The Chief’s Act may have lost its thunder, but not for a retired chief who was caught in the act with someone’s wife at a maize field in Karachuonyo Homa Bay county. “We were surprised. We could’t believe a man his age would still look for young women in the village,” says John Omo, a witness.
In his early 60s, long after retiring as a provincial administrator, the former village ‘king’ received his share of thrashings from a man who was once his ‘subject’. The cuckolded husband had been hearing rumours from different corners of the village that his 21-year-old wife was fooling around with the old horse. He took his time to investigate and the 40th day for the thieving former administrator reached last week.
On the fateful day, he saw her leave home while being evasive about where exactly she was headed. His suspicions aroused, he decided to investigate. He let her go and after a few minutes stealthily followed. As luck would have it, ten minutes later he saw the duo holding each other’s waists next to a maize field and looking shy and coy, as lovers are wont to do.
His heart beat faster, but he forced himself to calm down. The two entered the field, which was thick with maize ready for harvesting. But hardly had the lovers settled down when the infuriated husband arrived, armed with crude weapons. “We heard a commotion and some yelling in the shamba and what we saw was a woman darting out of the place,” Omo says.
They had been caught pants down, but the woman quickly got up and escaped, leaving the man and some of her clothing behind. However, the former administrator, given his advanced age, could not run and came under immediate attack from his infuriated adversary.
Those who rushed to the scene found him writhing in pain and rushed him to hospital. He is still recuperating. No doubt, the big man was living well in the past, the good old days, when the all powerful Chief’s Act allowed him to grab any village chicken, goat – or even woman, even if she was someone’s wife – that met his fancy.