A 22-year old man identified as Allan Kiplagat was stabbed to death in Keiyo South, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, over a joke he allegedly made.
The local mason at Kapkong’a trading center was stabbed on the night of Monday, February 1, after he allegedly referred to the suspect as a ‘young boy’.
Police stated that Leonard Samoei, 26, lost his cool and attacked Kiplagat after he greeted him in Keiyo dialect term ng’eeta meaning (young boy). The term is used to refer to a man who has not undergone initiation into manhood.
Kapkwoni Location Chief Philip Ruto stated that suspect who is a 26-year old, demanded to know why Kiplagat, who was his junior in age, was demeaning him.
The deceased is alleged to have issued an apology and walked away, but the suspect kept following him, and eventually stabbed him in the stomach with a dagger.
"The deceased downplayed the issue and walked away with a friend. The suspect, however, followed him and stabbed him in the stomach," noted the Chief.
A friend who had accompanied the deceased tried to rescue him by rushing him to the hospital, but he died before arrival. The police are pursuing Samoei who fled the scene afterwards.
Statistics from the National Crime Research Centre show that 15.3% of the murder total cases in the Kenya were reported in Elgeyo Marakwet county. In 2016-18, the county recorded a decrease in murder cases.
According to the Institute of Economic Affairs Youth Compendium (2011), approximately 57% of crimes reported to the police in Kenya are committed by the youth.
The media has highlighted an upsurge in crime and violence incidents perpetrated by the youth in all 47 counties in Kenya especially during post-Covid-19. This increased incidence of youth crime across the country is becoming a matter of grave concern among the general public.
