Police in Limuru constituency in Kiambu county are investigating a case in which a 40 years old farmer was allegedly found having been eaten by wild animals suspected to be hyenas.
The family of James Mwai identified his clothes in a bushy area Uplands forest, which neighbours their Roromo village home.
Sub county police commander Mary Gachie also said an interamedullary rode that was in his leg was also found where the clothes were found.
“The victim had a fracture on one of his legs and the hospital had to place a metal rod so as collect it. It was among the items the DCI collected” she said.
His father John Mbuthi said the victim who was his first born, went missing one week ago and they reported the incident at Kinyogori chiefs office.
“We have been looking for him. Only for him to be found near the forest having been eaten. We didn’t find any bones, we only noticed a metal which was in his leg and clothes which were very dirty” Mbuthi said.
The issue has caused an uproar within the village and it’s environs since strange animals suspected to be hyenas have been attacking and eating their cows, sheep and goats.
A farmer Anne Wachuka yesterday said that hyenas start roaming the village as early as 5pm and leaves the village to their hideouts at 7am.
“The people who go to their places of work at dawn have been seeing them. They walk in fear of an attack. We are also scared about what may happen to our school going children” she said.
“These animals have been eating our calves, sheep and goats whenever we tither them or grazing them. They also follow them at our homes at night where we hear them loitering around our houses to check if there is any domestic animal outside. We normally lock all our animals inside a house including cows” Wachuka added.
She said schools which are in the village include Murengeti comprehensive, Kinyogori comprehensive, Kanyekini Comprehensive as well as senior schools and several ECDE centers.
Wachuka revealed that the hyenas lives in holes near the railway line which connects Limuru town and Uplands railway station.
Politician Stephen Mwangi raised concern that locals have been reporting the incident of hyenas roaming in the village to the Kenya Wildlife Service, but nothing much has been done to control the wild animals.
Mwangi who is eyeing Limuru parliamentary seat using the Jubilee Party, has asked the KWS to compensate the family for losing a hardworking young man.
Mwangi also appealed to the KWS director to make use of the service Limuru office by posting officers there and also providing them with a vehicle.
“We have an empty KWS office. We are asking the director to restore it and assign some officers there and also provide them with a vehicle. They should also mount some traps at Roromo village since people are living in fear” Mwangi said.
Mbuthi and other village members visited the KWS offices in Limuru town to request the officers to mount hyenas traps in their village so as to reduce them.
“If these animals are trapped and taken to game park, we can feel happy and secured. As of now, we are worried about our lives, now that the animals have tasted human flesh” said Augustine Chege, a Roromo resident.
Gachie said they are investigating what had happened before the attack.
