Kenyan herdsmen have looted and burned down an exclusive safari lodge owned by an Italian-born socialite and best-selling author who was portrayed by Kim Basinger in the movie of her life story.
Armed herders reportedly raided the Mukutan Retreat owned by Kuki Gallmann, 73, on Wednesday and destroyed three buildings at the £525-a-night lodge.
Ms Gallmann is best known internationally for her memoir I Dreamed of Africa, which was turned into a Hollywood film in 2000.
The conservationist’s 36-year-old daughter Sveva Gallmann said she was shot at by the raiders as she ran to her 9-month-old daughter on the estate in the drought-striken north of the country.
She said: ‘Yesterday evening our operations buildings and our house came under direct gunfire from armed men.
‘My nine-month-old daughter was in the house with her carers and I was shot at three times as I ran between the buildings to get to her.’
The Gallmann family own the 100,000-acre (400 square kilometre) Laikipia Nature Conservancy and employ 250 Kenyans on the luxury lodges, ranch, and other businesses on the land.
Earlier this week, police reportedly shot dead about 100 cattle in the surrounding conservancy.
The family believe the violence is a response to the ‘categorically false’ belief they requested the intervention, according to The Times.
There were no visitors staying at the Mukutan Retreat at the time of the attack.
Residents say politicians hoping to win votes in an August election are encouraging herdsmen desperate for grazing to bring tens of thousands of cattle into the area.
This month, the government announced it would send troops to the area after herdsmen shot dead a British military veteran who ran a safari company in Kenya when he went to inspect a friend’s house that had been burnt down.
Kenya has a history of ethnic clashes and political violence. The last election, in 2013, passed relatively peacefully but more than 1,200 people were killed following a disputed poll in 2007.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
