Time to Come Home

A (retired) African Farmer's Journal

03 November 2008

Well, the time has finally arrived for me to shut down the tractor, throw off me oul’ wellie boots and pull over the gate behind me as I leave my Africa Farm behind for good ...... well ..... maybe for just a short while anyway!. My two year VMM contract is up, and it's time to go home.
I frequently ask myself though: where is 'home' now? And to be honest, I'm not too sure at this stage. From the beautiful South Africa, where I worked as a volunteer in 2005; to the beautiful, wild and expansive Maasai lands of Tanzania’s Serengeti, to the filth and grime and congestion of the Mukuru slums in Nairobi, I’ve begun to feel much more at home there than I do in Ireland - despite the dangers of snakes, mosquitoes, malaria and typhoid, speeding matatus, and spiders and ants that crawl into your bed and go ‘chomp’ in the night.
So I imagine it's going to take a bit of adjusting to fit myself back into life in Ireland.
I arrived at Dublin Airport on Sunday last, to a bitingly cold shower of sleet and rain, ice-cold winds swept across the tarmac as we came down the steps of the plane, penetrating through to the very marrow of my bones; and I began to wonder if the source of the wind and sleet might be that deep abyss they’re calling ‘The Recession’.
Doom & Gloom is on everyone’s lips, and I half expected to see starving and wasted skeletal bodies lining the side of the road, with bony outstretched hands pleading for aid from passers-by; or half-starved families, struggling down along the Quays with their few belongings stuffed into torn and tattered suitcases, heading for the boat to Holyhead.
A deep depression was fast setting in, and I was just short of jumping back on the plane and pleading to be taken back to Nairobi..... and home!
However, as we drove across the M50 from the airport, I saw little sign that the Celtic Tiger’s teeth had fallen out with decay, or that his stripes are fading in the slightest. The motorway was jammed with brand new cars, most with just the driver onboard, whizzing along and apparently oblivious to fuel shortages, global warming ..... or the dreaded Recession! I noticed that the motorway itself has been expanded since I left, with a new toll system to process cars through much quicker. Obviously all of this is a sign of confidence that the numbers of cars on our roads is set to continue to increase in the future. Supermarkets too, show little sign of closing down, and shelves are well stocked with lots of expensive goodies, and signs of Christmas are already beginning to show.
Recession? To be honest, I could see little sign of it anywhere!!
I don’t want to sound pious or self-righteous, but I couldn’t help reflecting on the situation I had left behind in the slums just a few short days before. In recent weeks, the prices of many basic commodities like milk and bread have sky-rocketed, in relative terms, beyond the reach of many households. Milk went up from 28sh to 33sh (28c to 33c Euro) per ½ltr; while bread went up from 25sh to 30sh). The price of a 1kg packet of maize flour went up from 55shillings to 60sh. The flour is mixed as a watery porridge in the mornings (uji), and as a bland and tasteless mash (ugali) for the evening meal, very occasionally enhanced with some vegetables or soup when available cash allows. These increases however, literally mean the difference between eating and not eating for many families in the slums living on ‘less than a dollar a day’. ----- Now that’s what I call a Recession!!!.
But the people of Mukuru are resilient if nothing else. They’ll always find a smile for a stranger, and you dare not refuse chai (tea) and a share of whatever is in the pot when you visit a person’s home. The kids in particular seem to defy all logic when it comes to survival. Many get nothing to eat at home, with the schools providing the only meal they’ll get for the whole day. Some will eat just a small amount of their school meal, packing away the rest for their parents or siblings at home.
And yet they still manage to laugh and smile and play and be happy. It’s a wonderful experience to visit one of the local schools for morning assembly, and to see the children’s faces explode with joy and pleasure and welcome, sparkling teeth flashing like thousands of welcoming beacons of light.
School days lasts from 7am to 4pm in the slums. In practice though, due to the security and relaxed atmosphere in the schools compared to their homes in the slums, children usually arrive much earlier into school, and will stay long after school hours, playing or studying, and eventually having to be sent home by their teachers before darkness falls at around 6pm.
In my two years working as a volunteer in Mukuru, I got immense pleasure and satisfaction working with the people there. Their eagerness to work, and their willingness, despite their own difficulties, to share and to help one another never failed to amaze me.
And now, although I feel sad at leaving, I never the less feel very happy with all that has been achieved with the hard work and dedication of the team of local volunteers I worked with.
One of our biggest projects, and possibly the most successful and satisfying for me, was the Harambee Scholarship Fund, which was established with support from staff and students at IT Tallaght, to provide secondary school scholarships to children from the slums.
The head teachers in each of the local primary schools appointed two members of staff to form the committee, with the task of selecting students from their various schools for scholarship into secondary school. During term breaks and at the end of each school year, the committee monitors the students’ progress and exam results, offering counselling and additional support where needed. It was agreed from the outset, that not only the best achievers would be selected, but those who, in the opinion of their teachers would make the most of the chance they were given. Also, to counter the cultural and domestic obstacles placed in the way of girls continuing into secondary, we insisted that at least an equal number of girls should be selected at all times. And they have consistently rewarded our trust with equal, if not higher grades to their male counterparts.
It must be remembered that teachers in Kenya, and in particular primary teachers in the schools of Mukuru are very poorly paid, struggling to raise their own families in the slums. Very often, because they were the bright children in their families, their parents struggled hard to put them through college. Now they, in their turn, struggle to repay this by helping to maintain the family homestead, or by putting their younger siblings through school or college. And yet, these teachers are volunteers in the Harambee project, giving their time free of charge to help their former primary students.
Since its inception in 2006, Harambee has provided scholarships to forty-six students from Mukuru, with additional support for others who needed school uniforms, text books, and other necessary items for their studies. For them, their lives have been utterly changed and they now see some hope for a brighter future, where previously there was little or no hope beyond early marriage (particularly for girls), and an endless struggle to find enough money to buy food for the day.
Below is a profile of one of our students, Hawo Jarso, written in 2006 by her primary teachers. It gives a good indication of the hardships facing children in the slums. Girls suffer the additional burdens of being expected to carry out household chores, child-minding, and the dangers of abuse and rape in the overcrowded slums:
“Hawo is 5th born in a family of 8 children. Her mother does casual labour and is the sole breadwinner in the family. The family live in a single room house in LungaLunga slum village, and because of their poverty, they often have to go without food and depend on the primary school or well-wishers for support. The girl is an extremely hard working and bright student, but because of hardship in the family, she has had to forego secondary education for the past two years. Without her scholarship, Hawo was to have been married off for her 'bride-wealth' and to ease the burden on the family.” Hawo is now in Form II at Ruchu High School, and is doing extremely well in her studies, coming twentieth out of over two hundred students in Form II in her school.
In recent weeks, Harambee was registered as a Community Based Organisation (CBO) and adopted a new constitution, safeguarding the continuing success of the project for future generations of children from Mukuru. Plans are in place for the construction of an Administration Office, which will incorporate a Community Library (previously unheard of in the slums), and an Adult-Learning Centre. The Centre will encourage parents and students who have dropped out of school early to continue their education. A support group for women living with HIV&AIDS and a Home Based Care (HBC) group will also use the Centre for counselling and support, and for training, education and income generation projects.
The library will be used as a place of study and recreation by adults and school-goers alike, and special attention will be paid to providing facilities and assistance to the disabled in the community, often marginalised because of the stigma attached to disability in the slums, and in many parts of Kenyan society to this day.
To establish the Centre, a team of Irish volunteers will travel to Mukuru in 2009 to work alongside local volunteers, including Harambee committee members and sponsored students. Together they will carry out the construction work on the Centre, landscape and fence the gardens, and begin the process of establishing the Centre’s programme of activities.
We can do with as much support as possible, so if you’d like to take part or to help in any way, please give me a call or email me, and I’ll send you more details (my contact details are below).
Best wishes to one and all,
Brian

