A herder who was alleged to be behind the killing of a farmer in Pangani on Tuesday evening has been arrested.
Mugi Bashir, 30, was arrested by police from Mpeketoni Police Station as he attempted to go into hiding in Boni forest.
Confirming the arrest, the Mpeketoni Officer in charge of Police Station, Harrison Njuguna said they had been able to trace Bashir following a tip off from the public.
There had been earlier unconfirmed reports that Bashir had sought treatment at Mpeketoni Sub County Hospital.
Njuguna said that the farmer, Peter Kavita was stabbed on the right side with a sharp object that protruded from behind, adding that forensics had determined there had been a struggle before his death.
Kavita had been working on his farm with a friend before meeting his death at the hands of the suspected pastoralist, with whom he had an altercation as he attempted to drive out the herder’s animals that were feeding on his crops.
The OCS added that it was Kavita’s friend who had gone to buy prescription medicine who discovered his body when he came back and found Kavita lying lifeless in his farm.
“The deceased had been working on his farm before meeting death. Among other witnesses are pupils from the neighbouring school who saw his body lying in the school playground and informed neighbours,” the police officer said.
The body is at Mpeketoni morgue awaiting postmortem.
The arrest of a herder is a success keeping in mind that last month, killers of Mbugua from Hindi were yet to be arrested with residents demanding the arrest of his killers.
The Herder/farmer conflicts in Lamu are rife especially with the harvest season in place, as well as herder migration movement that leads to clashes.
The Lamu County Commissioner (CC), Samson Macharia has stated that unless land management issues in Lamu are resolved urgently, such attacks were likely to continue threatening security within the county.
“We need a concrete plan that will be embraced by local leaders, both from the county and national governments as well as the communities that are always in conflict to ensure that a lasting solution is found to prevent such incidences,” Macharia stated.
By Amenya Ochieng
