KENYA-CRIME: Independent Body to Probe Murder of British Tourist

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

NAIROBI, Mar 4 1996 (IPS) - Kenya’s authorities have finally decided to launch an independent probe into the murder of British tourist Julie Ward seven years ago in a Kenyan game reserve.

At a press conference here Saturday, Attorney-General Amos Wako announced that Police Commissioner Shadrack Kiruki had appointed an independent team to probe the case. Wako said new leads, which he refused to disclose, had emerged and needed to be investigated.

Led by Kenyan Crispo Willis Ongoro, a former deputy director of criminal investigations and deputy commissioner of police, it includes other Kenyan officers and private investigator Bob Whitford, a former British policeman.

The group has been asked to “investigate the new leads to their logical conclusion” and “to investigate all matters surrounding the murder of Julie Ward with a view of obtaining sufficient evidence to mount a successful prosecution against the culprits”.

The victim’s father, John Ward, welcomed Saturday’s appointment. “I have all along advocated the idea of an independent body to investigate the death of my daughter,” he said at the press conference. “I hope the case will be investigated with greater openness.”

Ward has spent 750,000 dollars on investigations and legal expenses since his daughter disappeared. Before Saturday’s announcement, he had repeatedly condemned the Kenyan authorities, accusing them of covering up the facts of the case.

That anger now seems to have gone. “I think we can work together with the Kenya Police now,” he said.

Julie Ward, 28, was on vacation in Kenya when she disappeared in September 1989 after she and a friend had taken a trip to the Maasai Mara Reserve, some 320 km from here. The friend returned to Nairobi by light aircraft leaving Julie to follow by jeep. She left the Sand River area, near the Tanzanian border, on Sep. 6, and was not seen again.

Her father came to Kenya and organised an air search of the area between Nairobi and the point in the game reserve where Julie was last seen. Her jeep was eventually found abandoned in a small gully where it had become stuck.

Before leaving the jeep, Ward had marked a large S.O.S. on its roof and lit several signal fires. It is not known how long she stayed with the vehicle before leaving on foot to find help. Her charred remains were later found eight kms from the jeep.

Investigations into Ward’s murder were mounted by the Kenya police and Scotland Yard detectives. Two game rangers, John Magiroi and Peter Metui Kipeen, were charged with the killing but trial judge Fidahussein Abdullah found them not guilty and acquitted them in 1994.

In a 119-page judgement, Abdulla criticised the police for the way they handled the investigations and stated that many questions remained to be answered with regard to the role of three other suspects.

Wako said he later directed the police to “carry out further investigations in accordance with the judgement of Justice F.E. Abdulla, but this was not fruitful”.

The 1994 case collapsed partly because of the death of a key witness. Another, known as Valentine Kodipo, fled to Britain. Wako has ordered the team “to interview Mr. Kodipo in London or any other place of his choice.”

“I hope that the team will be facilitated to interview Mr. Kodipo,” he added.

Ward said the idea of the independent investigator “has been pushed from the president’s office.”

“I think he (president Daniel Moi) is tired,” he said. “He wants such issues to be investigated openly in the future. And I am happy with that.”