Worrying trend as 126 murdered in Kisii in one year
A total of 126 people have been murdered in Kisii County over the last year, police have revealed.
Kisii County Police Commander Francis Kooli said the murders have been committed since May last year.
The police boss said the trend was worrying and warned the offenders that they will be subjected to the full force of the law if apprehended.
According to Kooli, most of the murders were related to family conflicts and land disputes.
The killings, the commander noted, have led to conflicts between the perpetrators and the families of the victims, creating fear and anxiety. Lack of dialogue Kooli noted that Nyamache SubCounty had recorded the highest number of murders with 18 cases, followed by Kenyenya at 17, Kitutu Central and Masaba South at fifteen each.
Others included Kisii South (13), Sameta (11), Kisii Central (10), Etago (7) while Marani and Gucha had five cases each. He said out of the 126 murder cases, 72 were pending in various courts, 44 are being investigated while police officers are pursuing ten suspects in relation to some of the murders.
The police boss attributed the rise in murder cases to the increasing population, the shrinking land sizes and the lack of dialogue to resolve land disputes peacefully.
“People get emotional, take the law into their hands and commit crimes. They realise that they have messed up after they have been arrested and prosecuted,” Kooli told People Daily at his office yesterday.
He lauded the Judiciary for imposing tough jail terms for perpetrators of murder and appealed to the prosecution to conduct thorough investigations and seal loopholes to ensure that the perpetrators do not get away with their crimes.
The county police boss warned chiefs and clan elders against attempting to settle murder, rape and defilement case out of court, warning that they will be treated as accomplices in the murders.
“Chiefs should assist the victims to get justice. They should not negotiate between the perpetrators and families of victims to settle the matter out of court,” Kooli stated.
