Residents carry the bodies of family members who were killed by their father over food in Shinyalu Constituency. [PHOTO|John Kabaka|West Fm]

When someone mentions Iten in the Rift valley, Roster Man in Western Kenya and even the crying stone, people tend to just think of the positivity’s in the regions say athletes, gold or tourist attractions, but a constituency in Kakamega County has continued to be in the limelight for all the bad reasons.

Shinyalu commonly referred as the Kakamega East district is a land of unfortunate happenings.

When someone talks of rape, bestiality, cold blood murders then the name Shinyalu cannot escape his lips.

According to the Kakamega East District Commissioner Wisdom Mwamburi, this is the region where sons rape their mothers; it is an area where grandsons rape their grandmothers and a region where men’s love with animals is like a normal thing.

Shinyalu has been mentioned to be the area with very harsh people; Kenyans whose delicacy from morning to morning is the illicit brew. It is the land that receives plenty of rainfall year-in-year out but when you look into the farms of this area you will always be left wondering and asking what happened.

Theft in Shinyalu has always been a big chronic wound, most of the young men whom to them work is like punishment have always terrorized residents and stole from them.

“You will be shocked, anytime you wake up you will always find young men on the roadsides, when night comes you hear someone’s house has been broken into, and they have always done it in style, they will first check if you have some food, feast and then steal from the owner,” said Mwamburi.

In 2001 a man in Shinyalu hit headlines for murdering his own family and eight other villagers using crude weapon.

Jamin Mukhobero had no mercy for his beloved family slashing them all to death.

Sometime in 2010 an incidence such to Mukhobero’s also occurred in the same land leaving a family in tears and sorrow with somber mood engulfing the whole region.

Recently a 16 year old young man in a secondary school stabbed his friend killing him on the spot and then asked why; the young man said the friend had snatched his girlfriend.

This has not yet been forgotten when on Tuesday May 29^th in the same area a man decided to hack his family killing his wife and two children mercilessly. But why? Over food, just imagine.

This happened in Mutsulyo, where a man by the name Geoffrey Khamalishi whom animals are even more civilized than he is decided to end immediately the life of his family crudely using a machete.

According to villagers the man who is now at large became uncontrollably bitter when the mother of his children confronted him for not being responsible as a father as he had not provided for the family.

Taking that as an insult, the man thought the right way not to stand such a confrontation again was just to do away with his family, killing, first whoever had the message and then those who made the messenger convey the information.

Police in Kakamega are now hunting the assailant who fled immediately after accomplishing his beastly mission.

This happens few days after the area District Commissioner Wisdom Mwamburi in collaboration with various churches held a prayer conference to pray for the region against the backdrop of the unfortunate happenings in the area.

May be the prayers were not enough and the area might just be in need of stronger prayers and God’s intervention.

Don’t you remember the area also has an investment of jiggers where a good number of the affected are affected all over their bodies, private parts, buttock and hands, it’s in Shinyalu.

The area is represented in Parliament by Hon. Justus Kizito Mugali.