A class eight pupil was on Monday shot and injured by police in Kakamega East subcounty during a confrontation with residents.
The pupil was going to school when he was caught up in a confrontation between the police and angry residents of Lukose village in Shinyalu constituency during a crackdown on illicit brews Monday morning.
Police, however, overpowered the residents and repulsed them before proceeding with the crackdown.
The minor is admitted at the Kakamega County General Hospital in stable condition.
Shing’odo sublocation assistant chief Mildred Gwekinza was also hurt during the scuffle.
The residents said they were not opposed to the crackdown but to police officers who were ransacking their homes and destroying property.
"We have allowed the officers search our homes because we know that the police IG Japhet Koome has directed as such. We are angry by the officers because they shutter our windows and beat up innocent people after missing the alcohol,” a resident said.
Kakamega East Deputy County Commissioner Emmah Kibara and the subcounty police commander Daniel Mukumbu said the raid was successful.
The officers confirmed that police destroyed 40, 000 liters of Kangara and uprooted bhang from the suspect’s farm.
Kibara said a combined team of police officers and chiefs raided the village because it is notorious for distilling and transporting chang’aa to Nairobi and other parts of the country.
"What we saw there is absurd because even the wastes from the illegal distillers from over 50 houses in the same village is discharged into a nearby river and even animals there are drunk," she said.
The DCC said two suspects were arrested during the operation and will be charged in court.
She said the village was a no-go-zone and had made illegal electricity and water connections but officers from Kenya Power or the water company can't access it because they are chased away by the villagers.
“We are going to wipe out illicit brew business in Shinyalu. Those known to be distillers and distributors of the same to other parts of the country will be blocked from accessing government services,” Kibara said.
