Govt Quietly Issued KSh120M Payout to Family of British Woman Killed in Maasai Mara
The Kenyan government is reported to have made a secret payment of about £700,000 to John Ward, father of murdered British tourist Julie Ward, in 1997.
The payment was said to have been arranged with the involvement of British intelligence services and was intended to reimburse costs Ward incurred while investigating his daughter’s death in the Maasai Mara in 1988. Julie Ward’s case became one of Kenya’s most contested investigations after early official explanations suggested an animal attack or a lightning strike.
Ward rejected these accounts, maintaining from the outset that the evidence indicated murder. His view was later supported by Egyptian pathologist Dr Adel Shaker, who examined Julie’s remains and concluded that her injuries were consistent with deliberate violence.
Shaker later stated that senior officials pressured him to endorse a false report, which he signed out of fear before leaving Kenya. He also said that police attempts to undermine Julie’s character appeared designed to justify the limited pursuit of a murder inquiry.
Attention subsequently turned to Jonathan Moi, son of then-President Daniel Arap Moi. Although he denied being in the Maasai Mara at the time of Julie’s death, a handwritten statement from a camp official later placed him near the area.
Julie’s brother, Bob Ward, discovered this document years after the event. Jonathan Moi was never charged and died in 2019 without the allegations being tested in court. Several individuals, including game wardens and a head ranger, faced trial over the years, but all were acquitted for lack of evidence.
Throughout this period, John Ward continued his extensive and costly investigation, which he pursued until his death in 2023. He repeatedly alleged that both Kenyan and British authorities acted to protect influential figures from scrutiny, a claim that contributed to continuing concerns over political interference.
