I was transferred to Tsavo East
National Park in June 1995 as head of the wildlife protection unit team and by
then there were approximately 30 black rhinos in Tsavo East and their free
range area stretched from the Triangle which borders Mtito River in Tsavo West,
through the Tsavo/Athi junction, to Ashaka and Manyani brush lands to Punda
milia near the Luggards waterfall. Many of the rhinos get refuge on the Yatta
Plateau ravines and they quench their thirst in the Athi River below the
plateau and in the brown waters of the Tsavo River that originate from Mzima Springs
located at the foot of the Chyulu hills. There were two security observation
posts (op) on the Yatta plateau that overlooked the Rhino range below, code-named
Lima four (L4) and Lima five (L5) and they were permanently manned and remained
active throughout the year due to their strategic location and having a full
view of the rhino range below them and in the nights they could spot poachers campfires
from as far as the manyani fields and Irima hills made by either the Wariangulu
or the long bow poachers as they were known, the wakamba people who
called themselves the pot poachers and the wataita tribe who came from the
mbololo hills to hunt. They all used arrows laced with poison from the
Acokanthera tree which was readily available from a Giriama sub-tribe found in
the coastal region.
The use of firearms in wildlife
poaching came into focus in the early 80s when heavily armed Somali gangs also
known as the " shifta " entered the arena and this completely changed
ranger patrol strategies because, for the first time, fear of being shot on
duty was real. There were increased gun fights in the protected areas and the
unspoken rule of” He who raised his weapon and pulled the trigger first lived
to tell the story" became a reality. Rhino poaching increased
tremendously as compared to elephant killings because the rhino horn was light
and easily concealed not to mention the fact that it was many times more
expensive than the heavy elephant tusk. The Tsavo East Rhino Range and the
Mukururu rhino sanctuary which is located on the northern slopes of the Chyulu
hills became battlegrounds where many poachers were eliminated but we also lost
a sizable number of very brave men.
The lands north of the Galana
River which included the entire length of the Yatta Plateau, Koito Plains, Galana
ranch, and the patrol bases of Sangayaya and Ndiandasa were under the
management of Ithumba station which served as the HQ of the northern region
complete with a resident warden and a platoon commander who took care of
security. Warden George K Wanyonyi who was an assistant warden II was in charge
of the Ithumba platoon and he reported to the company commander based at the
Tsavo East coy command in Voi. On this fateful day: Sunday 11th of May 2003,
officer Wanyonyi spoke with his coy commander during the normal morning briefs
and he gave his intentions to conduct a week-long foot patrol along the Yatta
plateau from the Cottars camp along the Athi river towards Thabagunji gap with
the sole mission of conducting de-snaring operations and to generally dominate
the ground. He was set to depart camp at 1500hrs of the same day so he
proceeded to brief his team on the mission before retiring to his tent to clean
and park his complete equipment fighting order (CEFO) but he was called back to
the radio room by the radio operator for an urgent message from the coy
commander who informed him of a reported sighting of four men by L4 Op which
was one of the observation posts within the rhino range area and he was thus
instructed to depart immediately to the said area.
The following narration was given
to me by Platoon commander George Wanyonyi who personally led the operation.
“After receiving my marching orders from the
company commander. I immediately assembled my team and gave them the new
orders and we departed Ithumba camp at 1000hrs for the mission area. The
team comprised me, CPL Abdulahi Lango, Rangers Patrick Karmushu, Stephen
Lewagat, and driver Joseph Lekeren. They were all seasoned rangers who
had seen action and conducted plenty of such security operations and this was
just another routine patrol for them because it was generally concluded that
the sighting was of local Kambas hunting for bush meat. We reached the
Thabagunji gap at 1130hrs and disembarked from the vehicle to start combing the
area on foot trying to pick the footprints of the four perceived local poachers
because the observation post had by that time lost sight of them. This has
always been the hardest part of any bush operation because most eyes were on
the ground searching for footprints but an experienced team leader always
arranges his men in strategic positions on both flanks to guard against
possible ambushes while on an extended line formation which is mostly dictated
by the terrain and the task at hand. We picked up the footprints and followed
them down the gap towards the river below and saw where they tried to cross
over to the southern bank but the river was flooded and it was at this juncture
that we realized that the footprints were not the normal shoes (Ngiyira) worn
by the Kamba poachers and that we were tracking armed poachers who wore tanga
shoes which were synonymous with Somali poachers. The dynamics of the search
now completely changed and I gave this new finding to the company commander who
sent in another section from the Sangayaya platoon which comprised platoon
commander James Kiparus, rangers Aemun Lokwawi, Abdulahi Ali, Kaisi
Karuja, Mohamed Sombwana, and driver Twalib Abdulrahaman.
