By The Anchor Writer
The killing of three young men in Machakos Town has taken on a new dimension after Machakos University students formally entered the fray by lighting candles at the murder scene.
As we went to press, hundreds of them were gathered at Machakos Crossroads where they are lighting candles in an unprecedented vigil.
The vigil heralds a peaceful par h slated for tomorrow and an uequivocal demand for the immediate arrest of those responsible and a far-reaching investigation into the events that culminated in one of the county’s most shocking cases of mob violence in recent years.
In a statement, the Students Association of Machakos University (SAMU) condemned the killing of their fellow student, Stanley Muthungu, and his brother Kennedy Katuu and friend Charles Mutiso saying the three were victims of an unlawful act fuelled by rumours and misinformation.
The student leaders expressed shock that a young man preparing to complete his university education could lose his life in such circumstances, alongside two companions who had simply been making their way home.
The intervention by the student leadership is significant because it shifts the conversation from grief to accountability.
While public attention has largely focused on mourning the three victims and comforting their families, the students are asking harder questions about who started the allegations that triggered the attack, who participated in the killings, and what action investigators have taken since the incident occurred.
The deaths have deeply unsettled residents across Machakos.
The young men were killed in the early hours of Sunday as they returned from watching the Arsenal versus Paris Saint-Germain football match.
The three young men were well known in Eastleigh Estate, where their families have long been part of the community. Mutiso, an IT graduate, had returned to Machakos on Sunday from Kiambu, where he lived with his mother, Connie Mutiso,the principal of Kiambu School for the Deaf.
Their deaths have become a painful symbol of the dangers of mob justice, a recurring phenomenon in Kenya where suspicion is increasingly treated as proof and accusations are followed by instant punishment without investigation, evidence or due process. In many such cases, crowds assume the role of police, prosecutor and judge, often with fatal consequences.
The Machakos University students appear determined to ensure that this case does not disappear into the long list of unresolved mob killings.
In their statement, they demand immediate and thorough investigations, the arrest and prosecution of those who falsely accused the victims of theft, protection and support for the affected families, and urgent measures to discourage members of the public and boda boda groups from taking the law into their own hands.
Notably, the students are not merely calling for “justice” in the abstract. They are demanding visible action. Their position reflects a growing frustration among residents who believe the crucial first step is to identify and arrest those involved before evidence disappears and public attention shifts elsewhere.
To maintain pressure on authorities, the student leaders have announced peaceful demonstrations beginning on Monday. The procession is expected to start at the Machakos University gate before proceeding to the scene of the killings, then to the office of the area Member of Parliament and finally to the Governor’s office.
The demonstrations will add to mounting public pressure on security agencies, who now face increasing scrutiny over the pace of investigations. Residents and students alike want answers to fundamental questions: Who spread the allegations that led to the attack? Who mobilised the crowd? Who carried out the killings? Were there opportunities for intervention? And most importantly, when will arrests be made?
For many in Machakos, the deaths of the trio are no longer just a tragic criminal incident. They have become a test of whether the state can reassert the rule of law in the face of mob violence.
The message emerging from the university community is that sympathy alone is insufficient. What the students, parents and the Machakos community want now is action — beginning with arrests, followed by a thorough investigation capable of exposing everyone who played a role in the deaths of the three young men.
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