British farmer killed in Kenya gang raid

A British farmer was killed and one of his guards severely injured when a gang raided his farm in central Kenya.

The gang attacked the farm near Naivasha, 55 miles northwest of Nairobi, last night and strangled one of the farm’s guards with a rope, said Karungo Kamau, the official in charge of Naivasha district.

“They gained entry into the farm after cutting the fence before heading to the main house where some guards were stationed,” Kamau said.

He said the farmer, identified as John Martin Christian Alma, was shot when he stepped out of his house to investigate what was happening.

The attack by eight men dressed as police officers comes as tension in Kenya has risen between Maasai pastoralists and farmers over who owns valuable land in central and western Kenya.

The Maasai have laid claim to land that was taken from them over 100 years ago, but the Kenyan government has so far rejected their demands that the land be returned to them as unlawful.

Alma’s property, known as Chapachura Farm, has been caught up in the dispute.

Kamau dismissed the attack as nothing more than common crime and said the robbers were apparently after money from the sale of milk.

“We are treating this as normal thuggery and so far there is no indication to make us suspect that it is related to the Maasai land issue,” Kamau said. He said a pistol, personal property and about £70 (€104.10) were taken from the house.

In addition to being a dairy farm, Alma also raised race horses and had a racing track on his property in as well as a separate area for camping and picnics.