The incident occurred on December 23, when hundreds of residents gathered at the governor’s residence for a Christmas food distribution event.
What began as an orderly gathering quickly descended into chaos as the crowd surged forward in an attempt to access the food items.
According to witnesses, the crowd grew restless as more people arrived, leading to pushing and scrambling.
In the confusion, several people fell to the ground and were trampled, resulting in fatal injuries to two individuals.
The deceased were identified as an 81-year-old woman and a 67-year-old man living with disabilities. Several others sustained injuries and were rushed to hospital for treatment.
The families of the victims have shared painful accounts of what happened during the stampede, describing scenes of panic and helplessness.
Rispa Anyango, whose mother was among those who died, said the elderly woman fell as people pushed forward.
“She fell, and people stepped on her chest,” Anyango said.
“When we finally pulled her out of the crowd, she was not breathing.”
The family said the elderly woman had attended the event with hope of receiving food for Christmas, but instead lost her life in the tragedy.
In a separate account, Afrikanus Wanyama said his brother, who used a wheelchair, was caught in the chaos as people pushed from all directions.
“My brother was in his wheelchair,” Wanyama said.
“When things escalated, people pushed him down and he could not get back up.”
Both families say the incident could have been prevented with better planning and crowd control.
The families also raised concerns over attempts to move the bodies from the governor’s residence before police arrived.
According to relatives of the elderly woman, there were efforts to transfer her body to a funeral home without police involvement.
Family members resisted, insisting that law enforcement must first document the incident.
The family of the 67-year-old man reported a similar situation, saying they refused to allow the body to be removed until police officers arrived at the scene.
The bodies were later taken to the Busia County Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary, where postmortem examinations are expected to be conducted.
Several people who were injured during the stampede are currently receiving treatment at the same hospital.
Their conditions were not immediately disclosed, but hospital sources confirmed that most suffered injuries related to crushing and falls.
Members of the Busia County Executive visited the injured victims later that day, offering support and assuring families that investigations would be carried out.
County officials expressed condolences to the affected families and said the county government would cooperate with security agencies to establish what went wrong.
The grieving families are now calling on the national government and security agencies to conduct thorough investigations into the incident.
They want clarity on crowd management arrangements, emergency response measures, and the responsibility of event organisers.
“This was a tragic loss that should not have happened,” said one family member.
“People came for help, not to die.”
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