Thomas Cholmondeley is escorted to court to face a
murder charge |
A
British aristocrat and prominent rancher has been charged with murdering a
Maasai game warden in Kenya.
Kenyan citizen Thomas Cholmondeley, 45, son of the 5th Baron Delamere,
pleaded not guilty at Nakuru High Court and was remanded in custody until
6 May.
He is accused of gunning down one of three undercover wardens as they
tried to detain some of his employees, whom they had found skinning a dead
buffalo.
The 16 workers have been charged with illegally possessing a game
trophy.
If convicted of murdering the warden, Simon Ole Sasina, Mr Cholmondeley
could face the death sentence.
'Deceit'
The case has sent shockwaves through Kenya's central Rift Valley
region, highlighting the security fears of landowners and the resentment
of the local Maasai population.
Mr Cholmondeley is heir to a massive 100,000-acre farm in the area,
acquired by his great-grandfather, who was one of Kenya's first white
settlers.
On Monday, a Maasai tribal leader threatened to organize his tribesmen
to invade the Cholmondeley ranch, which is one of the largest in Kenya.
The Maasai say all the land occupied by Kenya's white settlers and
their families was deceitfully taken from them in 1904, soon after Britain
colonized the country.
Kenya gained independence in 1963 but the Maasai say successive
governments have done little to address their grievances.
Last year, they launched a campaign to reclaim back their land using
peaceful, legal means.
Meanwhile, white farmers in the region have been increasingly targeted
by violent criminals, with two of them - a Briton and a Dutchman - killed
in recent armed robberies.
