Police in Mumias, Kakamega County have arrested a 21-year-old man in connection to the murder of renowned football fan Isaac Juma.
According to a Thursday, January 27 statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Milton Namatsi was nabbed at his home in Mumias after he was linked to the death of the 58-year-old soccer fan.
“The suspect, Milton Namatsi, 27, was picked from his house by sleuths based at Mumias after preliminary investigations linked him to the murder,” the report read in part.
According to detectives, Juma and his family had just taken their meal at their home in Ebuyenjere village in Mumias when his killers emerged.
Detectives say that Juma’s children who were taking their supper outside the house had reported seeing silhouettes of human beings lurking against the fence.
They went back to the house and reported to their parents who took the matter lightly. Moments later, they heard a commotion in the sheep pen and immediately afterwards the sheep began bleating, prompting Juma and his 17-year-old son to dash outside.
“Before they could establish what was happening, a group of men armed with machetes attacked them, hacking Juma to death,” the police report further stated.
Juma’s son luckily escaped death by a whisker during the night attack on his father.
“His teenage son however managed to cheat death narrowly, by escaping to the farm. Detectives suspect that Juma’s death may be related to land issues that bedevilled his extended family and are burning the midnight candle to arrest the rest of the suspects,” the police report further stated.
Juma who was a newspaper vendor in Nakuru before retiring, was an ardent football fan who religiously supported the country’s national team Harambee Stars and AFC Leopards.