A middle-aged man died after encountering an aggressive elephant while walking home from work in Makueni County.
In the unfortunate incident, Mzee Musili Musembi was trampled to death by an aggressive lone elephant as his neighbors watched in horror. Their attempts to raise the alarm bore no fruit in the Wednesday night incident at Likoni Village.
The angry residents wrapped the victim’s body in the national flag and prevented the police from collecting it. They then protested against the slow and unmotivated response of the Kenya Wildlife Services Wardens to the increased human-wildlife conflict menace in the region bordering Tsavo East National Park.
The body remained at the scene for the better part of Thursday until the police opened fire and collected it before transporting it to the Kibwezi Hospital mortuary. The angry residents demanded to be addressed by Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Penina Malonza and demanded that KWS act swiftly and kill the elephant.
“We are tired of rampant attacks by elephants. The government has turned a blind ear to the plight of farmers in this region,” said an angry resident.
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Mzee Musembi was 72 years and is survived by his wife, Josepheter Mutheu, and six children. Musembi survived a hyena attack three years ago when he confronted a hyena that had attacked their livestock, killing one. According to his wife, Mzee Musili sustained a bruise on his left hand in the 2020 attack
Mzee Musili is the latest victim of human-wildlife in the area. Farmers in the region have been counting losses due to increased attacks by elephants, destroying their crops and property, despite efforts by the county government and Tsavo Trust, a local conservancy, to seal off the park using an electric fence.
Makueni Woman Representative Rose Museo called for the completion of the ongoing electric fence and advocated for the reduction of the population of elephants in the parks to ease the conflict.
“They should also construct dams in the parks to prevent the animals from sneaking into farmlands,’ she added.
