Four cousins killed on suspicion of being cattle thieves in Kitengela

Police in Kajiado County have launched a manhunt for suspects who killed four cousins in Kitengela on Sunday.

Fred Mureithi, 30, his younger brother Victor Mwangi, 25, and their two cousins Mike George, 29, and Nicholas Musa, 28, were lynched by villagers on suspicion of being livestock thieves.

According to Isinya Sub-county Police Commander Charles Chepkonga, a herdsboy who spotted them at night raised the alarm, suspecting that they were livestock thieves.

“We were informed of the incident at around 1 am and we went to the scene and found the four had already been killed. They all had dreadlocks and had serious injuries on the head inflicted using blunt objects. They didn’t have any documents on them. We have commenced investigations to establish the motive behind the killings,” he said.

According to relatives, the four left their Syokimau home on Sunday to go celebrate a birthday in Isinya where they spent the night.

However, along the way, they stopped to repair one of the motorbikes they were using when they were attacked by herdsmen who accused them of plotting to steal their livestocks.

“As they were trying to fix the motorcycle at around 11pm, they were attacked by herdsmen who accused them of plotting to steal their livestock. All of them were killed on the spot,” said a relative.

Their identities were not immediately established until two days later when relatives turned up and identified the bodies.

One of the boys is said to have had a graphic shop based in Nairobi, while the other were in charge of the mother’s construction.

The mother of the two boys, who is based in London, went into shock after receiving the news of their death and has been in hospital since then.