Man from Mataka killed by stray elephants

And in a quick reaction to the  incident, the area MP Paul Nzengu sent out an appeal to the Kenya Wildlife Service to act with speed and drive the Jumbos out of his constituency. before more lives were lost.

The stray elephants are believed to have sneaked from nearby Kora National Park in Tana River County and accessed the Mwingi North Constituency in Kitui County through the Mwingi National Game Reserve.

The legislator told the media in Mwingi town he was distressed that the herd of four elephants one of which has a calf earlier on Saturday stumbled and killed an innocent man in Kyuso district of his jurisdiction. "As we talk, a man was killed by the herd of elephants earlier on Saturday. His body has been collected by police and is preserved at Kyuso hospital morgue," he said.

He said that he had already called the Director General of KWS asking him to ensure the beasts were flushed out of his area with immediate effect. "They should get the elephants out of my area immediately before more lives are lost. It is needless to lose a live because of wildlife that should be kept away from people," lamented the legislator.

Nzengu  rued the Jumbos have been roaming aimlessly in his areas for at least the last four days. "They were initially spotted in a number of Tseikuru areas four days ago and when they crossed over to Kyuso today, they have caused the death of one of my people," said Nzengu.

The MCA for Kyuso Ward John Munyoki Mwinzi mourned the death of the Mataka man. He too urged that it was time KWS acted with speed to flush of the killer animals from the area. "We lost a man who was going about his daily routine peacefully. Fate led to his untimely death after he met the herd of elephants as he walked home and was crushed to death," lamented the MCA.

The Jumbos appear to have invaded the habited areas in Kitui County in search of pasture as drought bites hard following the poor performance of the last March-May rainfall.