Grief has descended on a village in Migori County after two relatives committed suicide following a disagreement on who should be on duty at the family posho mill.
Felix Okinyi, 14, and a Class Seven pupil at Mubachi Primary School in Suna West SubCounty took his life on Saturday evening after he quarrelled with Brian Omondi Kiriga, 21, who is a student at the nearby Mubachi Secondary school.
Okinyi wanted to man the posho mill but Kiriga insisted he was the one assigned duty that day.
The two quarrelled and picked up a physical fight before they were separated.
HERD CATTLE
“The grandfather later came and directed the young Okinyi to go and herd cattle while Kiriga was to be on duty at the posho mill. This move angered the boy and he was found an hour later hanging on a tree,” said Mr Frederick Otieno, a villager.
“And as the villagers were mourning the death of the young boy, some relatives blamed Kiriga for his death and he also ran away from the home for fear of being beaten by the mourners ,” he added.
“Later in the evening, he was also found hanging from a tree on a sisal rope, a few metres away from the homestead,” said Mr Joseph Nthenge, the Migori County police boss.
He said his officers collected the two bodies and took them to the Migori County Referral Hospital mortuary.
The Kinyoe villagers said the two relatives preferred to be deployed at the posho mill during weekends because they would get pocket money at the end of a day’s assignment.
“This is a very bad incident and a lesson to parents that we should not deploy school-going children to income-generating activities. These deaths have been caused by love for money,” said a teacher, Mr Moses Onyango.