KWS Rangers kill in cold blood two innocent Maasai Youth in Mosiro, Kajiado
Saturday morning, the news of the shootings of two young, unarmed evangelists in a prayer session by KWS Rangers shook Narok and Kajiado Counties. Ole Lenkume and Ole Taki were praying and fasting in the forest when the KWS Rangers opened fire and killed them instantly in pretext that they were poachers.
The matter was reported and several people recorded statements with the police at Ntulele. Kajiado West MP, Hon. Sakuda assured of justice for the victims.
The area Member of County Assembly and the community has given the Government a seven days ultimatum to arrest the Rangers or else they will kill all elephants and alluded that no KWS Ranger will ever step on Mosiro again.The Government is yet to respond to the community's ultimatum.
This comes at a time when the maasai community in both Kajiado and Narok Counties grapples with rising cases of police torture, human rights violations and impunity in the police force. KWS Rangers has a history of prejudicial and extra judicial killing of innocent community members in the name of suspected poachers; Two years ago, in the same area, on the Narok County side they killed four people who were rescuing a school girl from early forced marriage. The rangers who were never arrested claimed that they mistook the four for poachers. Other rangers captured and circulated a video they took while brutally beating up herders at Amboseli Game Reserve last year.
"What KWS ignores is the fact that, the maasai since time immemorial have coexisted and still live in harmony with the wild life, it is in Maasalaind where you will find the two big National Game Reserves in Kenya, Amboseli and Maasai Mara; and can never be associated with poaching" said one Civil Society leader
The matter was reported and several people recorded statements with the police at Ntulele. Kajiado West MP, Hon. Sakuda assured of justice for the victims.
The area Member of County Assembly and the community has given the Government a seven days ultimatum to arrest the Rangers or else they will kill all elephants and alluded that no KWS Ranger will ever step on Mosiro again.The Government is yet to respond to the community's ultimatum.
This comes at a time when the maasai community in both Kajiado and Narok Counties grapples with rising cases of police torture, human rights violations and impunity in the police force. KWS Rangers has a history of prejudicial and extra judicial killing of innocent community members in the name of suspected poachers; Two years ago, in the same area, on the Narok County side they killed four people who were rescuing a school girl from early forced marriage. The rangers who were never arrested claimed that they mistook the four for poachers. Other rangers captured and circulated a video they took while brutally beating up herders at Amboseli Game Reserve last year.
"What KWS ignores is the fact that, the maasai since time immemorial have coexisted and still live in harmony with the wild life, it is in Maasalaind where you will find the two big National Game Reserves in Kenya, Amboseli and Maasai Mara; and can never be associated with poaching" said one Civil Society leader
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