Our sentries were never allowed to stand upright and we had to clear every road crossing, road bend and seasonal streams (lugga) on foot before crossing. We respected jungle rules and in the process we became one and the same with the Jungle and we lived . Many who failed to abide by this rules were pronounced past tense and they were many. I remember one time in Idasa Godana Ranch which was west of the Tana river primate reserve we came across a platoon of the Kenya Army resting beside the road and I got genuinely concerned by their care free movement and the fact that they were not posting sentries , so i walked up to the CO, ( commanding officer ) and tried to advice him but he brushed me off, and he blatantly told me to go take care of wildlife and leave human beings to him. He was a major in rank and I was only an assistant warden , so I tugged my pride and walked away. We got word that same day that a lone gun man had ambushed the army platoon and critically injured the same major while he stood on the cabin of their truck. Tough luck it was.
Laga Bunna was a notorious ambush site preferred by bandits . A wooded bridge balanced strongly across the seasonal river , but the road was really bad for 200 meters on both sides of the bridge such that all vehicles were forced to slow down to a crawling pace and this was ideal for bandits who would appear from the nearby bushes on the road side and sometimes from below the bridge to rob the unsuspecting motorist. One day I was forced to cancel a planned ambush in Nairobi Ranch to respond to a distress satellite call that came to our senior warden in Lamu from a concerned citizen who saw a bunch of rowdy people welding guns aboard a passenger bus and leading it off road into the bushes some place that sounded like the laga Bunna bridge from the description given.
The vehicle we were using had a carburetor problem but as luck had it, the warden Hola , a Mr Mohamed was on his way to Lamu so we planned to meet and exchange vehicles near the Nyangoro black spot on the lamu/garsen road . The senior warden was already in the air to lead us to the ambush site and he kept calling us on the VHF car radio to establish our location and he almost made us cause an accident when we gave him our location.
The communication between us went like this ; " Charlye oscar from foxtrot Oscar Charlie " , Charlie Oscar was my call sign so I replied , " this is Charlie Oscar go ahead sir" and he asked " what is your Lima Oscar Charlie " and I replied " we are now over the laga Bunna bridge, over" then came the bomb shell from him," utapigwa sasa hivi, get out of the vehicle now". Boy, the driver did not wait for an order to stop, he went for the brakes and we both jumped out at the same time, he landed on the bridge and I was not so luck for i ended up landing on the river bed 2 meters below the wooded bridge.
The rangers at the back of the vehicle were already out and two of them landed next to me as we rolled into cover expecting to be shot at . We stayed in cover for sometimes till we were sure that we were not in immediate danger then we regrouped and cleared the vicinity before we moved the vehicle away from the bridge into cover, and only then did we call the senior warden on the radio to inform him of our status and to ask him for further instructions.
The vehicle we were using had a carburetor problem but as luck had it, the warden Hola , a Mr Mohamed was on his way to Lamu so we planned to meet and exchange vehicles near the Nyangoro black spot on the lamu/garsen road . The senior warden was already in the air to lead us to the ambush site and he kept calling us on the VHF car radio to establish our location and he almost made us cause an accident when we gave him our location.
The communication between us went like this ; " Charlye oscar from foxtrot Oscar Charlie " , Charlie Oscar was my call sign so I replied , " this is Charlie Oscar go ahead sir" and he asked " what is your Lima Oscar Charlie " and I replied " we are now over the laga Bunna bridge, over" then came the bomb shell from him," utapigwa sasa hivi, get out of the vehicle now". Boy, the driver did not wait for an order to stop, he went for the brakes and we both jumped out at the same time, he landed on the bridge and I was not so luck for i ended up landing on the river bed 2 meters below the wooded bridge.
The rangers at the back of the vehicle were already out and two of them landed next to me as we rolled into cover expecting to be shot at . We stayed in cover for sometimes till we were sure that we were not in immediate danger then we regrouped and cleared the vicinity before we moved the vehicle away from the bridge into cover, and only then did we call the senior warden on the radio to inform him of our status and to ask him for further instructions.
