Kakamega man burns self after quarrel with wife

Lugari residents in Kakamega have been left in shock after 48-year-old man made good his threats and burnt himself.

Patrick Ambaza, on Thursday at around 11pm, is reported to have first gobbled poison before setting his house ablaze.

This is after he had picked a quarrel with wife while still in Nairobi where he works, but arrived hours later and carried out his suicidal mission. This is according to the eye witness Marble Musedi.

He had previously sent threatening messages to the wife's mobile phone which prompted locals to advise the wife not to take lightly.

Musedi revealed that Ambaza’s wife had to sell some items to raise fare before she left and that when Ambaza arrived, he heaped household belonging together and set them on fire, then took poison and jumped inside. "We found empty bottle of poison near the scene," she said.

The family now want well-wishers to step in and help construct a house for the wife and the remaining family members.

Area OCPD Patrick Maundu confirmed that despite having quarreled with the wife, the victim also had health issues.

“The security team visited Lumakanda Hospital and spoke to the family which revealed that the deceased was also HIV positive what could have contributed to his unruly behaviour,” he said.

County commissioner William Lenaremo also weighed in and urged families in the area to apply alternative dispute resolution measures to reduce such cases in future.