Kabando’s brother chopped off mothers’ head using panga, court told
Witnesses have recounted how a brother of Mukurweini MP Kabando wa Kabando chased his mother with a panga and chopped off her head.
Five witnesses, who testified at Nyeri High Court on Thursday, gave the chilling account of Mr Caesar Thiari Mwangi’s action on July 27, 2014 at Kaini village Mukurwe-ini, Nyeri County.
Lydia Wairimu, a neighbor, told resident Judge Jairus Ngaah that she was at her home when she heard Mr Kabando’s mother, Rose Wachera Mwangi, screaming and shouting for help as she ran towards her gate.
Ms Wairimu said she saw Mr Thiari chasing his mother while holding a panga.
“I decided to go to her home to check out what was happening, but before I arrived I met three other neighbours who were coming from church. The neighbours had also heard the screams and we all went to her home,” she said.
“As we entered the gate, we met with Mr Thiari who was running. He told us Nimemaliza kazi yangu, sasa ninaenda polisi (I have finished my work, now am heading to the police),” Ms Wairimu told the court.
Ms Lydia Gathoni, another witness, said when she heard the screams, she ran towards Ms Mwangi’s home to find out what was happening. She called out to her but the victim did not respond. She also joined other people and went to Ms Mwangi’s home.
Both witnesses told the court that when they opened the first gate to Ms Mwangi’s home, they found her body lying in a pool of blood. Her head had been chopped off.
BLOOD-STAINED PANGA
“The body was lying near the gate, and a blood-stained panga was beside her head,” said Ms Gathoni.
Another witness Charles Macharia told the court that he received a call from a neighbour who informed him that Mr Thiari had killed his mother and was trying to escape.
“We ran after him and when we got hold of him, he told us in Kikuyu, ‘Today I want to sleep at King’ongo prison’”, said Mr Macharia.
Mr Macharia added that Mr Thiari pleaded with them not to beat him up, but instead to take him to the police station.
He said they led him to the nearby Gamwa Police Station but before getting there they met a police officer who arrested him.
“After that, we went to their home where we found a crowd that had gathered there,” said Mr Richard Maina another witness.
The witnesses said before Ms Mwangi was murdered, she was living with her last born son Mr Thiari at her home. Her other five children, among them Kabando wa Kabando, never lived at home.
Prosecution counsel Festus Njue said 12 more witnesses are expected to testify in the case. The hearing will continue on November 28.
