Five suspects lynched after robbing Sacco treasurer of Sh1.1 million in Kericho

At least five suspected robbers were dramatically lynched by an angry mob in Koitaburot, Soin Sigowet, Kericho County, after robbing a Sacco treasurer of Sh1.1 million moments after he withdrew the money from a bank in Muhoroni.

Police said the gang trailed the victim before ambushing him and attempting to flee along West Valley Sugar Road in Kericho County.

He raised the alarm, alerting a mob that joined the hunt for the attackers. Attempts by the gang to flee after staging the robbery were thwarted as residents who got wind of the situation swung into action.

They stoned the suspects to death. Two of them were killed at one site, while three others were pursued and lynched a few metres away.

Witnesses described the incident as dramatic. There was no word on the fate of the stolen cash. It is believed the mob grabbed it and vanished with it in the chaos.

Police, who arrived at the scene a little too late, recovered a toy pistol and fake vehicle registration plates, items believed to have been used by the robbers.

Police said the gang had been under surveillance for weeks. They seemed to have had prior information about the transaction before they struck.

The Soin Sigowet Sub-County Police Commander, Lawrence Kisini, confirmed the incident and said investigations were underway.

“This is a toy pistol resembling a revolver, and we will investigate the incident,” he said.

The bodies were moved to the mortuary pending identification and autopsy, police said, as they urged those moving huge sums of money to seek armed escort.

Police also discouraged mob lynching and advocated for suspects to be surrendered to authorities for due process.

This is the latest such incident in which customers have been attacked and robbed after leaving banks.

It is also the latest case of mob lynching amid efforts to address the trend. A number of customers have lost money to suspected thugs after leaving banks.

The incidents are under investigation, and most of them remain unsolved.

For instance, police are still pursuing suspected thugs who wore police uniforms while robbing an employee of Sh1.9 million moments after he left a bank in Westlands, Nairobi.

The victim, a finance manager at an IT solutions company along Muthangari Drive, had withdrawn the cash in Westlands.

He then walked to his car and set off for his office. But before arriving at the office at about 11 am on February 11, 2026, a car blocked his way. Two men wearing traffic police uniforms jumped out and grabbed the cash before driving off.

Such incidents have been on the rise in various places. Police investigations show some occur after suspects loiter in banking halls, monitor transactions, then stalk and attack their victims.

In another incident, a former vice-chancellor of a public university lost Sh950,000 to suspected thieves in the Runda area of Nairobi.

The incident is said to have happened moments after he left the bank.

The professor told police he had been to Warwick Centre in Gigiri on February 4 at 2 pm and withdrew the cash to pay for work at a construction site in Runda.

He told police he was in the company of a site manager, and they drove from the bank to the site and parked his car about 15 metres away. He did not know the thieves were trailing him.

He said he had packed the cash in a bag and left it in the car.

After walking to inspect the site, he heard a bang and, on checking, realised his car had been broken into. The gang, which had trailed him in a car, had vanished.

Police believe the gang may have been in the banking hall or had prior information about the cash transaction.

The professor later confronted bank officials, demanding an explanation of how the incident happened.

He protested, saying he suspected the thieves had information about the transaction from the bank, even as police said investigations were ongoing