Maasai morans in the Nkurrunka area of Kitengela killed one person and seriously injured three others after a gang attacked two manyattas.
Those injured told police they staged the attack after they were paid Sh200,000 for the job.
One leader of the group, who was injured by the morans, said he received the money from an investor who claimed he had bought the land where the two manyattas were built.
He told the police that the investor decided to hire them after they refused to evict the owners of the manyattas.
“We raided the two homes after we were given the money, but the morans overpowered us at 2 am,” one of the injured men told the police.
The group estimated at 45 was armed with machetes and other crude weapons.
In the 1am attack early on Thursday, two houses were destroyed along with a vehicle.
The raiders also injured James Kilabai on the head before discending on his house, which they destroyed.
Kilabai’s wife, Leah, said she escaped through the window when the attackers struck at 1 am and hid in the bushes near her home.
“They were so many outside our house and I knew that they were going to kill us. When they started kicking the door, I picked my baby and fled through the window into the bushes,” she said.
Kilabai, who suffered a cut on the head and injured ribs, was rushed to Kitengela subcounty hospital.
Leah told journalists that three of the men, who were injured, had visited their farm last Sunday and told them that they were looking for ostrich eggs.
Police said they had details of the man who paid the raiders and have already forwarded the name to DCI to follow up the matter.
A local elder, Wilson Kisemei, told journalists that six motorbikes were confiscated by the morans after fighting off the raiders.
“The raiders were 45. Their leader confessed to the police that all of them shared the Sh200,000. Our men responded in good time and managed to kill one,” Kisemei said.
At another manyatta, Kisemei said the gang destroyed a car and a house while the owners were inside.
“We do not know who the investor is who sent the goons to attack our people, but the police told me they have received all his details,” Kisemei said.
Kitengela police officers took the injured raiders to hospital while the dead one was taken the Kitengela subcounty hospital mortuary.
The land in question is on the border of Kajiado and Machakos counties.
