Attack on Briton linked to dispute over Kilifi land

A Kenyan of British origin was seriously injured in a petrol bomb attack near a farm recently invaded by squatters.

Mr David Taylor was attacked on Saturday night by a gang on a motorcycle in Bofa farm, a suburb of Kilifi town.

Security officers said Mr Taylor sustained serious burns after the petrol bomb thrown into his pick-up truck exploded.

The attackers fled, leaving the injured Briton writhing in pain. He managed to drive home to a shocked family.

Kilifi OCPD Alexander Makau said the attackers threw the bottle filled with petrol which broke the rear window of the pick-up and exploded inside the car.

“The victim was arriving home at around 9 pm after a snooker game when a stranger threw a petrol bomb at the Nissan pick-up. Although he managed to drive in, he was seriously injured and the cabin and the windscreen damaged,” said Mr Makau.

Mr Makau said the incident was first reported at the Kilifi Police Station by the landowner’s wife, Mrs Ann Taylor, before he was taken to a hospital in Mombasa from where he was later airlifted to Nairobi.

However, the OCPD did not disclose the hospital in Nairobi to which Mr Taylor was taken to.

“I am yet to know which hospital he is in,” said Mr Makau.

The OCPD said police suspect that the same gang had earlier torched an abandoned hotel near where Mr Taylor was attacked.

“This gang was on motorcycles and they had in their possession a number of petrol bombs. Earlier, before attacking Mr Taylor, they torched Mara Engai Club in the same neighbourhood by throwing a petrol bomb into it. The roof of the hotel, which is currently not operational, was reduced to ashes,” he said.

REVENGE ATTACKS

Mr Makau said detectives were following important leads. The area where the incidents occurred borders the disputed 230-acre land in Bofa and officers believe land invaders may have had something to do with them.

“The attacks took place at a time when we evicted people who had invaded land belonging to a Briton in Kiwandani. We suspect were revenge attacks,” said Mr Makau.

However, the leader of the group involved in the land invasion, Mr Michael Mataza, said they were not involved in the attack on Mr Taylor.

“We are not associated with violence. When police evicted us on Friday, we left and retreated to our homes. We are not fighting any person on that land and we have decided to pursue our case within the law,” he said.

He asked police to investigate the two attacks and stop pointing accusing fingers at them.

“We believe that there must be a group which has resorted to violence and is posing as members of our group,” said Mr Mataza.

During the police eviction last Friday, Mr Mataza and four of his members were arrested and charged with trespassing and forcefully acquiring private property.

They were released on a bond of Sh30,000 or a cash bail of Sh5,000 each and the case set for hearing on August 19.

The National Land Commission concluded that the land belonged to the British family.