Officer hacked to death over illicit brews in Bomet County

A village officer working under the ‘Nyumba kumi’ initiative has been hacked to death at Bosto village in Konoin sub county of Bomet county over his involvement on war against illicit brews that has been on since president Uhuru Kenyatta declared action against the brews a few months ago.

While confirming the sad incident, Satiet location Chief Mrs. Eucabeth Kitur said Mr. Richard Metet was pronounced dead on arrival at Tenwek referral hospital following serious injuries inflicted on him by known assailants who beat him with a blunt object then proceeded to hack him using a panga.

Mrs. Kitur recounted that suspects Mr. Geoffrey Cheruiyot and his mother Mary Matei are being held by police at Bomet police station to assist in investigating the incident.

According to her the main suspect Mr. Cheruiyot is said to have been carrying around a Somali sword with an aim of attacking ‘Nyumba Kumi’ committee members in the village. The deceased was among others who had gone to arrest the suspect when they were attacked and he later succumbed to his injuries.

Mrs. Kitur called on national and county government to up their efforts to assist the local administrators in fighting the illicit brews while being adamant that she and her officers will continue with the fight despite such challenges facing the enforcers who are ill equipped for the safety.

“We are not relenting on the war against illicit brews until the vice is eradicated fully.” She said with determination while adding that she felt for the deceased family.

A villager who only gave his name as Joel said that he was shocked by the incident and called on local police to be proactive and assist other officers in the war on illicit brews because they were better equipped to make arrests more safely.

“I was at home when I heard screams and since I wanted to know what had happened one neighbor told me that Mr. Metet had been killed through hacking with a panga by another neighbor who has been active in brewing illicit alcohol and that he was being arrested when screams were heard after he had seriously attacked Mr. Metet. We are sorry for what happened and we petition the government to ensure that police officer fully engage in such operations to avoid loss of lives through attacks on civilians.” He said.