Children hack parents over land

Mombasa, Kenya: A string of murders at the Kenyan Coast has laid bare a chilling conspiracy in which hundreds of parents and grandparents have been killed by their own children who accuse them of being witches.

The brutal killings in which children have hanged, burnt and hacked their own parents and grandparents with machetes has worried local leaders, who now say some conspirators are hiring gangs to carry out the murders. Yet, investigations by police in Kilifi, Lamu and Kwale counties have found that all is not what it seems: the culprits are targeting their parents so that they can inherit land once the elderly people are eliminated.

Some young men are said to be killing their parents to avoid supporting them, if not become direct recipients of payments from sale of coconuts among other cash crops. Last week, The Standard on Saturday found 19 people sheltering at a home in Ganze, Kilifi where parents on the run from their own children and other relatives have been seeking refuge.

“All the gangs need is Sh4,000 and a goat to cleanse themselves after the murder,” said Teddy Mwambire, a member of the local County Assembly, who is leading a campaign against the senseless killings.

He said some families hang their elderly relatives knowing the deaths would easily pass as suicide. Charo Mangi, who runs the rescue home known as Kaya Godoma, estimates that up to 400 elderly people have been killed in Kilifi in the past four years.

Kilifi County Police Commander James Kithuka confirmed 61 of these were killed last year. He said he was aware of 14 such deaths this year, a figure disputed by Mangi who said 43 people have died since January. Two died in the hands of the blood-thirsty gangs last weekend.

Kithuka said Malindi, Kaloleni, Magarini, Kilifi, Ganze and Rabai sub counties are the most affected, saying the killings were alarmingly high last year.

“At some point last year, I would receive between three and five cases every week,” he says.

Mangi said some young men have even been openly making death threats to old folk seeking refuge in his centre.

“Some come here and swear to kill their parents if they refuse to subdivide land among them; all they want are overnight riches,” said Mangi.

He said some elderly people have dyed their hair black to disguise their age. At the rescue home, Kahindi Mramba, 80, said his two sons and his wife tried to kill him in 2012 because he could not surrender a two-acre piece of land.

What followed shocked him: “Out of the blues, they claimed I was a witch, tied me to a tree and beat me up. But I managed to escape from a hut where I was to be burnt alive,” he states.

Despite the fact that the 80-year-old fled with his title deed, he last year learnt that half an acre of his land had been sold mysteriously. Luckily, the buyer sensed something was amiss and successfully embarked on a mission to look for Mramba.

“He informed me he inquired about me but my family told him I was dead. He was sold the land at Sh181,000 and proceeded to pay Sh71,000,” he explains. “When he learnt I was alive, he vowed not to pay the balance unless I am involved”. Mramba, however, fears the land will still be illegally sold in his absence.

Sources reveal that land left behind is easily disposed of since transfers majorly involve witnesses and not title deeds.

Samuel Katana, 64, uses his fingers to count the number of his friends and villagers gorily hacked to death by relatives in Ngerenyi area, a remote hamlet in the far reaches of the county. “Over 10 of my friends are no more, all accused of being sorcerers. There are very few old men left in my neighbourhood,” he says pensively.

Yet, Mzee Katana is a lucky survivor, having lived his worst nightmare. Last March, two young men hacked him with machetes as he slept, and left him for dead. But the father of five survived the gory attack and recovered at Kilifi District Hospital.

It is only when he arrived home from hospital that he got a hint as to who wanted him dead and perhaps why. “My step-brothers pounced on me and severely beat me up as other relatives cheered them on. They claimed I was a witch,” a distraught Katana narrates as he reveals cut marks all over his body.

As the eldest son, he became the custodian of his family’s property following the death of his polygamous father. Fearing for his life, he fled after the attack. But soon after he left, he learnt his four step-brothers had sold part of the family’s 12 acre piece of land.

“I am not a witch and will never be. This was just an excuse to chase me away and take over the land,” says Katana.

Sadaka Muruu, 65, who owned 12 acres of land in Matanomanne area in Kilifi, survived death by a whisker shortly after investors inquired about purchasing her land four years ago. Accused of sorcery by a co-wife and her children, the widow was stripped, beaten and frog-marched to the local DO’s office, where she was to be burnt alive by residents who overpowered the police. Luckily, Mwambire arrived in time to sneak her out to Kaya Godoma. Sadaka’s land has since been taken over by relatives.

The Government admits to have been duped into buying the witchcraft theory: “Every time an aged person is killed by a mob, we have been told it is about witchcraft. But that is not the case; it is all about property and marital problems,” says Vincent Kibaara, Vitengeni DO.

He explains that with the mega port development project in neighbouring Lamu, and the high mining prospects in Kilifi - an area rich in titanium, manganese, zinc and tin, the demand for land has skyrocketed; but the elderly do not want to sell it. “All the young men want is to eliminate them and sell the land,” reveals Kibaara.

The DO says with no one reporting the deaths, it has taken time to unearth the collusion among families. “Some claim they are selling land to offset a relative’s hospital bill but upon investigations, we realise it is not true,” he states.

Kibaara says most victims rarely report threats to their lives, making it hard for authorities to intervene and save them. To deal with the problem, The DO says administrators have suspended land sales. “We want to interrogate all land sale to know which land is being sold and why,” he reveals.

Kithuka, the county police boss, notes that conspiracy among relatives has made successful prosecutions for the murders nearly impossible.

“Police need concrete evidence to prove murder. When no one reports the cases and no one volunteers as a witness, police remain with no chance of proving guilt,” he says, adding that a number of cases are pending in court.

Citing police investigations, the commander concurs that nearly all reported deaths had nothing to do with sorcery but inheritance and sharing of property. He says proceeds from land sale are used purchase motorbikes for use in the boda boda business.

“At some point last year, I would receive between three and five cases every week,” he says.

The commander advises the elderly to share some of their land among their adult sons early enough to avert the deadly disputes.