Harambee Scholarship Fund
PO Box 60221 - 00200 Nairobi, Kenya

Phone:
+353 862 437043 (Ireland)
+254 720 334453 or +254 722 646354 (Kenya)
Email:
brian.maccormaic@gmail.com
harambeescholarship@gmail.com

Trent Keegan's Report

Below is a report being compiled by Trent Keegan into the allegations against Thomson Safaris before his death in Nairobi in May last.

This report was hurriedly put together on 15th May when police interviewed him about his activities in the area. Trent immediately made a back-up copy for safe-keeping, which I’ve copied here, entirely unedited (so please excuse misspellings and typing errors).
It gives a good outline of what is alleged against Thomson’s and also contains Trent’s findings about the alleged active collusion between Thomson’s and the Tanzanian police force:

080510_14a Conflict for the Maasai:

Hi guys there is rumour that the police are coming and so I’m sending this out to you asap.
I’ll send pics of people victims involved as quick as possible to Radu at the pic desk.

If you need to contact me please do so on +255 783 353 663

Trent Keegan www.trentkeegan.com / info@trentkeegan.com
+255 783 353 663 / +254 712 652 770 / +44 796 915 7349

A brief outline about what is happening in the area.
- Land was leased of sort to TBL Tanzanian Breweries Ltd
- Then sold to a Safari company although the Maasai say it was not theirs to sell.
- Maasai have been asked to remove stock from area. Cutting them off from grazing lands and water that they have used for their livestock for centuries.
- Then attacks on herds men and women. First arresting the Maasai people and releasing.
- As time progresses the attacks become more frequent and harsher often beating the Maasai people and demanding huge fees for release.
- Locking them up with no food or water for up to four days.
- In last twenty one days. One has been shot, eight herdsmen arrested and beaten and several herds women attacked and beaten and dumped far away from their homes having to walk up to 10km to get home
- - two of these women were pregnant one miscarried and the other who was 7 months pregnant gave birth after attack only to have child die 4 days later.

Conflict for the Maasai:
A brief outline about the Maasai:
Grazing cattle and goats in small herds to satisfy their families trough out the area.
The Maasai live peacefully with the wildlife of the area. Choosing to instil great conservation practices towards maintaining the environment and wildlife within. They are nomadic so they don’t over graze an area often moving to other pastures to give an area time to rejuvenate. They don’t hunt the wild animals living within the area for food. The only interaction between the Maasai and the other animals is during a ritual for the young warriors turning into men they hunt in groups to kill a lion. (this I understand would not go down so well amongst many westerners but it is worth noting that hunting safari’s hunt lions also but for a price)

And so:
Now I need to confirm these dates as there is some difference with actual dates. The only dates all seem to agree on here is 2003 and 2006 but as the Maasai don’t keep dates as in years I don’t think they are the best source for such.
Also the educated people of the area are fairly emotional about what is happening in the area and hence their opinion’s can be clouded by their thoughts.