When the second team arrived, I
briefed them and we quickly agreed to form an extended line with Warden Kiparus
and Cpl Lango on the extreme left and myself on the far right with the six
rangers tagged between us We began the search from the river upwards towards
the top of the plateau. The vegetation became very thick as we ascended the plateau
and the line was broken due to rough terrain and deep gorges the patrol scattered
to the point where Platoon commander Kiparus found himself with only one ranger
by his side while Cpl Lango also ended up with one ranger and the other four
rangers ended up with me and by around 1630hrs my team saw four figures on a
raised rock above us and we quickly took cover till we established that they
were our team members who had somehow met and we communicated via the handheld
radios and they informed us that they have picked the footprints
and they agreed to wait for us to catch up.
We picked up the footprints of
both the bandits and the rangers and followed them for a short while before
losing them again on a flat rock. It was 1715 hrs. and getting late and we
needed to get back to the vehicles before darkness but I failed to communicate
my intentions to Warden Kiparus because the handheld radio battery I was
carrying decided to die so I led my team toward the vehicles followed by ranger Sombwana , Aemun , Kaisi and lastly Ali in that order but after a short while I heard ranger Aemun whisper to me suggesting that the bandits
might be hiding in a cave that was to our right so I slowed down to talk to him
and it was at this instance that ranger Sombwana walked past me and stood on my
right side and that was the particular moment when a shoot rang out and ranger
Sombwana was hit. We returned fire and after some time the bandits escaped. The
team led by Kiparus laid an immediate ambush above our position after hearing
the gunfight below and they eventually engaged the bandits when they emerged
from the rocks below.
A KWS chopper which was on stand-by
at the rhino camp arrived at the scene minutes after Kiparus team declared a
contact wait out on the radio when the shooting started. I sent ranger Aemun
who was beside me to rush to the road where he could be seen by the chopper so
that they could lead the vehicles into a nearby place for the evacuation of the
injured ranger. The rescue teams reached us at around 2200hrs and it was then
that I called the coy commander on the radio to brief him and that is when the
entire KWS fraternity in Tsavo was relieved when they heard my voice because it
was assumed that I was the one who was shot. Capt. Julius Leperes who was
the KWS air wing chief pilot landed at Thabanguji airstrip at 2230hrs in the
night to evacuate the injured ranger but he was pronounced dead on arrival at Voi
District Hospital. That evening our strength was reinforced by the arrival of Cpl
John Ngare, ranger Ltikiye Lemagas, and ranger
Jillo Guyo from the rhino base.
Early the following day the 12th
of May 2003 the operation teams assembled at the Thabanguji airstrip at around
0600hrs where we were addressed by the assistant director in charge of Tsavo East
accompanied by our company commander to give us moral support and to encourage
us and to inform us of the passing on of ranger Sombwana. we were instructed to
revisit and conduct a thorough search of the contact scene. So I once again led
the now expanded team of two officers including myself, two CPLs, and six
rangers and we searched the bandit's hideout and recovered 182 live rounds of
5.56 used in the m16 rifle, an axe, and other items, we then extended the
search to the second contact scene and again we agreed to comb the area using
the extended formation with Kiparus at the extreme left with myself on the
right with and the two corporals John Ngare and Abdulahi Lango in between the
rangers. we planned to comb the area from the top of the plateau to the valley
below and we completed the first sweep to the valley without any incident but
on the way up the team got separated again and the one led by Kiparus decided to
search their last evening contact scene where they recovered a G3 rifle with an
empty magazine and the also discovered a corpse.
