Police in Khwisero, Kakamega County, is holding a 40-year-old man suspected of having killed his 89-year-old grandmother and set her house on fire.

The suspect is alleged to have attacked his grandmother over the government’s cash stipend for the elderly and vulnerable.

Mary Okiso, aged 70 and the first-born daughter to the deceased, said the suspect demanded to collect the old woman’s stipend from the government, but the grandmother had refused.

The grandmother’s move made the suspect get infuriated and cut down banana plants and destroyed other crops in the compound. Neighbours are reported to have weighed in and locked him in his house.

Jackton Odhiambo: Why I killed Edwin Chiloba

It is unclear how the suspect escaped inside the house and ended up burning his aged grandmother to death.

Area OCPD Samwel Kogo said by the time their officers arrived at the home, the woman had already died. They, however, rescued the suspect from angry villagers who tried to kill him at Ebakambuli market.

The police boss blamed family members for failing to protect the elderly woman living with her violent grandson, suspected of abusing drugs.

He said preliminary investigations indicated that the suspect had been abusing drugs.