1984- Tanzanian Breweries Limited (TBL), took the land from the Maasai leased the land 10 thousand acres off government (of which they didn’t own say the Maasai elders and villages) to run a trial program to grow barley for their breweries. 700 acres were planted out and over two years nothing was produced due to the harshness of the environment. For the next seventeen years nothing happened with the land. The Maasai continued to use the land as they had done for centuries.
Talking with the different elders in the area and none of them had a problem with TBL in the area.
Chief Elder Oekool Nanyoi of a Boma in the Irmasigil village explained the area that was given on loan to TBL was given in the way that you give someone who is not able to pay a dowery for a wife. You give a cow to the man so he can build a herd and when he has a herd he gives back what he has borrowed. This was expected of TBL. Know one sold the land they just expected to get it back when TBL could. However during that time there was peace over the land as TBL was happy to have the Maasai graze their stock on the land. When the crops were cut the cattle Maasai were welcomed to bring their stock in to eat off the remaining stalks of the barley.

2003 - Tanzanian Breweries Limited forged fake Maasai names, using these fake names claimed they had signatures of the Maasai people giving them permission to buy the land and were allowed to buy the land 10,000 acres/ 40 sq km of which no money was ever paid towards the Maasai of the land.
(This forged piece of paper that I can get to you is in Swahili but the people here insist none of these names of people exist in the disputed land).
With this paper TBL got the title dead to the land.

2006 - TBL sold the land to Thomson Safari.
Now this is when the trouble started. Up until today.
Small issues of - Livestock are often run off.
- Many cows are missing from herds never to be seen again as when cattle a separated they are prone to attack from the wild animals of Africa.

More importantly:
Maasai herdsman have been attacked, beaten, shot and bribed or charged horrific fees by Thomson Safari guards and police acting it seems on TS’s behalf. Women have miscarried after attacks suffering beatings and stories of been carried off on top of vehicles for some distances expected to walk home.

Talking with the elders of the area say in the first instances, TS guards came around and would tell the Maasai to take their livestock from the area. But everyday it seems the area is getting greater and is not able to be defined by any of the Maasai now.
Oekool Nanyoi said we knew the area where TBL were using and it was easy for the Maasai to avoid the parts that TBL wanted to use. We were still able to pass our livestock to the watering holes in the different areas but now we don’t know from day to day where the boundary is.
At the time of the first incidents the Maasai wondered who had given the land away. Why is this not our land we have always grazed it.
The land that TBL were using was so far away but now TS is at our back door.

Chief Elder Oekool Nanyoi:
First we were asked to move from our land, then we were arrested, then beatings became part of it. Now they are shooting. How much more is to follow?

Thomson Safari guards and police who make these attacks on the Maasai would on most occasion’s take the herdsman to the national police station in Loliondo village where they are detained only for the families of these herdsman having to pay fees/brides to get them back.
Bribes of between 300,000 TSH €160 to 500,000TSH €250
I’m saying bribes here but we don’t know what the fee is for. No receipt is ever given and very few have been brought before the magistrate in Loliondo.

Some of the Maasai herdsman have been bought before the magistrate and not been charged with anything but told in courts that they were not doing anything wrong but still have to sort out with police.
Have since learnt that the Maasai when paying these fees, deal with a person in Loliondo village the Maasai of the area consider a friend (witch doctor) who is to pay off the fees. It is he who tells the Maasai people what they must pay and hence I wonder if he himself is not adding to this.
Need to get hold of him and ask what is happening here for a receipt of the money paid. An official receipt. He could be taking a good cut for himself!!!!!!

women tending stock have been beaten and dropped in distant area’s from their Boma’s, having to walk 4-10 km to get home. Two of these women were pregnant. One aborted that night. Second gave birth in the Boma that night but the child died four days later. These women have never seen a doctor. Obviously in pain still after the ordeal.

STORIES OF PEOPLE AFFECTED:

Joshua Tarurua:

Had taken livestock to Pololet River so they could drink. He was not within TS area as he understood.
A landrover with six TS men arrived. Five of which chased him until they caught him. Then beat him with his own orika (maasai stick) in the legs, also hitting him in the face and head with fists. Causing blood from his nose and ear.
Then dropped in Loliondo police station where he was held for just one day before release. Without having to pay anything.
____________________

Lesingo’s story. 18th April 2008

Lesingo Nanyoi and other herdsmen were approached from afar by seven Thomson Safari guards and one police man with a gun, while out tending stock. They drove off without incident.
Within two hours three vehicles turned up, one police two Thomson safari vehicles all filled with police.
Told Maasai to sit down and they refused, then police started shooting at first thought to scare off the livestock and the people. But then Lesingo was shot at directly, hitting him under the chin and nicking him on the shoulder. He hit the ground. Other herdsmen ran for it but five of them were caught by police and taken away to Loliondo station.

The Maasai who had fled to the villages in the area alerted others who came back once police had left and carried Lesingo to the closest village Posimoru. One of which was Shukurr Nanyoi. Then with a vehicle from Ololosokwan village (that it is reported by Shukurr Nanyoi that they had to pay 200,000TSH to use) took him to Loliondo where he filled in a police form of his attack. With this form he was driven to Wasso village hospital for treatment.
Dutch doctor in charge Christopher +255 786 234 624 arranged the flight from Wasso to Arusha in the flight medical service.
The family burrowed money 1,300,000TSH from the doctor to fly him to Arusha and then onto dar es Salaam.
He was then sent onto dar es Salaam where he has been for last 21 days getting treatment. He's very lucky really as the bullet just tore a path under his chin and nicked his shoulder.
Lesingo is due to have an operation to replace of small piece of jaw bone that is missing in next day or two.

