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How Man was Ordered to Kill His Father
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 17 July 2007 23:58
First Asiago was tortured at length as his son watched, then the most horrifying thing happened.
The son was handed a machete and given the choice of either chopping off his father's head or both of them would die. He chose to behead his father.
On the same day, vigilante groups killed 30 people in Bonchari and neighbouring constituencies in the wider Kisii for allegedly engaging in criminal activities. There were also reports of rape.
Two months later, two chiefs were also killed. The outrage that followed these killings was resounding and eight people were promptly arrested in connection with the murders.
The killings set off a chain of strange events for a journalist who witnessed or covered some of the incidents. He was one of those arrested, on trumped up charges he claims, to cover up the role played by provincial administration and police officers in the area's insecurity problem.
Peter Riang'a Makori was released just over a week ago after going through an ordeal at the hands of the police.
Crucial information
Makori charges that the only reason he was incarcerated was because some provincial administration officials and police officers thought he had crucial information that could implicate them in the murders. The killings have brought the activities of these vigilante groups, known locally as sungu sungu, the provincial administration and police officers in the area into sharp focus.
The groups appear to be the product of a campaign initiated in the late 1990s by the Provincial Commissioner at the time, Mr Joseph Kaguthi, to deal with intractable security problems ranging from cattle rustling to violent robberies and extra judicial killings of suspected witchdoctors or other criminals.
When contacted for comment, Kaguthi said that he used chiefs' barazas to fight cattle rustling and at some point, groups of youth. He said the concept of sungu sungu, or vigilante groups in Kuria District, who have also been accused of extra judicial killings, came up long after he had left. He said, however, that the sungu sungu concept seems to be doing very well in Tanzania and does not understand why they are a breeding ground for murderers in Kuria.
Indeed, going by the evidence of recent events, it would appear that the vigilante groups, which were supposedly formed to help tame insecurity, have also been sucked into the security problems that bedevil Gucha, Kisii and Nyamira districts.
The killing of the 30 people and the subsequent hacking to death of the two chiefs are probably the most violent events in the area in living memory.
In an interview with the Sunday Standard soon after being released last week, Makori - who also volunteered a full list of the names of the 30 victims and another four alleged rape victims that night - said he had been told by a Mr Joseph Kebaki of how his neighbour, Asiago was killed.
According to Makori, Asiago was abducted along with his son by members of the vigilante group, taken to a forest near Itibo Primary School and tortured for some time. When the group was ready to kill him, they gave his son - who had all the while been watching his father being tortured - a machete and ordered that he chops off his father's head.
Killed
"The son was told to either do it or have both of them killed. So he just cut off his father's head," said Makori.
The old man was extensively questioned over cattle rustling activities in the area. Kebaki was also to have been killed that night but he managed to escape death by climbing and hiding in a tree.
In the morning, he got a letter from the Bonchari District Officer ordering one of his assistant chiefs to give him security, which he was denied. He went to the District Commissioner, Mr Abdullahi Leloon, who gave a similar directive, cautioning the assistant chief to stop condoning the crime that had become prevalent in the area.
According to a statement Mr Leloon recorded with the police after the deaths of the two chiefs, he held a security meeting at Suneka DO's office on July 7, where he warned a Mr Barini and the Chief of Bomorenda Location against condoning extra judicial killings.
The following night, the two were attacked and hacked to death whose identities have never been established.
Makori says he received a call at 6 am that morning from Mr Geofrey Mogire, the chairman of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, Kisii Branch, informing him of the two murders and immediately left for the scene of the murder. But on his way, he encountered another vigilante group. They were beating up a teacher he knew using pangas, stones and other weapons. The intriguing thing, according to Makori, was that watching the beatings from the sidelines were senior provincial administration officials and police officers in the district. He overcame his shock and started taking pictures of the beatings. The teacher was later reported dead. Soon thereafter, Makori was ordered to report to the district administrative headquarters. The policeman who came for him took away his camera and led him to a waiting car.
Makori says they had not gone far when he heard gunshots coming from where he had left the teacher being tortured. When they got to the Kisii Police Station, he was informed that he was under arrest for suspected robbery with violence. The following day, he was transferred to Rioma Police Station where police officers visited him.
