KIRINYAGA, Kenya May 8 \u2013 Tension escalated in Ciagiini village in Mwea, Kirinyaga County, after angry residents dramatically halted the burial of 30-year-old Martin Kara, demanding justice over his alleged killing linked to a local church bishop.<\/p>\n
In an emotional protest that stunned mourners, residents and friends carried Kara\u2019s casket for nearly six kilometres from his home to Ciagiini Police Station before abandoning it there in protest.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators later buried a banana stem in place of the body, insisting that Kara would not be laid to rest until those responsible for his death are prosecuted.<\/p>\n
Residents accused a bishop affiliated with the Ambassadors for Christ Ministry Church of allegedly hiring three men, including two of his cousins, to assault the deceased last week.<\/p>\n
Speaking during the protest on Thursday, area resident Paul Munene questioned why the bishop had not yet been presented in court.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot bury Martin until justice is served. Why has the bishop not been produced in court? Is it because he is powerful?\u201d Munene asked.<\/p>\n
Another resident, Peter Kabutu, said the community would continue piling pressure on authorities until justice is achieved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not rest until Martin gets justice. His death has deeply hurt this village,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kara reportedly died near a local private hospital after sustaining injuries from the alleged assault.<\/p>\n
According to residents, the bishop, who was also the deceased\u2019s neighbour, had accused Kara of stealing a 90-kilogram bag of rice from his compound and a chicken belonging to his cousins a day before the fatal incident.<\/p>\n
The incident sparked outrage across Ciagiini village, with residents last week storming the bishop\u2019s compound and setting it ablaze in retaliation.<\/p>\n
Police officers from Ciagiini Police Station were reportedly overwhelmed by the angry crowd and sought reinforcement from Mwea West Sub-County headquarters at Kiamaciri Police Station.<\/p>\n
Following the protest, Kara\u2019s body was returned to the morgue.<\/p>\n
Mwea West Sub-County Police Commander Millicent Ngugi confirmed that a suspect had already been arrested and remains in police custody pending arraignment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe arrested the suspect, and he is in police custody awaiting to be arraigned in court after investigations,\u201d Ngugi said.<\/p>\n
The incident has left the village shaken, with residents maintaining that Martin Kara\u2019s burial will only proceed once they are convinced that justice is being pursued.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KIRINYAGA, Kenya May 8 \u2013 Tension escalated in Ciagiini village in Mwea, Kirinyaga County, after angry residents dramatically halted the burial of 30-year-old Martin Kara, demanding justice over his alleged killing linked to a local church bishop. In an emotional protest that stunned mourners, residents and friends carried Kara\u2019s casket for nearly six kilometres from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}