The other Maasai herdsman who were arrested, were taken to the jail and held until relatives could bring the fee/bribe to set them free.
Still have some confusion over this as some have been released but are still to pay the fee.

These five men joined three men already been held in the station have had to pay a total of 8,730 KSH or 161,505TSH each person for fee by police. A total of 1,292,040 TSH for the eight of them.
Cattle has been sold in Kenya to get this money, which is considerably high price for any of them to be paying.
____________________

Kapoto Naroti and elder Oloyeye Nanyoi:

Were both arrested at the time when Lesingo was shot.
Held in police station for four days until being moved to Cells.

When arrested Kapoto had his knife and sticks taken from him. He was beaten on head and legs with the blunt instruments.
(these things taken from Kapoto have never been given back to him)
Starved for four days until his wife and children came from Irmasigil village to Loliondo to give him food. Sour milk mostly.

elder Oloyeye Nanyoi:
held for four days in police station before moving to the cells
For the days he was held in the station he was not given any food by police. On the fourth day children of a friend who lived in Loliondo and were aware that prisoners were being treated this way bought food for the prisoners.
Oloyeye was never beaten.
He said he would like help to come from NGO’s as he has no faith in the government defending us or to help.
____________________

Kiraposho Naroti approximately 21 years old.
Three months pregnant was tending sheep
____________________

Extra to this is the Maasai been forced from their land in all areas of where they have lived for centuries.

Ok there a couple of things happening here.
There’s a mountain Olodonyo Lengai close to one of the areas where the Maasai dwell. This mountain is active and of recently has been releasing ash flow.
The government are telling the Maasai people living below the mountain that the area is unsafe and that they must leave the area.
The government wants to extend the Ngorongoro Conservation park to include this area.
The Maasai believe the government are using the eruption as an excuse to get the people living in the area to move from that area further away.
It is also the belief of the Maasai that the government want to end the nomadic existence of the Maasai. Wanting them to end their ways of moving and settle in homes and begin farming crops as apposed to livestock. (Like that of the native American Indians. Live in Reservations)

This is also seeming more likely with Thomson Safari creating havoc in the North pushing the people in from Irmasiling, Sukeuya, Euadooshoke and Mondorosi area with the help of the Tanzanian police whether they are just corrupt police in this area or acting with the governments approval is in question.
Also now we have heard that Otello business corporation (a safari hunting company) want to take a large chunk of the area the Maasai are using from the boundary of the Serengeti National park taking in a large chunk of land infact most of it that the Maasai reside on at this time effectively cutting off the Maasai from the water ways where the herdsman graze water and get salt for livestock.
The prime land of the whole Maasai mara.

With the map I am sending you in picture. The green is where the Thomson safari are estimated to be positioned. The Otello hunting company are hoping to taek all the land between Lake Natron to Ngorongoro Conservation are and the Serengeti.

Look at this on a map. I’ve got the rough guide map of Kenya (and northern Tanzania) and this shows the area quite well.

Follow-up to Maasai Dispute

(a lot of reading, I know, but please do your best to get through it)

After you’ve read this Journal, please pass it on to all your contacts, and seek the support of your government to demand a full and independent inquiry into all of these events!

THE TRUTH CANNOT HURT THE INNOCENT!

