30 January 2017

DAY 22– of violence, mayhem, shooting, looting
Monday…..our day was pretty peaceful in comparison to what happened on Suyian Ranch yesterday….. Life’s work and home to old family friends …..the lodge Suyian Soul destroyed by illegally armed gunmen. We keep being told this is all about ‘Kiangazi na Nyasi’ – drought and grass !!! Well as days go by and more places are affected it’s more and more obvious it isn’t……If it is the case why the senseless destruction of property….water pumps, generators, boreholes, houses, and now Suyian Soul. When Suyian Soul was just opening, my husband and I were guides on safari with an amazing family from California….this was one of the places we stayed and was still being finished……on that same safari we stayed in some other amazing camps and lodges but at the end of the trip Suyian Soul came out as the highlight for those clients. Sending big hugs and love to the whole Suyian family…..

Please follow the Laikipia Land Invasions twitter page @laikipinvasion There are photos of the gunmen attack at Suyian and also photos of the looting! Please please SHARE what is happening in Laikipia !

 

Gunmen attack Suyian Lodge in Kenya. Photos taken by Lodge staff. @UKenyatta @JoeNkaissery @kwskenya @JBoinnet @dailynation pic.twitter.com/Vim9zCrDei

— LaikipiaLandInvasion (@laikipinvasion) January 31, 2017

Is Laikipia invasion secretly tolerated?

Another article from The Star showing how the Laikipia Land Invasions could be connected to the upcoming elections. Please read the full article below.

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2017/01/31/is-laikipia-invasion-secretly-tolerated_c1497107

29 January 2017

DAY 21 of violence, mayhem, destruction, shooting etc etc….(Sunday)
It’s very tiring and depressing to watch how over the last few months the work of my Grandfather, Father, Brothers and us and our children slowly or not so slowly deteriorating back to the beginning.
Very tough for our staff and their families too, some who’ve worked with us for 2 and 3 generations.
The day continued with our version of ‘normal’ – herds and herds of illegal cattle, sheep and goats pouring in with armed men. 5 armed men seen below the dam and 1 shot was heard…..other armed men seen gathering in their ‘usual’ spots. Then just to change things a bit and shock us just a little more we could see about 300 head of cattle,sheep and goats moving into the garden of my brother’s house that over the last few days has been vandalised and looted and the staff houses burnt to the ground. More shock as looking through binoculars we could see donkeys being loaded with stuff from the house by Samburu women. Armed men could be seen walking around openly with their illegal firearms and others seen throwing stuff from the house into the dam. They could see us watching them and fired at us, the AP’s here returned fire and slowly the herd moved off only for another to appear after a few hours. Later on in the afternoon 3 armed men were seen in the compound and seemed to be look outs for a herd of cattle that were grazing within 150 meters of our house.
It hurts so deeply buying in food for our remaining cattle and burdening our friends, when we had so carefully preserved our pasture for the coming dry months…….

Suyian Ranch Invaded and Lodge burnt

“The five Anti-Stock Theft policemen guarding the lodge were overwhelmed by ‘scores or hundreds of attackers.'”

“It is the third tourist lodge in Laikipia to be closed in January after a Pokot invasion forced the closure of two lodges in the Mugie conservancy earlier this month.”

“The 12 main conservancies in Laikipia, including Suyian, claimed in 2014 that they pumped more than Sh2 billion into the Laikipia economy in 2013.”

Please read the full article in the link below! Dont forget to SHARE ! Thank you xx

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2017/01/30/pastoralists-invade-suyian-ranch-in-laikipia-burn-lodge_c1496907

 

 

Neighbour, John Wachira Mwai Shot

This is youtube clip can also be found on the Laikipia Land Invasions page on facebook. Please follow the updates and share what is happening so that action can be taken to stop this ! #laikipiainvasions

Young bull shot- Distressing photos!

19th January 2017…..we were hoping for a peaceful day and got to 4.30 pm without being shot at in our compound. Because of the water pump below the dam having been vandalized all the remaining herds of cattle came to drink water from inside our compound …….not a normal occurrence as I quite like my garden but somehow felt peaceful with them in the garden. At about 4.30 one shot was fired from across the dam, luckily missed us, our staff and the Police but sadly did hit this young bull. Shot in the lungs so had to be put down.

28 January 2017

DAY 20 -of violence, mayhem, shooting and no respect for private property.

Saturday 28th January……normally Saturday morning is when all our cattle get their weekly bath and walk through the spray race and are sprayed to get rid of ticks and flies and help control tick borne diseases. We couldn’t do this last Saturday or this morning due to the water pump below the dam being vandalised and will need to make a plan soon. We will take it up by water bowser but had to get on top of watering the cattle by bowser first. Our day then pretty much carried on as ‘normal’ – keeping tabs on the remaining cattle constantly by phone with all the herdsman, as having had a base radio stolen, our radio coms are compromised. We then do the same with the staff who now are at various posts looking out for movement of armed men ……. A crazy situation……many of you will have seen more photos I posted yesterday of my brother’s house with more theft and destruction having happened since my husband first got there on Friday morning.

This is not just happening to the big farms, the small scale subsistence farmers are having a very tough time too, their crops are being invaded, their livestock stolen. It is not a small little problem that will quietly disappear….this is a BIG ISSUE.

DISTRESSING PHOTOS!

George and Lola, two of my sister in laws’s dogs that lived at my younger brother’s house on the dam. Home bred and went to Nairobi as youngsters but came back when their owner left the country. These well bred Rottweilers went through 5 days of agony…..George was SPEARED, Lola SHOT and SPEARED and left to die. Four days later when the security forces deemed it safe enough to approach they were both still alive. George in the garage and Lola in the bathroom, so relieved to see my husband, who couldn’t do anything except put them out of their misery.

The police recording the crime scene were extremely sensitive to this wanton brutality. Hopefully their deaths will not be in vain through publication of this post.

How can this be anything to do with ‘Kiangazi na Nyasi’ -‘drought and grass’ as we keep being told.

Recent Articles on the events

Please have a look at these links to two recent articles on the Laikipia land invasions. xx

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2017/01/19/land-invasion-wrecks-laikipia_c1489820

 

http://uk.blastingnews.com/world/2017/01/kenya-british-high-commissioner-appeal-for-land-invasions-to-stop-fails-001429769.html

27 January 2017

DAY 19. Part 2: …Friday …the rest of the day passed with watching armed groups gathering, dispersing , gathering again….herds and herds of illegal cattle coming in, joined by huge herds of sheep and goats……now the leaves are been hacked off the olive trees to feed the goats…..

Positives we didn’t get shot at and had no cattle stolen, dairy cows love their food and the recovered stolen cows tucking in and slowly looking stronger.

Apparently there was another peace meeting held….we haven’t yet been informed of what was discussed even though it is about us !!!

Going to be posting more and more photos….some pretty distressing for which I apologize but this stuff needs to go mainstream somehow…..as I have said before this is not about ‘Kiangazi na Nyasi’ – ‘drought and grass’, it is a sinister plan!!!!

Please share to everyone, tell everyone, it is not just the ranches suffering …..hundreds of other farmers are too.