"They beat me up thoroughly. They wanted to know why we had killed the two chiefs and who was involved. They told me to strip naked. They kicked me, stepped on me and told me I was going to be killed," he says. He was then asked to record a statement in which he merely repeated what he had seen, prompting his torturers to warn him of dire consequences.
On July 11, he was transferred from Rioma to Kisii Police Station. One of the police officers transferring him reportedly said: "Afande, when we get near that forest, just get him out of the car and then I will shoot him and dump him there."
The following day he was removed from Kisii Police Station and when the Land Rover approached the forest, it stopped and a police corporal came out and asked: "Makori, did you ever imagine that one day you will go through the hands of the police? Do you know how many bad stories you have written about us?"
He thought these were his last moments but then they got back into the car and drove to Kendu Bay Police Station. "The place was infested with mosquitoes and bed bugs. I was ordered not to talk to anyone including the police officers," he says. He was kept there for 10 days without food or water. Occasionally a sympathetic officer would give him a cup of tea at night and this is what saved his life. He believes this was happening because he knew of provincial administration and police officers who had played a role in the spiralling insecurity in the area.
When contacted for comment, Leloon said that Makori had been his friend for a long time and he did not have any problem with him. "I am actually looking for Makori so that I can condole him over what happened. If I were him, I would just be grateful for being released instead of blaming people," he said.
But Makori says that when he was removed from the cell in Kendu Bay Police Station on July 21, he was charged with murder the following day.
Dangerous person
Strangely, all the lawyers in the area declined to take up his case. He was later to learn that the provincial administration held a meeting with Law Society of Kenya Nyanza South officials and they resolved that he was a dangerous person and therefore no lawyer should take up his case. When he appeared before the Kisii Principal magistrate, Mr Samuel Soita, Makori took the opportunity to plead for his security.
"The magistrate ordered that I get urgent medical treatment and that I should not be held at any police station for security reasons," says Makori. "He also ordered that I get P3 forms for the injuries I suffered and that the OCS in Kisii should investigate those who tortured me."
But, in total disregard of the court order, police refused to take any statements from him. When he went back to court and raised the issue of contempt of court, the magistrate argued that his jurisdiction was over and only ordered that he be produced in the High Court as soon as possible.
"We were never produced before the High Court to even take a plea. Instead, on October 24, we were directly taken to Kisii Prison, which is illegal as it's only courts that are supposed to send someone to prison," he said. However, Makori managed to see the Deputy Registrar of the High Court, Mr Njeru Ndwiga, who wrote a letter to the Attorney General and his case started moving.
Former Cabinet minister Julius Sunkuli got wind of what was happening and went to take up the case. He managed to bring the date forward to December 18, but, he says, the judge fixed the date knowing very well he would be on leave. The case was moved to February 3. However, on the material day, the prosecution asked for the case to be moved to Kisumu for security reasons. It was then that Justice Philip Tunoi ruled that the case be heard from June 2 to June 10.
Makori wonders why he was never allowed to make a plea and even his volunteer lawyers - including Sunkuli - just disappeared. He resigned himself to the prospect of representing himself.
But just when he was preparing for the case, he was informed that an order had been issued that he be produced in court on May 24. When they appeared in court, the State dropped the charge and he was set free. Makori was tipped that he risked being killed if he went back home.
He thus opted not to go back home. Instead, he travelled to Nairobi to present his case and tell the truth to the Permanent Secretary for Internal Security, Mr Dave Mwangi, and the Police Commissioner, Brigadier Mohammed Hussein Ali. It is understood that Mwangi issued a directive on Wednesday to the Nyanza PC, Mr Aggrey Mudinyu, asking him to investigate the matter.
The Deputy Police Commissioner in Charge of Complaints, Mr Joel Bimodo, also gave a similar directive on Thursday to the Nyanza police boss.
Makori wants the Government to set up a Commission of Inquiry to establish exactly how many people were killed and how many houses were burnt. He also wants the provincial administration in the region investigated in matters relating to insecurity.