I write this as a follow-up to my previous Journal (attached), on the death of my friend Trent Keegan, including some worrying events that have taken place since his murder.
Trent Keegan hailed from New Zealand, but had worked in Ireland for many years as a photographer and freelance photojournalist. He was murdered in Nairobi only a few days after staying with me in Tanzania, where he had been investigating a story about alleged attacks on local Maasai herdsmen by the security guards of Thomson Safaris and local policemen.
According to Trent’s report, several herdsmen have been beaten, while one was shot and badly wounded. Women have also been attacked and beaten and dumped far away from their homes, having to walk up to 10km to get home. One pregnant woman miscarried after being attacked and abducted; while another, who was seven months pregnant, gave birth prematurely and lost her infant four days later, according to Trent.
The Arusha Times of 17 May last, reported that Thomson’s have been trying to stop local Maasai herdsmen from grazing their cattle at the Sukenya Farm. The company had intended to begin using the farm for tourist activities in May last, hence their determination and urgency to ban or exclude the local herdsmen from the area.
The land in question, which is close to the Serengeti National Park and the Kenyan Masai Mara, is a pristine and beautiful landscape. This is, in no small way, as a result of the traditional grazing methods of the Maasai, which ensured that land is not overgrazed, and wildlife is left unharmed. For many Maasai, the animals represent their forebears, and as such, are allowed to go unharmed. They live off the produce of their own herds of domesticated cattle and goats, and will only hunt in times of severe shortage or drought.
The Maasai don’t see this as ‘wildlife conservation’ as such; they see it as self-preservation: avoid a snake or lion and it will normally leave you alone. And just as zebra, impala and wildebeest will often graze together to increase their chances of detecting predators, so too will herds of wild animals act as a very effective early-warning system for Maasai herdsmen.
Occasionally, during ceremonial passage rites into manhood for young Maasai Warriors, lions are hunted and killed. However, despite condemnations by so-called conservationists, this bears no comparison to the massive slaughter, to this day, by tourists taking part in game hunting safaris in private Game Reserves in the region.
The land at Sukenya was originally leased by Tanzania Breweries Ltd, and subsequently sold to Thomson’s, although the Maasai insist that TBL didn’t own the land in the first place, and had “forged fake Maasai names .... giving them permission to buy the land”, according to Trent’s report.
The restrictions which have now been put in place effectively prevents the local Maasai from the Irmasiling Location from reaching the District hospital at Wasso, and the market town of Loliondo; forcing them to detour across the border into Kenya and back to Tanzania via the villages of Soitsambu or Ololosokwan. Likewise, grazing and water sources are restricted now, causing great hardship to the herdsmen, and leading to conflict with the Thomson Safari guards: “a battle did ensue between the company guards and a team of Maasai men who had taken their cattle to drink at a brook which runs between the Sukenya farm and the Maasai settlement at Irmasiling”, according to Robert Ole Nyangusi, Thomson Safari’s assistant camp manager at Loliondo, as quoted in the Arusha Times.
When Trent was in the area carrying out his investigations, he was approached by Thomson guards in this particular area. He told me later that he felt very threatened by their behaviour, and felt so unsafe that he decided to leave Tanzania and return to Nairobi as soon as possible.
At first impression though, when Trent’s body was found face down in a storm drain in Nairobi’s busy Uhuru Highway, it seemed likely that he was simply the unfortunate victim of a mugging that went terribly wrong, in a city where muggings are not uncommon. However, the strange thing about this particular attack was that Trent’s laptop and camera were apparently the only items stolen, while his cash, passport, visa cards, and many other valuables he was carrying were left untouched by his killers. His laptop and camera have never been recovered by the police, despite some confusing reports to the contrary.
After his death, many people, including the Nairobi police, suspected some more sinister motive than mere theft, with some suggesting there might be a possible connection between Thomson Safaris, whom Trent was investigating, and his killers. This is further compounded by the fact that Thomson’s manager later produced files which would appear to have come from Trent’s computer.
Obviously upset by the adverse affect this was having on their business, two directors of Thomson’s, Rick Thomson and Judi Wineland visited Tanzania recently to try to get to the bottom of the allegation against their staff in the land dispute; and also to try to clear their company’s name in relation to Trent’s murder.
The two claimed to be anxious to talk to as many local people as possible to get the full story, and it seemed, during my initial contacts with them at least, that they were genuinely interested in finding out the truth, and coming to some satisfactory conclusion for all concerned.
I was contacted by Rick, and asked if I would meet with them to help them get to the truth. Strangely though, Rick was unwilling to come to my home to meet (despite having a virtual fleet of safari vehicles at his command), and asked me to travel the 45km to where they were staying at a guest house in the compound of the district hospital. Although I don’t have transport and would have to hitch a ride, I was anxious to help in whatever way I could, and agreed to meet them at the hospital. However, Rick’s unwillingness to go out of his way to meet me rang some alarm bells in my mind about the sincerity of his ‘fact-finding’ mission.
When I arrived, despite my previous insistence that we meet alone, they insisted I join a meeting they were already having with some people who, it seems, were a hand-picked committee selected by the local District Commissioner. I was later informed that this group was not delegated by the Village Government to represent them in negotiations with Thomson’s, and few of those present even knew what their precise function or role was. The Village Government in fact, had been waiting patiently since the previous day in Soitsambu, having been requested to meet with Rick and Judi; (the Village Government is the democratically elected representative body for the people at village level, and is a primary link in the Tanzanian democratic system, right up to parliament and the president).
Against my better judgement I eventually agreed to join their meeting, although on entering the room, I immediately sensed an atmosphere of hostility against me, as if my arrival had been anticipated and discussed beforehand. I felt very uncomfortable, and made a number of attempts to leave the meeting, but was delayed each time on some pretext or other. Eventually though, I simply stood up, excused myself, and left. This obviously upset some plan they were hatching against me, as everyone in the room followed me outside as I left.
Suspecting something was afoot, I immediately rang a friend and asked him to contact the Irish embassy if he didn’t hear from me within the hour. Sounds a bit like John Wayne I suppose: “If I’m not back within the hour, send in the Posse”! However, this was serious stuff, and after losing a close friend to murderers only weeks before, I didn’t want to take any chances.
I began to leave the compound, but was told I was not allowed to leave. I insisted that I was free to go wherever I pleased unless I was under arrest.