I ended up being alone with Cpl
Ngare and while we were hopping from rock to rock I was held back by instinct I
took cover behind an acacia tree to scan the grounds and I picked up some unusual
background of something orange some 25 meters to the left of my position and
when I observed keenly I saw a firearm covered by orange threads on the hand
guard. The holder of the firearm was not visible because he was in shadows so I
fired two warning shots and when I saw him raise the gun and aim at me I
shouted to Cpl Ngare to start firing as well. The bandit fired only one shot at
me and hit the Acacia tree that I was using as cover a few inches from my head
and this forced me to roll away from the exposed position on the rock and fall
to a distance of 7 ft. below. I made contact with the other team to inform them
of the shooting and to also confirm their position before calling the coy
commander who was covering the operation on a chopper to assist us in leading
the second team to our position but two of the rangers were left behind to
guard the dead bandit and his rifle.
While waiting for the second
team, we discussed options on how best we could approach the bandit position
which we shared with the team when they arrived but when we started moving to
the agreed location I noticed that Cpl Ngare was not with us and we sent ranger
Karmushu to go back and fetch him and he found him going up the same rock where
I climbed earlier when the bandit shot at me. The ranger tried to stop him but
he insisted that he needed to show the other team the location of the bandit.
Cpl Ngare was still bending and talking to ranger Karmushu below him when the
bandit shot at him and missed him twice but the third shot went through his
right eye and exited through the left ear killing him instantly. We all could see
Cpl Ngare’s body above us on the rock but could not approach because the bandit
was in a concealed position where he could see our movements so I went on the
radio to report the fatality and to request the coy commander to contact the
GSU in Galana ranch to reinforce us with heavy artillery that included grenades
and anti-personnel mortars that would smoke out the bandit from his hideout.
The GSU (general service unit) arrived
three hours later and we briefed them on the situation and while they were
discussing the execution of their plan I crept to within range of the body of
Cpl Ngare and using I tree branch I managed to retrieve his weapon and after
some struggle, we also managed to pull down his body from the rock. The bandit
must have been watching our every move because when we retrieved the body he
started shouting in broken Swahili with words that sounded like; ": woria
serkali amani, amani". This gave us his exact position and the GSU
attacked with both hand grenades and anti-personnel mortars till all foliage and
tree branches that were covering the cave entrance were cleared before machine
gun fire was directed into the cave. When the shooting stopped we all rushed to
the position and there we found the mutilated body of one person and an M16
rifle.
The operation was called off that
evening after de-brief and when all was counted for, Cpl Ngare’s body was
transported to the Voi morgue. A week later a team returned to the cave for a
search and they recovered 40 more rounds of live ammunition.
The bullet that felled Ranger
Sombwana was aimed at me and I only missed it because I slowed down to hear what
Ranger Aemun was saying. The second bullet that was also sent my way on the
second day hit the acacia tree that I was using as cover. Fate, also known as
KARMA was on my side during those two unforgettable days of May 2003, but I
lost two gallant comrades and one of them suffered for hours with only me for
comfort while we waited for the rescue team to reach us. Cpl John Ngare died on
the same rock where I was shot that same day when I took cover behind the
acacia tree, because of his courage and desire to silence the bandit who
killed Ranger Sombwana the previous day.”
Rangers face very tricky
and dangerous situations every day during the course of their duties in and out
of protected areas and many have lost their lives while others are maimed for
life. The wildlife that we swore to protect is in danger of extinction and it's
our duty and mandate to make sure of their safety. Free-range rhinos in Tsavo East
were almost wiped out but they are now thriving in sanctuaries with round-the-clock
protection by a dedicated ranger force whose morale and trust towards their
goals is never in question.
This is a true story given
to the rest of us who were not in Tsavo during those active years when poaching
was almost declared a national disaster, by a person who might have lost
his life during this operation, and who saw two of his men felled by poachers. Senior
Warden George K. Wanyonyi is currently in charge of our central armory while James
Kiparus is a Warden 11 based at Shimba Hills National Park.
