Our reporter who visited the area yesterday counted over 50 burnt houses while those that still stand had no occupants.
 
A villager told us scores of families are now living in the bush.

Madalitso Nowa said, “We’ve been living on empty stomachs and sleeping in the bush in the past two weeks after the first recent attack, as all they had was taken by force and houses burnt down.”

“Both men and women are living in the bushes where they are further hunted, women stripped naked and beaten by villagers from Kasalika, Jamisoni and seven more villages.”

He further said they have lost all our property, and livestock.

“We are pleading with well-wishers to help us with shelter, food and especially security so that we can go back to our normal lives because even our children stopped going to school,” he said.

Our visit to the area revealed that glass thatched houses are being burnt while those with iron sheets, their roofs are being damaged with metal bars.

A woman, Gelesiya Benjemani lamented especially security as they are being hunted even in hiding.

“They hunt us even in the hills where we hide. And when they find us, they strip us naked and beat us using panga knives. It’s like we are in a war zone. Just yesterday, they came to finish stealing the remaining pots,” Benjemani said.

56 households have been rendered homeless.