With that, (and I promise I’m not exaggerating), a Thomson Safaris vehicle sped into the compound and skidded to a halt beside me, raising a cloud of dust and loose gravel in the air. Before it had fully stopped, up to ten gunmen armed with rifles and machine guns jumped out and took up positions, military-style, around the compound, effectively preventing me from leaving.
I’m no hero by any means, so I suppose I should have been scared for my life. But somehow, although I strongly believed I was about to be taken away to be beaten or shot, the only emotion I felt, and the only defence I could think of at the time, was anger and rage. As they say, I ‘flipped my lid’ and demanded of Rick and Judi why I was being detained against my will by their gunmen, after I had come, at their invitation, to try to help them resolve some of their difficulties with the local community. I was informed that these were the local police force, which had been ordered to detain me by the local District Commissioner, (although I’ve never been able to fully verify this).
And why, I demanded to know, did the police arrive in a Thomson’s vehicle? Ludicrously, Judi tried to justify this by saying the police can commandeer any vehicle they wish, and it was a mere coincidence that they just happened to find a Thomson’s vehicle to commandeer at that particular moment.
Come on Judi, give us a break!
Understandably, she didn’t pursue that line of argument any further.
The real coincidence though, is that in Trent’s investigation (a copy of which is attached below) he refers to allegations of collusion between the police force and Thomson’s: “Maasai herdsman have been attacked, beaten, shot and bribed or charged horrific fees by Thomson Safari guards and police acting it seems on TS’s behalf”. So if these were actually members of the police force, then here was the evidence of that same collusion taking place, right before our very eyes; and under the orders of the DC too, as I had been informed!
I realised that earlier suspicions I had about Rick’s insincerity were justified: that I had been set up from the start to discredit me in some way. But thankfully his plan backfired, and the large crowd which had gathered from the nearby hospital to watch the spectacle, witnessed their bullying tactics at first hand. One kindly, if somewhat insensitive man asked why such a large force had been sent to arrest ‘an old man’ like me.
The gunmen looked decidedly uncomfortable now, and seemed ill at ease as to what to do next; while Rick looked decidedly embarrassed that some idiot had sent in the troops prematurely, with so many people around; and understandably, the crowd looked on with sheer delight at the whole fiasco, delighted at the diversion from their own troubles at the hospital. I suppose some were secretly hoping I’d be shot, just to add some additional drama and excitement to the spectacle.
After over an hour of me shouting and arguing for my release, and probably due in no small way to the embarrassing scene I was creating for them, I was allowed to leave and make my way home. Tellingly though, a Lutheran bishop who had accompanied the “Punch Rick&Judi Show” on their ‘peace mission’, advised me quietly not to take my normal route home for fear of attack. He was however, obviously unfamiliar with the area: it had already reached darkness, and other than travelling through bush and forests, with elephants, hyenas, lions and leopards roaming freely, there was only one road I could take home.
Thankfully though, I arrived safely, and without further incident, but still ‘hopping mad’. As we passed through Soitsambu village on the way, I met with some members of the Village Government who had been there since the previous day waiting to meet Rick and Judi. They were understandably angry at being snubbed by the two, yet none seemed too surprised.
Rick and Judi demonstrated their insincerity and lack of consideration later though, when neither thought to show me the courtesy of calling to see if I had arrived home safely, or to apologise for all the trouble and danger they had put me through - an indication of their true cold-hearted nature perhaps. And yet, even after all that had happened, I was still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and tried repeatedly to ring them and text them, to see if we could salvage anything from the day’s fiasco. To this day, I’ve received no answer or reply!
Next day I received a letter from the DC demanding that I report to his office the following morning, where I appeared before the District Security Committee. I was questioned at length, like some sort of criminal, about my presence in Tanzania, and my association with Trent in particular.
The DC later produced files he had apparently been given by Thomson’s manager, which appeared to have been downloaded or ‘hacked’ from my computer. Perhaps more disturbing and sinister though, is the fact that he produced files which appear to have been downloaded from Trent’s computer. As you will be aware, Trent’s laptop was stolen by his killers, and has not been recovered since. It would therefore seem fair to assume that they (his killers) are the only ones with access to his computer now!
When I asked the DC for copies of the files in his possession, so that I might try to identify how they had been accessed, particularly in relation to Trent’s files, he flatly refused. It seems, in his view, any allegations that staff of Thomson Safaris are attacking, beating and shooting ‘his’ community, or might be somehow associated with Trent’s murderers, are unworthy of any investigation or serious attention; while my presence as a potential donor, at the invitation of the local community to help in the development of a secondary school for Maasai children; and Trent’s investigations into attacks on local people, are serious felonies worthy of his full attention.
I can’t honestly say that Thomson Safaris were involved in Trent’s murder. I don’t even know at first hand if the allegations about attacks on the local community are true. But from my personal experience of their self-serving and ruthless hypocrisy which I witnessed on that day, I can just about believe anything of them now.
But whether they like it or not, all of these allegations and suspicions need to be investigated fully; and the real truth MUST be exposed. However, since the Maasai have no real voice outside Tanzania, this will only happen if the whole world is aware of what is being claimed, and demands answers. Without this, the story might conveniently be hidden away in the hope that it is quietly forgotten. If true though, and nothing is done to expose them, then local people will continue to suffer attacks and brutality, eventually being moved off their land entirely, with their rich and valuable culture, and their lives destroyed forever.
And why should I be concerned?? Well, I remember a promise I made to a good friend when police came to question him about his activities in the region: “Brian, keep these files safe just in case anything happens…” Trent Keegan felt passionate about this story and he was not being melodramatic – that wasn’t his style – just practical.
I suppose also, I remember my feelings of utter helplessness and deep-deep sadness and shame at the plight of the American Indians when I read Dee Brown’s ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’ for the first time. I remember asking myself how I might have reacted had I been there at that particular moment in history: would I have spoken out in protest? Or would I have sat idly by like so many others at the time?
If I fail to make my voice heard in protest against the self-same physical and cultural genocide which appears to be taking place against the Maasai today, then, to my eternal shame, I will have my answer.
I would appeal to you to forward this email to everyone in your address book and mailing list.

