Kakamega mob kills couple and their guest on suspicion of witchcraft

An elderly couple and a witch doctor have been brutally killed by angry residents of Duka Moja village in Kakamega County on suspicion of practising witchcraft.

Angry villagers stormed the home of 59-year-old Arnold Ambuchi and beat him and his 54-year-old wife Seraphine Muloki to death before lynching the couple's 60-year-old guest, Ayub Lusweti - from Matete village in Lugari Constituency.

It is reported that on learning of the presence of the man, who is said to be a witch doctor, in the village, angry Duka Moja villagers stormed the house where he was performing rituals and attacked him and his hosts with machetes.

Some Duka Moja villagers, who spoke to the Nation on condition of anonymity, accused Ayub of being behind a spate of mysterious deaths in the village through his craft.  They also accused him of bewitching their schoolchildren.

But relatives of the deceased dismissed the allegations as baseless.

Josiah Juma, an uncle, said Ayub was neither a killer nor a dangerous man.

Just doing his job

"There are different ways to earn a living and it is acceptable under the laws of Kenya. My nephew was just doing his job, unfortunately it cost him his life," Mr Juma said.

Grief-stricken relatives of the witch doctor, led by his widow Dorcas Mukhwana, said the old man had been invited by the couple to perform some rituals at their home and that he was an innocent man nobly earning a living.

"Like any other day when he goes to work, he did not tell me where he was going. But when he did not return home after two days, I became suspicious because it was unlike him," said Ms Mukhwana.

Ayub's elder brother, Luka Lusweti, said they received information from a relative two days after he went missing that his lifeless body had been found in a bush in Malava.

"My brother was killed without any mistake. He was a family man trying to make a living. If his killers thought he was involved in something illegal, they should have arrested him and handed him over to the authorities instead of taking the law into their own hands," he said.

Ayub, a father of seven, had often visited the house where he was killed on similar missions.

Confirming the incident, Kakamega County Police Commander Joseph Kigen said his officers had already launched investigations into the incident and would soon bring to book those who lynched the trio.

The three bodies were later taken to the Kakamega County Referral Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examination.