We were informed that we should hold ground to await a military chopper from Garissa which was en route to help us capture the bandits and when it finally came we were made to walk below it while it flew above to clear our front. We were used to being dropped by choppers into enemy zones and we would maneuver our way through, but having an armed chopper just above our heads with all the noise, the dust and the presumed armed bandits ahead made things very very unpleasant to us. I could read from the movement of my men that they were also not happy with this arrangement so I gave a stop sign and we all went down together till the chopper was well ahead of us then we retreated to our vehicle and informed the senior warden of our displeasure. We had to wait for the chopper to clear the place and when it finally landed the crew reported that they had not seen a soul. We later learned that we were about five miles from the incident area and that we would have salvaged the situation if we had known the exact location.
On another occasion , we were informed that six armed people were seen crossing River Tana near Mnazini by Orma herdsmen and a section was sent to investigate. One hour later they came into contact and two bandits were injured, one was neutralized and one of our rangers was also critically injured . I sent in two more sections and by midday a spotter plane from Voi had reached the scene and the pilot was leading in the sections for the final sweep when a second ranger was again shot and injured .
My section dropped back to cover the group with the injured ranger and we had to crawl on all fours to get into a better position to actually see where we were being shoot from. Once we located the enemy position, we knew that they had an advantage over us for they were on a raised outcrop in the middle of a clearing and that they had a clear view of all their surroundings. We could not estimate their number for they resorted to firing one weapon at a time and we were pinned down for the better part of the day.
We decided to send in two rangers to approach from the east while the rest of us increased activities on the opposite side to divert their attention,while a third team started taking distracting shots at the bandits making it sound like we were ready to mount a full offensive on their position. The two volunteer rangers crawled on their bellies for more than 200 meters and because we did not want the bandits to suspect that we had some card under our sleeves,we actually started the final assault where we blasted everything their way including thunder flashes.
My section dropped back to cover the group with the injured ranger and we had to crawl on all fours to get into a better position to actually see where we were being shoot from. Once we located the enemy position, we knew that they had an advantage over us for they were on a raised outcrop in the middle of a clearing and that they had a clear view of all their surroundings. We could not estimate their number for they resorted to firing one weapon at a time and we were pinned down for the better part of the day.
We decided to send in two rangers to approach from the east while the rest of us increased activities on the opposite side to divert their attention,while a third team started taking distracting shots at the bandits making it sound like we were ready to mount a full offensive on their position. The two volunteer rangers crawled on their bellies for more than 200 meters and because we did not want the bandits to suspect that we had some card under our sleeves,we actually started the final assault where we blasted everything their way including thunder flashes.
They must have panicked then, for they started shooting at our direction with three guns in earnest and this gave us all the time and attention we needed for our two men to get into place. Twenty five agonizing minutes latter we heard two FNs opening up in the eastern side and they sounded so loud such that we all stopped shooting and listened to their pleasant and distinctive clatters, and the screams from the enemy position and then there was total silence.
We all stood up not knowing what else to do and the silence was broken when the two rangers appeared at the hill which was previously commanded by the bandits for the better part of the day. We all screamed as one and scrambled up the outcrop like a liberated lot. We hugged and carried the two rangers shoulder high like the heroes they were. That day we recovered two AK 47 rifles and a G3. We came to the conclusion that the man in the hole must have been their leader for he had full police uniform including a lanyard and he must have been injured badly and that his men must have been waiting for the darkness to sneak him out. The loyal lot died protecting their leader . A very honorable deed indeed.
We all stood up not knowing what else to do and the silence was broken when the two rangers appeared at the hill which was previously commanded by the bandits for the better part of the day. We all screamed as one and scrambled up the outcrop like a liberated lot. We hugged and carried the two rangers shoulder high like the heroes they were. That day we recovered two AK 47 rifles and a G3. We came to the conclusion that the man in the hole must have been their leader for he had full police uniform including a lanyard and he must have been injured badly and that his men must have been waiting for the darkness to sneak him out. The loyal lot died protecting their leader . A very honorable deed indeed.
Our two heroes were non other than ranger Lenguyayo who is currently in sibiloi national park and the late ranger Kutayon Kuntai. Their bravery saved the day for all of us in the Baomo Platoon and though we had no medals to award them then, our silent prayers, and the constant stares and trumpeting of elephant herds when they pass close to our camp on their way to the mighty Tana River for a dip and drink, would be received by our creator whom we believe is sure to reward them at the end of their tour of duty on earth.
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