Meru families live in fear of killer kin

Nestled in the wooded hilly tea-growing fringes of the iconic Nyambene ranges, Kathumaru is a picturesque village.

Located about 10 kilometres from Maua town in Meru County, the wealthy neighbourhood is full of life and has captivating views.

Concealed in the belly of the agrarian village, however, a dispute over a small piece of land has left a family of about 15 at a crossroads and is threatening its very existence.

Family members have fled their homes after a killer jailbird relative threatened to wipe them out so as to inherit the land, estimated to be two acres.

Already, Stanley Ntarangwi is on the run after slashing to death his step-brothers, Joseph Mukaria and Charles Kathongi, claiming that they had left for him a smaller portion of the family land when he was incarcerated.

Ntarangwi, who has a history of violence, walked from prison a free man in May last year after serving a 14-year term for attacking a person with a panga.

It is after he left prison that he started saying his three step brothers allocated themselves prime areas of the family land.

Ntarangwi escalated the row when he accused Kathongi of harvesting his mature trees.

Kanuni chief, Japhet Kaibiria, said he attempted to intervene when Ntarangwi complained about the land and the trees.

Broad daylight attack

“The man who cut his trees was not doing well financially and his child had just joined secondary school. We pleaded with Ntarangwi to give his brother more time to repay the debt to no avail,” the administrator told the Saturday Nation.

Things turned uglier when Mr Ntarangwi insisted on taking his step brother’s land. It was the piece Kathongi had built his family house. 

As expected, Ntarangwi’s insistence on taking the land did not go down well with Kathongi and the others. 

Family members and Kathumaru village residents say Ntarangwi attacked Kathongi around 11pm on December 30, 2021, savagely slashing him.

Kathongi’s wife, Beatrice Kaluyu, said Ntarangwi had earlier chased her family from the home. 

They were hiding in a thicket when her brother-in-law, who had been released from prison just months earlier, struck.

The families of Kathongi and his step brothers burnt Ntarangwi’s house but he fled before they and the villagers could apprehend him.

As family and friends were planning Kathongi’s burial, Ntarangwi waylaid Mukaria at a thicket as he was returning home from a shop, also hacking him to death.

The gory broad daylight attack on January 25 was witnessed by several people working at a nearby tea farm.

Savage attacks

According to the widow, neighbours sympathetic to Ntarangwi are sheltering, clothing and feeding him.

She adds that they are also providing him with crucial information that helps him carry out the savage attacks almost with impunity.

The Kathongi and Mukaria families say they are scared despite police promising to ensure funerals of the two men go on uninterrupted.

“As a family, we have a difficult time planning the funerals. Villagers are afraid Ntarangwi may emerge from his hideout and attack us. We do not even have the money to clear mortuary bills,” Ms Kaluyu said. 

“As a police vehicle was taking Mukaria’s body to the mortuary, some of the people who were harvesting tea helped Ntarangwi make his escape. Kathongi and Mukaria’s families are demanding justice. We cannot go back home or have peace as long as the man is still roaming free.”

Mukaria’s wife, Beatrice Ncooro, could not hold back tears as she described the moment she learnt of the death from her child who witnessed the killing.

“The child came to tell me that his father had been butchered by Ntarangwi. It is very sad and unfortunate because the attacker had been working with villagers who failed to warn him of the danger or even raise alarm as he was being killed,” Ncooro said.

The families of the two murdered men have sought refuge at Kanuni market, about three kilometres from their homes. 

Hunt for the killer

Kaluyu, Ncooro and other family members say they are always looking over their shoulders for the killer.
Mukaria’s sons, Fredrick Kimathi and Amos Murangiri, say they constantly get information of Ntarangwi being spotted in Kathumaru and nearby villages. 

The Saturday Nation team found them in a group of about 10 men armed with machetes patrolling the homestead. Police say they are looking for Ntarangwi.

However, Mr Kaibiria says the hunt for Ntarangwi has become complex as he could be hiding in abandoned houses ordinarily used by miraa farm guards. 

“He could also be hiding at forbidden places like Njuri Ncheke shrines and dense woodlands that are rarely frequented by villagers,” the administrator added.

He said police and Nyumba Kumi officials would not stop looking for Ntarangwi, “who is moving around with two razor-sharp pangas”.

Like the two women, the chief said authorities are worried some people could be harbouring the fugitive since efforts to track him have not yielded fruit.

He said those found hiding Ntarangwi would be arrested and prosecuted. 

“He can even appear in 20 homesteads in one day, especially on realising we are closing in on him. Some neighbours and other villagers are feeding him and providing him with information on our movements, saying there is nothing wrong with family rivalries,” the chief said. 

“They justify it by arguing that the dispute involves land. Unfortunately, we are dealing with murder. Ntarangwi does not remain in one place for long. We have received credible reports of the man being spotted in Kisimani near Meru National Park, Akachiu and Murua.”

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