Politician denounces grandson of Kenya settler

Hundreds of people today attended the burial of a man who was allegedly shot by the grandson of one of Kenya’s first white settlers, with a government official saying he would take the law into his own hands if the suspect was released from custody.

Thomas Patrick Gilbert Cholmondeley told police he shot Robert Wambugu in self defence after finding him and four others poaching an animal on his ranch.

It was the second time in little more than a year that he has been accused of killing someone on his property.

“If the government releases Cholmondeley, this will be the last death he will have caused. We will take it into our hands and deal with him personally,” said Koigi wa Wamwere, Kenya’s assistant minister of information.

Kenyan police said Cholmondeley was under investigation for murder in last week’s shooting, but has not been charged.

Cholmondeley, a descendent of Lord Delamere, is heir to a massive 100,000-acre farm in Kenya’s Rift Valley.

Last year, he was charged with murder in the shooting of one of three plainclothes game wardens investigating reports of illegal trade in wildlife at his property.

But Kenya’s attorney general later dropped the charge, citing lack of evidence.

Cholmondeley expressed deep remorse for the shooting, and told police he thought the warden was an armed robber.

The case created an uproar among area residents.

Kenya’s minister for immigration, Gideon Konchellah, also addressed the mourners today, saying: “We are aware of some white settlers and investors who are oppressing our people, and very soon we are going to act by deporting them.”