Insecurity: Land dispute in Molo turns violent after woman is raped, family threatened

A resident of Molo is seeking justice after his wife was allegedly raped and assaulted during an attack at their home, which he says is part of years of threats and harassment allegedly linked to a land dispute.

Peter Bosire says a group of people invaded his home at around 11pm last Thursday, damaged the house and took his wife away before she returned injured. His wife was admitted to Elburgon Sub-County Hospital for treatment and discharged on Saturday, he says.

“I want justice for my wife because attacks on me and my family have happened repeatedly, but this time they went overboard,” he says broken heartedly.

Bosire says the latest incident is the culmination of threats dating back to April 5, 2024, when people began threatening him with death if he refused to leave the land. He says he knows the people behind the threats, some of whom he describes as his neighbors.

Bosire says he has also witnessed other neighbors being attacked, raising concerns about the safety of residents caught up in the dispute. He recounts that on the day of the latest attack, he heard people opening his door before a group entered the compound and began damaging the house.

He says he became frightened and went to seek help, only to return and find his children crying and asking him about their mother's whereabouts.

“When my wife returned, she told me that she had been taken away and beaten. She was bleeding heavily,” he says.

Bosire says the first major incident against him occurred in 2024, when people allegedly raided his home at around 2am and took his belongings. He says he reported the matter to the police and later recorded a statement with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

According to Bosire, suspects were arrested and the matter proceeded to court, where he testified alongside neighbors who had also experienced violence. However, he says the situation worsened after the court proceedings began. He alleges that people confronted him after a court session, questioning why he had taken them to court and continued attending hearings.

“I became afraid to go back to court because they continued harassing me,” he says, adding that he has since heard threats that he would be killed.

Bosire says he has lived in the area since 2017, initially staying at his grandfather's home before buying a one-acre piece of land in 2021. He says he invested his money in the property and does not understand why he should be forced to leave.

Since the attacks began, Bosire claims to have lost property worth about Sh 300,000. He says his mattress is among the items taken during the attacks, adding that it is stolen each time his home is raided.

“We are Kenyans, and every Kenyan has the right to live wherever they choose. We bought our land with our own money,” he says.

Senatorial aspirant Dr Peter Mbae has warned that unresolved land disputes in the area could escalate into wider ethnic conflict if security agencies fail to intervene.

“What we are doing now is an early warning,” he says. “We want the people of Kenya and the international community to know that there is a problem in Molo.”

Molo Deputy County Commissioner Barasa Wafula says Kapsita has longstanding land disputes, with competing ownership claims making it difficult to establish who legally owns some parcels.

“Unless people go through a proper judicial system, we can't say who is who,” he says, urging those involved to pursue legal channels to resolve ownership disputes.

Wafula says police patrol the area and intervene when residents are harassed but acknowledges that security operations cannot settle the underlying land claims.

“This is first aid,” he says, describing police action as firefighting while ownership disputes require legal resolution.