'They murdered my husband, confessed, and paid me 25 cows'

Villagers and Law Society of Kenya (LSK) officials are finding it hard to swallow a case where local leaders in a village in Murang’a coerced a 60-year-old to accept 25 cows as compensation for the murder of her husband in 2017.

Ms Teresiah Wanjiku says she was given Sh300, 000 in cash - 25 cows quantified at Sh12,000 each - and ordered to sign an affidavit that her husband Francis Waweru was a victim of mob justice, where nobody could be identified or traced.

Five elders

She said the session had five elders well known to her and with blessings from the area chief and assistant chief, who after the kangaroo court ruling, received Sh1,000 each as sitting allowance with a promise of being given a goat to slaughter by the suspects.

“But after they paid, the suspects never honoured the goat gift part. The money that was paid for the murder of my husband was received by one of my seven children and that was the last I heard from him,” Ms Wanjiku told Nation at her Ngelelya home in Ithanga/Kakuzi sub County.

Case revived

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK), human rights organisations and the political class now want the case revived, suspects arrested and prosecuted.

“I also demand that all the elders and administrators and including the then senior security officers serving in the region be prosecuted for duty negligence and possible corruption,” said Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu.

Repulsed them 

According to Ms Wanjiku, her husband who served as a watchman at Muti Secondary School had reported to her that three young men riding a motorcycle were making several attempts to steal school property but he repulsed them.

“He did not attribute any seriousness to the issue since he said he was trying to talk them out of crime…I had attempted to warn him to take the three characters seriously and report them to the police. But my husband who was a born again Christian said he would not wish any woman’s child life in jail,” she said.

Unsatisfied, Ms Wanjiku said she tried to talk to her husband to resign from that job arguing that at 70 years, he was risking too much.

“But my husband remained adamant arguing that the three suspects would get tired of their attempts to raid the school and perhaps even reform,” she said.

However, on the morning of May 15, 2017, she was called at around 5am and told to report to the gate of the school where her husband served as a night guard.

“The voice that belonged to a woman friend was literally weeping in my right ear…Abandon everything else you are doing and hurry up here…Your husband is very sick and needs immediate medical attention, she said and hanged up,” Ms Wanjiku narrates.

Eyes closed

“On the way, a motorcyclist gave me a lift and within no time, I was at the scene…My husband lay there sprawled…His turban had been removed from his head and had been hanged on a nearby tree’s branch. He had his eyes closed and his mouth partially open,” she says.

Ms Wanjiku says she screamed and fell over her husband…calling out his name and begging him to just hold on to life.

He was taken to Thika Level Five hospital in Kiambu county, where he died on May 18. Medical records indicate that he suffered serious head injuries that caused a cracked skull, internal bleeding and a hemorrhagic stroke.

“We buried him on May 26 and I was looking forward to the government arresting the suspects who had been seen attacking my husband…I was praying to God that the suspects be apprehended and charged in court especially that there were witnesses who were willing to support the prosecution in court,” she said.

Visitors well known to her

However, she was surprised to receive two visitors, well-known to her as parents of two suspects in her husband’s attack.

“They were in the company of our village elder. After exchanging greetings, they introduced me to their purpose of visiting me, disclosing that they were here to say sorry about the demise of my husband, seek forgiveness, reconcile and make peace,” she said.

She says she was taken aback by the disclosure and wondered about their audacity to seemingly confess and own up to her husband’s murder.

“But I begged for more time to consult…I summoned my children to a family meeting on May 29 and disclosed to them about the strange proposal. They all refused to cooperate. I went to my father who then was 73 years old and sought his views. He told me the decision was mine to make since I am the one who knew the magnitude of my grief,” she said.

Resurrect from the dead 

She says she further went to her area chief and reported the matter “but he told me that it was okay since it was better to receive compensation instead of making endless trips to court pursuing the jailing of the suspects while not expecting my husband to resurrect from the dead”.

With no choice, she went back home and within a week of negotiations, the deal had been struck. She says the hospital bill for her husband was Sh30, 794 while burial expenses had hit Sh150, 000.

“Minus the Sh5, 000 for the elders’ sitting allowance and the Sh7,000 that transport to hospital had cost her, the net compensation for the death was Sh106, 206,´she said.

Ithanga Kakuzi police boss Mr Patrick Nyaanga said he was not aware of the case.

“It was not during my tenure but I will research into it and come up with an official version of the matter”, he said.

Murang’a branch LSK chairperson Mr Alex Ndegwa said, “every murder case has to end up in court and it can only be terminated through Plea Bargain Agreement (PBA), Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) or maybe where a Nolle Prosequi has been entered and it must be noted that officialdom of those alternatives demands it be transacted in court for it to be binding”.

Mr Timothy Kariuki who is an LSK member added, “our law does not allow reconciliation in murder cases and all those who mooted, convened, facilitated and effected the kangaroo court that ended up delivering such an absurd pretense to justice should have been apprehended yesterday, not today or even tomorrow”.

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