It has now emerged that the two men who were shot outside Gatundu Law Courts by an unknown attacker are cousins from Gitwe village in Gatundu South Constituency.
The two who have been referred to Thika Level Five hospital for specialised treatment on Thursday, December 2 were sprayed with over five bullets on their limbs, head and legs leaving them for the dead.
The lone assailant is reported to have been riding on a speeding motorbike and went underground after the incident before even police arrived at the scene.
Also Read:
At the heart of the incident is a longstanding land dispute between the cousins' family and a man who is claims to have been sold their about one-acre land by their late grandfather.
According to family members, the land tussle has frequently resulted in torching of their houses and unwarranted arrests of their kin by police officers using alleged trumped up charges.
The family members led by Lucy Wanjiku, the ruling that was done in their favour may have triggered fury on the side of the land claimant and who they are now pointing fingers at for the shooting incident.
"We have suffered a lot in the hands of a man who has been claiming ownership of our land including the torching of our house among other challenges," she said.
They urged the government to make prompt interventions to to arrest the situation they said may worsen if nothing is done promptly.
Gatundu South Sub County police Commander Wilmot Mwakiyo who spoke to journalists later dismissed as fallacious, claims that the two were shot on grounds of the land tussle.
Mwakiyo said that while the cause of the incident is yet to be established, the two had been arraigned at a Gatundu court to answer to charges of allegedly stealing maize from a neighbour.
"There was a case mention of the two men who had been arraigned to answer to charges of alleged maize theft. The two left the court after proceedings and were shot while cushioning themselves against rain near the court area," he said.
The police boss said that the assailant left the scene using a motorbike that had no number plates before witnesses rescued the two.
