THE MAREMBO INCIDENT

We were building a fence around the air strip near our camp within the Tana River Primate Reserve to stop the Orma livestock and people from traversing the air strip. We have had scares in the past when planes bringing  in our supplies land  at the strip and we  were also preparing to receive our Director; Dr. David Western who was expected to kick off repatriation of the local Pokomo community members who were being relocated from the reserve to Kipini area in Lamu. There was too much pressure exerted on the primates environment by the locals and the government was given a grant by GEF [ Germany fund] to buy 5 acre plots for each family. Fence materials were delivered from nairobi and i was required to purchase ballast for the works to start, so Iwas picked by plane from the new air strip and flown to Wilson.

The truck I was to use was still being repaired at the central workshop and the directors visit was scheduled to start in a weeks time so I was given one of the newly acquired four ton canter truck to transport some ballast to help kick start the fence line. It was a Toyota Dyna , white in color For it was yet To be painted with the KWS green,  so we filled it with the pebbles and started the 1000 plus kilometers ride to Baomo in Tana river district.                    We were four in the vehicle ; the driver named Gele, ranger Ngorongoro who was coming to the platoon on transfer , the mason and Me, and we were all crammed in to the small cabin and it took us more than 13 hours from Nairobi to Malindi were we rested while waiting for our escort. We left Malindi some times past mid night and proceeded with the escort team trailing us but we were heavy so they would drive past us then wait for us ahead, then we would pass them and they pass us again and we continued like this till morning found us some  miles out of Garsen town. We stopped beside the road for a short rest and the rangers chose to drive in to the town for breakfast while we in the truck continued on our slow pace.

I dosed off as soon as we started again and I had to raise the window Because i needed to lean my head on the glass and i must have slept for when i was woken up by the ranger and cries of the mason, I saw the MAREMBO sign post which is normally more than 20 kilometers from the Garsen - Hola junction. I did not have to ask why my group was exited for two shoots fired in succession rant the calm morning and a tall light skinned youth came out of the bushes to my left and Started running along the slow moving truck. I could see his face clearly for he was less than 80 meters from the road and his head and part of his face was covered by a blue scarf . He was carrying a G3 rifle and he was not shooting directly at the truck but in front of us which was a polite way of  asking us to stop. We had no intention of doing stopping as requested and the driver needed not be told that we were not armed and that we should never be at the mercy of high way bandits, more so now that I was on board , yes I was on board and every highway robber and bandit in the Tana River and Lamu Districts would love to have my heart for lunch. He changed gears and the nose of the truck pitched up and started gaining momentum gradually and this must have stunned  the man who was trying to stop us for he came to a sudden stop and started taking aimed shots at us.

KWS had officially joined the police in fighting highway hijackers and it was only three weeks since the Witu ambush where the driver of our escort team was killed , and here i was on a lonely road not knowing where my escort team was while seeing death in the form of a young, G3 welding, not so handsome bandit firing shots at our vehicle. In normal circumstances I would gladly have welcomed such opportunity to engage a much sought after contact with a lone bandit but I was not armed, not even with a pistol which had never left my side since I graduated from manyani field training school in July 1992. It was not that I forgot packing my side plate, no, but I flew to Wilson and I knew that I was to board public transport, and experience has taught me that commuters on public transport don't welcome such wares and we have witnessed people literary jump out of moving vehicles when they know that you are carrying one, mistaking us for car jackers.

I felt naked, totally helpless but curiously I was not afraid  and I  turned in my seat to watch the man shooting at us till we were out of range and i could just imagine the dejection and utter disbelieve written all over him. We stopped to examine the vehicle when we were 10 miles from the ambush site and we found four bullet holes in the canvas which must have been stopped by the pebbles we were transporting for they did not reach us in the cabin. We resumed our journey to camp with no more incidents and waited for the escort team to arrive and when they came half an hour later they reported that they had stopped at exactly the same position where we were shoot at after they smelled gun powder in the still morning air and the same guy who shot at us appeared from the bushes but he despaired when he saw the rangers. We dispatched two sections to search for the bandits and their foot prints led the team to their hide out 5 miles from the main road. 

They were not found that day, but word soon spread out that the white truck shot at belonged to KWS and that I was actually in it and this caused panic in the district and emissaries were sent by the local leaders to assure us that the people concerned would be identified and brought to us. The gun which was used during the ambush was surrendered to us in a weeks time and the owner was arrested soon after. The local community was fed up with banditry and their resilience was evident when they handed over the man responsible for the ambush. This was a big achievement to our efforts in wildlife conservation in the region and it was prove that we in KWS were a major partner in security  and that our direct and mutual approach to issues concerning the communities was accepted and appreciated by them.

The service was not impressed by my actions of not Carrying a sidearm , and I received a stern warning letter from the Deputy Director Security ( DDS ) to the effect that I will be charged the  next time I endangered my live . I felt loved , and touched by his affection , and I promised me never to leave my tools of trade behind again. This was the service at its best. The HQ cared for our well being and our welfare was awesome. We in turn did our bit and more and we exceeded expectations. We were happy and we loved and enjoyed our work.