PS. As far as I am aware, Thomson Safaris has no connection with the European based Thomson Travel, and no connection or involvement in these events is intended.

A Tribute to a friend and colleague, Trent Keegan

5th June 2008

I'm writing about a very good friend of mine, photojournalist Trent Keegan, who was murdered recently in Nairobi. Many of you will already have seen reports of his death, but may not have known of my connection with him.
Trent was a native of New Zealand, although he spent many years working in Ireland (Galway) as a freelance photographer.
Although I only met him about two months ago through a mutual friend, Trent stayed in my home, both in Kenya, and then, subsequently, when I moved to work in Tanzania. In fact, most of the time he was in Africa he stayed with me, and we became very close friends. Being a photographer myself, we had a lot in common, as well as our love for the outdoors and a desire to give a little of ourselves to expose the plight of the poor and oppressed of this world.
Trent was working on a very important story before he was killed, trying to expose the exploitation of the Maasai people of Tanzania and Kenya by major tourism and safari companies, and in particular to the alleged harassment of local Maasai herdsmen in the Loliondo, Sukenia, and Soit Sambu region of Tanzania, near Ngorongoro Crater by the security guards of Thompson (or Thomson) Safaris.
One man, who Trent had interviewed and photographed in hospital, was allegedly shot by Thompson security guards, and there are many allegations that local people have been terrorised by the same guards. Seemingly, the company are trying to set up an exclusive game reserve, and locals say they are being forced from their land to make way for the Reserve. Naturally, Thompson's deny this and claim the local people are behind them in their venture.
Many people, including the Kenyan police, are very suspicious though, at why Trent's passport, along with about 4,000Ksh (US$50), and his visa cards and other valuables were found on his body, while his laptop computer, camera and mobile phone, containing all the information and photos of the stories he was investigating (particularly the Maasai story) were the only things stolen. According to one of the investigating police officers, if it were just ordinary thugs or murderers who had killed Trent, even his shoes would have been taken in preference to a computer, which might be difficult to sell or dispose of discretely.

The attached photographs were taken in the early morning of Friday 23rd May, just before Trent returned to Nairobi, and only a few short days before he died. As keen photographers, we had no problem getting up at around 5am to go walking through the bush to catch the beautiful sunrise and whatever else we might see. Little did we both realise that these would be the last photos of Trent.
If you're interested, there's a very good book which has many parallels with the present-day plight of the Maasai in Serengeti. "Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown, tells the story of the genocide and decimation of the Native American Indians by the
US government and the advance of ‘civilisation’: - the destruction of their traditional way of life, their culture, and their language; it highlights the constant battles they were forced to fight until they were finally defeated and pushed into useless and barren Reservations. And yet, despite this, it was they who were branded ‘savages’.

Another book you might read is: "No Man's Land" by George Monbiot, which gives a graphic account of the present-day intrusion of game reserves, ranches, crop plantations and industry into Maasai grazing lands. Traditional pastures, and access to water sources and grasslands, are being cut off as whole communities are forced into the less fertile lands.
Wildlife conservationists, usually on behalf of their pay-masters in the tourism industry, often claim they are trying to protect the environment and wildlife. When land is taken over land for game reserves or ‘conservation areas, the Maasai are moved away in order to “protect the wildlife”. Stories abound of how the Maasai endanger wildlife species because they will kill to protect their herds or themselves. There is also the unchallenged myth that every young Maasai boy must kill a lion before he is fully accepted as a warrior of the tribe.
But these ludicrous claims conveniently ignore the fact that the Maasai have lived in perfect harmony with the wildlife and the landscape for thousands of years, and have been an integral part of the eco-system; an eco-system that now attracts thousands of tourists to the region every day, and which itself is now threatening to destroy the very environment that brought them there in the first place.
Ludicrously, now that the rapacious advance of so-called 'civilisation' has virtually destroyed the global environment, we have so-called environmentalists and conservationists dashing around in huge fuel-guzzling 4x4s to 'preserve' our environment and our planet, and pointing the finger of blame at the victims rather than the culprits.
HEAVEN SAVE US FROM OUR SAVIOURS!

.

The above photos were taken of Trent during his stay at Emanyata Secondary School in Ngorongoro District of Tanzania; taken on Friday 23rd May, only three days before his murder in Nairobi. The map of Tanzania shows the region, between Lake Natron and Serengeti National Park (outlined in green).

A beautiful landscape in the Maasai heartland of Tanzania, but with an undercurrent of bitterness and resentment felt by the Maasai community at how their traditional customs and lifestyles are being swept aside in the interests of big business, the tourism industry, and even in the sometimes dubious name of conservation!

