The family of James Thuo who hails from Mumbu village in Murang’a county has been nursing a painful wound since their son, Boniface Ngigi was lynched in June.
What seemed like a tightly-knit family is now broken after his wife watched the atrocities and packed her bags for home in Embu.
All that remains for the family are shattering memories from watching video clips of their son oozing blood from assault by an enraged mob. Speculations circulated that the 25-year-old was involved in theft, stealing dry beans from villagers.
Boniface Ngigi had just returned home from Nairobi where he worked as a matatu tout and boda rider. He decided to also visit his grandfather in Kirima, in the company of 3 other youths.
On their journey, they encountered a group on patrol who suspected them of being criminals after questioning them.
Witnesses present at the scene revealed that Boniface met his tragic end partly because he struggled to explain himself given that he was relatively new to the area.
James Thuo vividly recalls his son calling him to ask for Sh. 100 to appease the angry men.
“I could tell from his voice that he was in great pain. He said he was dying and the phone went silent,” he recalled.
Unfortunately, Thuo could not raise the extrajudicial fine imposed on his son at the moment. Hastily, he started walking towards Kirima, where his son was facing an unjust sentence.
“I had no money with me. As we talked on the phone, the background noise said it all. There were people shouting for my son to say his last prayers. One voice said they knew I could not afford the Sh. 100 fine,” James Thuo painfully said in an interview with a Nation correspondent.
As he paced to Kirima town, his phone rang. He received the call and a caller told him that his son was no more. The caller mentioned that they had tried to save him but the angry mob had their way.
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Confused after learning his firstborn son was murdered, he lost consciousness and collapsed at the side of the road. Pedestrians at the scene helped fan him back to life.
“I reflected on my 49 years of life so far. How poverty made me drop out of primary school. How I always relied on menial jobs to make a living…how I struggled to raise my 3 children…and now this.”
After the gruesome murder, the perpetrators took to social media to share pictures and videos of the lifeless body, drenched in blood. Thuo sought to seek justice for his innocent son.
The case was transferred to Kigumo DCI officers, who concluded that this was not a criminal matter warranting further investigation.
On June 20th, they requested James Thuo to forgo the autopsy and lay his son to rest, categorizing him as a victim of an assault by unidentified and untraceable individuals.
“I don’t know what the document was. I cannot communicate in English. I was just shown a dotted line and told to sign it. You are now telling me that I said I had forgiven my son’s killers? That cannot be… I was told I was agreeing to bury my son.”
Lawyer Timothy Kariuki expressed his opinion that the DCI had not fulfilled their obligation to Kenyan citizens in this matter. He believed that their actions indirectly endorsed lynch mobs and contributed to the killing of innocent citizens.
“This was not a sudden death. It is profiled as an express case of murder and the law expressly requires that all persons who commit the crime of murder must be arrested and prosecuted. They cannot be prosecuted in the absence of a post-mortem form stating the cause of death,” he said.
The ongoing case was transferred to Murang’a County Criminal Investigations Officer, Cecilia Mugambi. She mentioned that she required some time to review the details of the case and determine the next course of action.
