A family in Ikuywa Village, Shinyalu Constituency, in Kakamega county is in mourning after their 55-year-old man is alleged to have been beaten and forcefully ordered to drink illicit brew in the assistant chief’s office leading to his death.
The deceased wife Elizabeth Musanga said she saw five Nyumba Kumi officials arrive at their home asking for stolen chicken.
She said they found three chickens at their home and started accusing his husband Joseph Siva of being involved in theft.
They started beating him up mercilessly before arresting him together with another suspect Andrew Shuma who she said sold him the chicken.
Shuma is fighting for his life at Kakamega Referral Hospital.
“My husband was taken to the office of the assistant chief Ikuywa only to be called some hours later and told that my husband was dead and the other suspect is admitted under critical condition,” Musanga told K24 Digital.
An eyewitness said the victims were forced to take three litres of chang’aa yet they had not taken food for the last two days leading to their death
Villagers led by George Tsango and Simon Siva said it has been a norm in the area for Nyumba Kumi to take the law into their hands by beating up suspects in the office of the area chief.
They called upon the investigative agencies to step in and help determine the cause of death.
They defended the deceased saying he has never been involved in any theft cases and blamed the area assistant chief for giving Nyumba Kumi powers who misuse by harassing locals.
However, the assistant chief Haron Shivelenje, denied the allegations saying the deceased died while undergoing treatment at Shinyalu Sub County Hospital.
He asked residents to exercise patience and wait for postmortem reports and not to rely on mere allegations.