The Nairobi Matatu

I'd like to tell you about the Nairobi motoring phenomenon called the Matatu, although in actual fact it would appear to be an Africa-wide phenomenon under a wide variety of names and variations.
The Matatu is a sixteen-seater minibus that serves as public transport and private taxi for the population of Nairobi. It derives its name from the Swahili word for three, - tatu, because the original fare, seemingly, was three Kenyan shillings. And it would be easy to imagine that the whole traffic system of Nairobi had been built with the Matatu in mind. Pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, even traffic cops, - everyone it seems, must give way to the Matatu.
The Matatu is a whole universe unto itself, - an ecosystem, a solar system, a judicial system, and a political system all rolled into one. Many carry slogans, religious and otherwise, emblazoned on the back windows, such as: 'Snoop Dog', 'Chick Magnet', 'God Really Cares'; and my particular favourite: 'Jesus Wept', which seems very appropriate.
On each Matatu you have a driver and a ‘makanga’, or conductor. It’s the job of the makanga to gather as many passengers, by whatever means, to make the journey viable. You might be just taking a stroll along the road minding your own business, when up rolls a Matatu and you’re whisked onboard, just to make up the numbers for the trip to town (downtown Nairobi that is). Once on board, you simply cannot be sure if you’ll ever see family, friends or civilisation again. Fluorescent disco-lights flash to the beat of rap music pumping loudly inside, the suspension pumps wildly, while the engine pumps furiously, and if you’re lucky, the brakes will work if they’re pumped too.
From my home in South B, town is only short ride by Matatu, costing twenty Kenyan shillings, or twenty bob (about 20c in Euroland). During rush-hour the journey by car could take anything up to two hours, but with an experienced Matatu driver, even in the heaviest rush-hour traffic, you could easily make it in less than seven minutes. Bus (or Matatu) lanes in Nairobi can mean driving down the wrong side of the road; careering along footpaths while hooting unsuspecting pedestrians out of the way; or even driving the wrong way around a roundabout. Official routes are arbitrary, and you frequently find yourself being driven in the wrong direction, through slum dirt-roads or potholed industrial areas, in search of a shortcut past the traffic. They have the ability to squeeze a 2mtr wide minibus into a 1mtr wide gap between two oncoming vehicles, and all this at break-neck speed. In Nairobi, seatbelts are compulsory in all vehicles ............. but only when there’s a police checkpoint ahead, and people rarely bother otherwise; (if you hear a call to "put on your seatbelt", it usually only means there's a pick-pocket on board trying to distract passengers so he can relieve them of their possessions).
Passengers just sit, apparently calmly, reading their newspapers or chatting, while unfortunate blow-ins like myself, wince and cringe at every jerk or twist of the steering wheel.
What’s the point in panicking though? Why not just sit back and enjoy the ride like the locals, and gloat in the knowledge that there are thrill-seeking tourists all over the world paying high and exorbitant prices for adventure sports holidays and cheap kicks that would seem like a quiet Sunday afternoon picnic in the countryside, when compared to a ride in a Matatu.
Driving along a motorway too, is an adrenalin-rush with few equals in the world of extreme sports. With no apparent speed restrictions, a two-lane highway can suddenly become four or even five lanes in a matter of seconds, as huge four-wheel drive Land Cruisers, haulage lorries with dangerously swaying trailers, inter-city coaches with luggage, livestock and flailing canvas covers, piled sky-high on the roof, overtake, undertake, and simply blow you out of their way. While Matatus, stopping to pick up an extra passenger on the hard shoulder, casually cut out into the melee when the passenger is onboard, without reference to rear-view mirror, hooting horns, or prayer book.
Even ordinary motorists seem to take their lead from the Matatu driver. When you arrive at a junction, with or without a stop sign, the technique is to keep your head down and drive straight out, without making eye contact with the drivers coming from left or right. Somehow, it works very well, and it’s amazing how you can squeeze into a gap in the flowing traffic if you keep your cool and DON’T MAKE EYE CONTACT!!! Likewise, if you come to a roundabout, it doesn’t really matter which lane you’re in or where you wish to exit the roundabout, just don’t attempt to stop to check what’s coming in from your right (as is normal in Ireland). Again, keep your head down, look ahead or to your left if you feel some pointless urge to judge where you’re heading, but don’t make eye contact under any circumstances with the traffic coming in from your right. Watch their front bumper, and barely get yours in front if you can. Take a deep breath, - it’s guaranteed to make your car at least six inches narrower, - which should be just enough to squeeze between the giant wheels of a huge earth-mover and an oncoming Matatu racing towards you at high speed. Hold your cool at all costs though. This is a game, and any hesitancy or flinching will only confuse the other players. They’re ‘aiming’ for where you won’t be in a nano-second’s time, so if you stall or lose your nerve, they’re sure to hit you. In other words, if you’re still in the spot you should have vacated one-thousandth of a second ago to let them through, then it’s your own fault and you’ll surely suffer the consequences, - if you get my drift. And remember, they’re unlikely to have brakes that work, - or insurance for that matter!
And the really amazing thing about it all is, that there appears to be no such thing as road-rage! If you happen to lose the dreaded Eye-Contact battle, then you’re the one who failed the test, and there’s no point shouting or waving your fist out the window. Be a man, or woman; learn from your mistakes and get on with it, seems to be the golden rule accepted by all.
Imagine a similar incident on the M50 / Naas Road roundabout! There’d be grown mature men, ranting and raving, and having blue fits and hairy-canaries all over the road with rage. Blood vessels would burst in a vile and disgusting spray of angst and fury. Hissy-Fit ‘lady’ drivers, bemoaning the demise of chivalry and gentlemanliness, because somebody swore at them for cutting across four lanes to the outside lane, - with their left-hand indicator still flashing wildly, would throw stomping tantrums at whoever cared or dared to listen. Tallaght hospital’s cardiac unit would go into overdrive to keep up with the new admissions, and sales of massive big four-wheel-drive off-road monsters would sky-rocket in anticipation of future challenges on the roundabout to hell.
But no! This is not the way of the peaceful Nairobi motorist. Perhaps it’s an inner-calm that holds them back; or maybe it’s some spiritual goodness and tranquillity that makes them forgive and forget. More likely though, it’s simply the common-sense knowledge that if you get out of your car to rant and rave, somebody might shoot at you, while somebody else hops in and makes off with your pride and joy, and even your loving wife and kids, leaving you standing sheepishly and terrified in the middle of the road, - not a good place to be at 8am in Nairobi, when all around is apparent havoc, chaos, anarchy and mayhem.
So next time some boy-racer cuts across you on the M50, going the wrong way down the motorway, while weaving in and out of the fast lane, just think of the gentle, kind, and calm Nairobi Matatu driver, and accept full responsibility for letting the *@?/*#***ing *#*@?*er get in front of you in the first place.
BE CALM, BE GRACIOUS, BE PATIENT, - BUT AT ALL COSTS, - BE FIRST !!!!Love to all from the Nairobi Farmer