Nimesikitishwa sana na hii story iliyochapiswa na the Daily Nation. Yaani! inakosesha nguvu: Wadau, naomba tuwakumbuke kwenye sala zetu ndungu zetu Wakenya.
The Story AND picture is courtesy of the Daily NATION.
The last time Margaret Wamwiri Weru spoke to her husband, he jokingly asked her to smile as it might be the last time you see me.
Why arent you smiling? Dont you know it might be the last time you see me? said 22-year-old Daniel Weru.
I know youll come back, said Mrs Weru, 22. Those were the last words they exchanged and on Tuesday, a distraught Mrs Weru was still trying to come to terms with being widowed barely three years after she got married.
Her husband did not come back and Mrs Weru was among villagers in Gathaithi, Nyeri District in Central province, who woke up Tuesday to find that 28 of their relatives and friends had been murdered.
Set fire
Villagers spoke of being called out in the middle of the night between midnight and 1am by a group of men. Some said there were two groups, one that called people out to go and fight and another, albeit a rival one, that set fire to a house and used it to lure them out. The massacre was the end result.
Mrs Werus father-in-law, 59-year-old Joseph Kinyua had also been called out, and his wife warned against lighting a lamp. The people who called him said any defiance would be construed as a death wish and he dared not refuse.
We cooka nakuu na ndukagwatie tawa (You go back there and do not light a lamp), Mrs Kinyua said he was told. He was also murdered.
Relatives at three homes the Nation visited are mourning the deaths of relatives who were called out of their houses in the dead of night to meet a nightmarish death.
In addition to Daniel Weru and his father, Joseph Kinyua, Peterson Thairu and Daniel Mwangi were also killed, so were Festus Mugo and his grandfather Mugo Waweru.
We did not sleep after 1 am, the time my father was called out and told to take something with him, said 14-year-old Phillip Mathenge. He said the family woke up to find the young seedlings in the garden planted at the strart of the long rains trampled all over.
Mary Nyawira Waweru, the wife of Stephen Waweru, one of the victims, said her husband was ordered out and told to bring something to fight with.
When he did not return in the morning, I went out with my son and found his body, said Mrs Waweru.
Blood, victims clothes and the weapons they carried a few rusty swords, a pruning knife and sharpened sticks marked the spot of Monday nights massacre.
Douglas Kinyua was woken up along with his brother and ordered out of the house. He said rumours of an impending attack had started at around 6 pm on Monday night.
There were no organised patrols or anything of the sort and we were surprised to find that these people knew us by name, he said.
Douglas Wanjau, a brother of Naftali Waithiga, who was killed, was called out a few minutes after midnight.
I could not tell who they were, but they forced me to lead them to my brothers house. We were ordered to dress appropriately and walked towards the upper side of the village, said Mr Wanjau.
On reaching a spot where the gang had gathered the rest, Mr Wanjau said there were a few shouted orders before one of the gang members shouted, Maliza!
He said the pangas began to descend. He escaped and crawled beneath some tea bushes. When it became light, my brothers wife asked me where he was and I said I could not find him, he said.
When he finally got to the scene in the company of his brothers wife, they easily located his body. He had been hacked on the back of the head and stabbed in the side.
A few metres away, the family of Samuel Maina Murima, 22, is also mourning. He was also killed in the mayhem. His father, James Murima, said he was woken up by screams but dared not get out due to fear.
Peterson Thairu and Daniel Mwangi, brothers, were also called out in the middle of the night.
Mr Mwangi, 42, was an Agriculture teacher at Muragara Secondary School while his brother was a farmer. Mr Thairus wife collapsed on hearing the news and his father, a Mau Mau veteran aged over 80, still could not understand what had happened.
I heard screaming on the road outside but decided I would only come out if my wife is attacked, he said.
Mrs Teresia Njoki Gichuki could not understand what was going on, perhaps only vaguely aware that something tragic had transpired.
She, like most of the residents of Gathaithi Village, is still counting her losses- and they are huge.
The Story AND picture is courtesy of the Daily NATION.
The last time Margaret Wamwiri Weru spoke to her husband, he jokingly asked her to smile as it might be the last time you see me.
Why arent you smiling? Dont you know it might be the last time you see me? said 22-year-old Daniel Weru.
I know youll come back, said Mrs Weru, 22. Those were the last words they exchanged and on Tuesday, a distraught Mrs Weru was still trying to come to terms with being widowed barely three years after she got married.
Her husband did not come back and Mrs Weru was among villagers in Gathaithi, Nyeri District in Central province, who woke up Tuesday to find that 28 of their relatives and friends had been murdered.
Set fire
Villagers spoke of being called out in the middle of the night between midnight and 1am by a group of men. Some said there were two groups, one that called people out to go and fight and another, albeit a rival one, that set fire to a house and used it to lure them out. The massacre was the end result.
Mrs Werus father-in-law, 59-year-old Joseph Kinyua had also been called out, and his wife warned against lighting a lamp. The people who called him said any defiance would be construed as a death wish and he dared not refuse.
We cooka nakuu na ndukagwatie tawa (You go back there and do not light a lamp), Mrs Kinyua said he was told. He was also murdered.
Relatives at three homes the Nation visited are mourning the deaths of relatives who were called out of their houses in the dead of night to meet a nightmarish death.
In addition to Daniel Weru and his father, Joseph Kinyua, Peterson Thairu and Daniel Mwangi were also killed, so were Festus Mugo and his grandfather Mugo Waweru.
We did not sleep after 1 am, the time my father was called out and told to take something with him, said 14-year-old Phillip Mathenge. He said the family woke up to find the young seedlings in the garden planted at the strart of the long rains trampled all over.
Mary Nyawira Waweru, the wife of Stephen Waweru, one of the victims, said her husband was ordered out and told to bring something to fight with.
When he did not return in the morning, I went out with my son and found his body, said Mrs Waweru.
Blood, victims clothes and the weapons they carried a few rusty swords, a pruning knife and sharpened sticks marked the spot of Monday nights massacre.
Douglas Kinyua was woken up along with his brother and ordered out of the house. He said rumours of an impending attack had started at around 6 pm on Monday night.
There were no organised patrols or anything of the sort and we were surprised to find that these people knew us by name, he said.
Douglas Wanjau, a brother of Naftali Waithiga, who was killed, was called out a few minutes after midnight.
I could not tell who they were, but they forced me to lead them to my brothers house. We were ordered to dress appropriately and walked towards the upper side of the village, said Mr Wanjau.
On reaching a spot where the gang had gathered the rest, Mr Wanjau said there were a few shouted orders before one of the gang members shouted, Maliza!
He said the pangas began to descend. He escaped and crawled beneath some tea bushes. When it became light, my brothers wife asked me where he was and I said I could not find him, he said.
When he finally got to the scene in the company of his brothers wife, they easily located his body. He had been hacked on the back of the head and stabbed in the side.
A few metres away, the family of Samuel Maina Murima, 22, is also mourning. He was also killed in the mayhem. His father, James Murima, said he was woken up by screams but dared not get out due to fear.
Peterson Thairu and Daniel Mwangi, brothers, were also called out in the middle of the night.
Mr Mwangi, 42, was an Agriculture teacher at Muragara Secondary School while his brother was a farmer. Mr Thairus wife collapsed on hearing the news and his father, a Mau Mau veteran aged over 80, still could not understand what had happened.
I heard screaming on the road outside but decided I would only come out if my wife is attacked, he said.
Mrs Teresia Njoki Gichuki could not understand what was going on, perhaps only vaguely aware that something tragic had transpired.
She, like most of the residents of Gathaithi Village, is still counting her losses- and they are huge.
