Kakamega County loses 10 people in Mandera massacre

Out of the 28 people who were killed in the Mandera massacre, 10 were from Kakamega county.

Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya said the bodies will be transported to the county next week for a requiem mass at Bukhungu Stadium.

Those who lost their lives and are from Kakamega are Violet Marang'a, Timothy Wafula, Eric Sasaka, Dominic Omae, Cleopaton Omukenya, Hillary Lisaka, Mildred Weremba Shiundu, Janet Mukoya, Patrick Mukopi and Enock Kausi.

And, shock and despair continued to engulf several villages in Mumias East Sub-County following the killing of five teachers.

At Emakhwane village, locals are yet to come to terms with the death of Janet Mukoya, who relocated to Mandera three months.

"This was the first time she was coming home since she moved to Mandera. Everyone was optimistic with her new found home. It was hard to believe that her journey could end in such an unfathomable death," her in-law, Hamza Maondo told The standard when we visited their Mumias home. Maondo said he was not aware that Mukoya was travelling.

"I heard from the media that there was a deadly massacre and I fought the thought that my in-law could be in this," said Maondo.

At Lushea village in Mumias, Petronila Weremba is mourning the death of her 28-year-old daughter, Mildred Weremba. But even before she comes around with the death of her first-born daughter, who is a mother of one, another twist of events is starting to give her sleepless nights.

Family reunion

She received reports that her son, a soldier, may be deployed to Mandera.

"This Government wants to kill me, I am just mourning the death of my daughter and even before dust settles they want to take my son to the same war-torn zone, this cannot be happening," she said amid sobs.

Mildred who worked in Mandera for two and a half years last visited their Lushea home during the April holidays. "She skipped the August holidays and this time around we were hoping that we would have a reunion, one that would have seen all my children come together but the hand of death struck without mercy," said Weremba.