On 22 November 2018, a family in Kandara was left demanding answers after 15-year-old Juliano Kanyonyo Mbatha died while recovering from circumcision. His mother, Beth Nduta, was reading the postmortem report as residents in Gatitu waited for police action.
Kanyonyo had emerged as one of the strongest pupils at Gatitu Primary School, where he placed third with 376 marks in that year’s KCPE. It was his second attempt at the exam after he scored 292 marks the previous year, and he had hoped to join Mang'u or Njiiri for secondary school.
According to the family, the boy then asked his 40-year-old mother to pay for his initiation into manhood, as required by custom. Nduta was raising him and his six sisters on her own.
Dispute over the mentor’s demands ¶
Lucy Njoki, one of Kanyonyo’s sisters, said the trouble began when the 20-year-old man chosen to guide the boy as his mutiiri asked for Sh2,000, even though the procedure at a private clinic was said to cost Sh1,000.
Villagers said Nduta gave the mentor Sh1,200, together with a hen and a cockerel, as requested. They added that the man later complained that the cockerel was too small and did not suit his status.
Njoki said her mother sold the rejected bird at Kagundu-ini market for Sh800 and then searched for another cock, this time one with a talon at the back of the foot, but could not find one. She said Nduta planned to continue looking the next morning.
Before leaving home early that day, Nduta told her daughter to make sure Kanyonyo, who was recovering in a separate house after the circumcision, was served breakfast. When she later tried to reach him by phone, he did not answer.
By the time Nduta returned at around 10am with another cock, she found her son unresponsive. Looking through a window, she saw foam at his mouth. She and other relatives entered the room, despite the custom that normally restricted access, and found that he was dead.
The family said there were no visible injuries on the body, but the bandages used on the wound were scattered on the floor.
Postmortem points to violence ¶
A security officer, who could not be named because he was not authorised to speak, said the postmortem showed head injuries and a broken hand. Kanyonyo’s aunt, Julianna Ngami, said the autopsy showed the boy had been tortured by the mentor and his agemates.
“The autopsy revealed the boy was tortured by the minder and his agemates. They should be investigated and prosecuted.”
Nduta later recorded a statement at Kandara Police Station as residents of Gatitu called for the arrest of those they believe were responsible for the death.
