on his way home he was waylaid, attacked and left for dead lying in a ditch," the report reads.
Mr Irungu was found the following morning by passersby lying in the ditch while unconscious and was rushed to Murang'a Level Five Hospital.
Broken windowpanes at Karung'e chief's camp after the August 18, 2024 noon attack.
Photo credit: Mwangi Muiruri | Nation Media Group
"We placed him in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) where for 10 days we tried our level best to salvage his life. Unfortunately, he succumbed on the morning of August 15, 2024," he said.
A postmortem report by Dr Kamotho Watenga shows that Irungu died of brain trauma occasioned by blunt object force on the head. He also had blood clots in the brain.
Word went around that the suspect had been arrested and was being held at Karung'e police patrol base.
"I was on duty guarding the post when the first hail of stones arrived. I blew the whistle to alert four of my colleagues...We all ran for our lives...we are lucky that there was no suspect in our custody," said an officer who cannot be named since he is not authorised to speak to the media.
In the Gachocho case, residents stoned both the patrol base and the chief's office, with the officers running for their lives.
The residents proceeded to pick a murder suspect Stephen Maina, 48, who had been left unattended as armed officers ran for their lives.
Maina who was accused of killing his brother, forty-five-year-old Joseph Kibugu, was murdered at the reporting area of the patrol base, sending shockwaves in the county and also eliciting a debate on the pattern of residents taking the law into their own hands.
In the Karung'e incident, area Residents Association Member Stephen Mwaura told the Nation on Monday that there were six similar cases since 2021 from the same shopping centre and no suspect had ever reached a courthouse.
Police officers ponder their next move outside their vandalised post.
Photo credit: Mwangi Muiruri | Nation Media Group
The residents burnt down a house belonging to the suspect, leaving behind a message that he remained an unwanted marked man, banished from their community.
Mr Mwaura said the residents only wanted to know why no one had been arrested in connection to the recent fatal attack of Irungu and others before him.
"We have dispatched reinforcements to the area and calm has returned. We will act on the complaints raised and ensure that policing services are delivered adequately," he said.
However, Mr Karobia frowned on incidents of civilians taking the law into their own hands, terming the worrying trend, anarchy.
Muranga Senator Joe Nyutu urged the county security committee to audit its relevance in the region "since cases of mob justice that leave murders and destruction of property in their wake have alarmingly gone up".
He said, "This cannot be allowed to continue since it is not good for our social and economic ratings in the country...we must have a civil county that adheres to law and order".
