- Lobby says the killings are linked to issues of land.
- Security agencies have warned that the law will catch up with suspects.
Three elderly people were Monday morning killed in what police say is another case of witchcraft phobia in Bwagamoyo, Rabai subcounty in Kilifi county.
The three, Muinga Lwambi, 68, Mwadziwo Lwambi, 57, and Naomi Gonzi, 50, were all killed at around 5am in their houses on separate occasions.
Muinga and Mwadziwo are brothers while Gonzi is Mwadziwo’s wife.
Muinga was hacked to death as he slept in his house. The door was not broken.
The suspected killers used a ladder to climb into the house through the space between the wall and the grass-thatched roof.
“The door is made of iron sheets. Breaking into it would have made a lot of noise and would probably have attracted attention. That is why they used the ladder,” Haki Yetu officer Julius Wanyama said.
Mwadziwo and his wife Gonzi were killed in another house not far from Muinga’s.
They were killed using the same method.
A family member said Mwadziwo and Gonzi had no child of their own but Mwadziwo had a son from a previous marriage.
Muinga had separated with his wife but their children had convinced their mother to return and live with them.
However, they were not sleeping in the same house with the wife spending the nights in another house provided by her children.
Wanyama said cases of killings on witchcraft allegations are slowly coming back and pointed an accusing finger at authorities.
“There is a sense of complacency in dealing with these cases because, according to our research, most of them usually happen after complaints are raised with the police,” Wanyama said.
According to a family member, Muinga had twice received threats, which he reported at Rabai Police Station.
Kilifi county commissioner Kutswa Olaka held a security baraza with the locals after the incident on Monday.
“These people were killed at around 5am. Nobody heard anything and the houses are closely situated to one another. You can’t say that somebody is killed and you can’t hear,” said Olaka.
The county commissioner said when the security agents arrived at the scene, most of the youths in the area had disappeared.
“A very mysterious thing which led to our suspicion that they must have had some knowledge about that incident. He said DCI is handling the matter,” Olaka said on pone.
“Those youths within that area, all of them will be arrested and interrogations will follow.”
Olaka said any kind of killing will not be condoned.
“You cannot kill somebody on suspicion of witchcraft and escape the long arm of the law," Olaka said.
Wanyama said in most cases, land is the underlying cause of the killings.
“Land is an emotive issue in Kilifi and youth use many allegations to eliminate the elderly, who are usually stumbling blocks in their quest to sell off land and earn quick money,” Wanyama said.
He said local authorities also lack requisite skills to undertake alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
“As an organisation, we have been training local authorities on the alternative justice system so as to handle such matters before they reach the extreme ends ,” said Wanyama.
The bodies of the deceased are at the Coast General Hospital in Mombasa.