Chama treasurer commits suicide after members demand Sh300,000 savings
A woman who died on Monday while undergoing treatment at a Machakos hospital after taking poison had fled her homestead three days ago, the Nation has established.
Elizabeth Mumbua, 60, died shortly after she was admitted at Kangundo Sub-County Hospital.
The treasurer of a table banking group in the area had come under intense pressure to surrender Sh300,000 which members of the group had raised throughout the year.
Trouble started on Tuesday last week after the group reconciled its books of account. It is suspected the peasant farmer had embezzled the money.
Matetani Chief Mary Njeri told the Nation that the mother of two fled home three days before she took poison.
“She was fighting for her life in hospital after taking poison. But we have since lost her,” Kangundo Sub-county Police Commander Zacharia Bitok told the Nation on telephone.
He said investigation has been launched into the incident.
Those who recorded statements with the police on Sunday include her husband, Joseph Muya.
Mr Muya revealed that the group demanded Sh300,000 from his wife before hell broke loose.
“After the group reconciled its books on Tuesday she had promised to avail the money on Wednesday. However, she fled on Wednesday morning without indicating her destination. We remained in the dark. We assumed she had gone to borrow money,” Mr Muya said.
“Three days later, on Sunday morning, we were shocked to find her handbag next to the cowshed. Her footprints led us to an abandoned house at the corner of the homestead where she lay unconscious. We also recovered two bottles of acaricide. We raised an alarm and rushed her for medication,” Mr Muya said.
A doctor who was part of the team that attended to the mother of two said she had ingested a lot of poison.
The body was transferred to Kangundo Sub-County Hospital mortuary awaiting post-mortem. The death sent members of the table banking group into a spin.
Known locally as malolondo, merry go rounds are popular table banking platforms for women in the area.
The groups come to the rescue of households which are in financial distress.
The Nation has established the deceased is among the founders of the group, which is among many such groups in the area.
It is more than five years old, said a member of the table banking group. Suspected mismanagement saw the original group split into two.
The deceased was the treasurer of one of the two groups whose members met on Tuesday to take soft loans and service existing loans.
Members of table banking groups either distribute the proceeds of their yearly activities among themselves or buy food stuffs and utensils which they distribute among themselves ahead of Christmas festivities.
The Nation was unable to immediately get the group’s next course of action as members and the leadership of the group remained tight-lipped after the double tragedy that hit them.
“We have no time for discussing the table banking group. We are working towards planning a funeral,” Mr Muya said. BY DAILY NATION
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