Protesters in Marsabit town on Wednesday forcefully removed the body of a murdered watchman from a mortuary and dumped it in the office of the county commissioner.
The irate residents broke the windows of the office and laid the body on the county commissioner’s desk.
Armed with stones, they demanded action on insecurity in the area. They scared away workers at the county headquarters, disrupting work for hours before calm returned.
The police took the body back to the Marsabit County Referral Hospital Mortuary from where it had been forcefully retrieved by enraged members of the public.
The demonstrators are said to have been incensed after they failed to find the county commissioner in the office. He was apparently away on official duty.
Deputy county commissioner Patrick Muriira said the premises will be fumigated to ensure the county commissioner and staff are not exposed to infection as the demonstrators violated Ministry of Health protocols on Covid-19.
Police have launched investigations into the killing of the night guard at Haro Bodha area within Marsabit town.
The deceased, aged 56, was a watchman at a livestock shed in Jirime location. He was shot eight times by unknown attackers.
Marsabit Central subcounty police commander Johnstone Wachira said investigations into the incident were underway.
Wachira said the motive of the killing was yet to be established and promised that investigations would bring the culprits to book.
The police commander assured residents that no effort would be spared until those behind the act are arrested and prosecuted.
The murder brings to four the number of killings reported in Marsabit Central and neighbouring Marsabit North subcounties by armed criminals in the past two weeks.
Edited by Henry Makori
