A mob raided the home of an assistant in Malava, Kakamega County and set it on fire over the killing of two suspects accused of stealing livestock.
Tension rose in Msalaba Village in Malava, Kakamega County, after the irate residents descended on the homestead of their assistant chief and set his houses ablaze.
The residents accused him of colluding with some villagers to kill two suspected livestock thieves in the early hours of Tuesday.
The residents retrieved the bodies of the two from Malava Hospital before proceeding to the administrator’s home before turning violent, police said.
The villagers claimed the two victims who were killed were not thieves but legitimate livestock traders.
The suspects were confronted by a mob on Monday night and lynched on suspicion of them being thieves.
This is after they were found with a herd of livestock late in the night.
They were taken to a local hospital with injuries where they died. This angered locals who turned violent.
Police warned against mob lynching and termed it criminal.
The news of the night’s events spread quickly Tuesday morning, igniting fury among villagers.
The mob stormed Malava Hospital, retrieved the bodies, and marched to the assistant chief’s homestead, setting his houses ablaze.
The administrator fled for his life, narrowly escaping their wrath.
Malava Sub-County Police Commander Paul Mwenda warned the residents against taking the law into their own hands.
He said they are investigating the attack on the administrator and the lynching of the two suspects.
The bodies were later moved back to the mortuary pending autopsy and investigations.
Cases of mob lynching have been on the rise amid calls on parties involved to surrender suspects to authorities for processing and investigations.
Experts say the trend is an indication of a breakdown of law and order and want security agencies to increase their actions to tame the same.
At least two cases of mob lynching are reported daily in the country which officials term as alarming.
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