• Widow Euphemia Omondi said her husband had called her at 8pm, saying he was about to close business.
• Makokha’s father Sylvester Orina urged security agencies to bring to book his son's killers.
The year 2019 ended tragically in Malaba town after thugs shot dead an M-Pesa agent.
A witness who was at a hotel adjacent to the scene of the shooting, said he saw three men dressed in police uniforms alight from two motorcycles at 8.30pm. They were armed with an AK47 rifle. They walked to the M-Pesa shop and shot the owner in the chest. It is not clear how much they stole.
They shot Alvine Makokha once before shooting in the air to scare away people who were waiting to usher in the New Year in a nearby hotel, the witness said.
The witness, who did not want to be named for his own security, said the men walked confidently and it was difficult to suspect they had a sinister motive since they were in police uniform.
“I thought they were police officers,” he said.
“One shouted to the people in the hotel to lie down. There was commotion everywhere. Some people hid inside the kitchen.”
After shooting the shop owner, the trio boarded their motorcycles and sped towards Amagoro town along the Malaba-Bungoma highway.
Police officers from Malaba police station arrived at the scene shortly after but found Makokha already dead. His body was taken to the Kocholia Level 4 Hospital mortuary.
Teso North police boss Wilson Muraya confirmed the incident and urged the public to give police time to investigate and arrest the perpetrators.
Widow Euphemia Omondi said her husband had called her at 8pm notifying her that he was about to close business and wanted to find food ready.
“I was at the shop with him but I returned home earlier than him,” she said.
“We spoke on the phone, and he told me to prepare supper because he was hungry. But about 15 minutes later a boda boda rider came. He knocked on the door and told me Makokha was dead.”
She said she arrived at the scene to find police had already cordoned off the area.
Before the shooting, she said unknown people had on several occasions attempted to break into her husband’s shop. Makokha, a father of three is said to have had over Sh500,000 in cash and in his M-pesa accounts at the time of his shooting.
Makokha’s father Sylvester Orina urged security agencies to bring to book his son's killers.
In a separate incident, a boda boda rider died after his motorcycle was involved in an accident at Aleles near Amagoro town on Tuesday night. The incident happened at 11pm.
The motorcyclist, identified as Paul Atelu, died on the spot. A pillion passenger Rowlings Etyang suffered serious injuries.
The motorcycle collided with a vehicle on the busy Malaba-Bungoma highway. The vehicle is at Amagoro police patrol base.
The body of the deceased was taken to Kocholia Level 4 Hospital mortuary and the injured is being treated at the same health facility.