Kenyan prosecutor sacked after releasing British aristocrat

Thomas Cholmondeley (R), one of Kenya's most prominent white farmers, in the dock during a court appearance. Picture / Reuters

Kenya's top prosecutor has been sacked only days after dropping a high profile murder charge against a prominent British aristocrat.

Philip Murgor got the call to relieve him of his duties yesterday as he was appearing on a live television programme to answer criticism over his handling of a number of well publicised cases.

Mr Murgor told a court last week that there was insufficient evidence to proceed against the great grandson of one of Kenya's first British settlers, the Baron Delamere.

Thomas Cholmondeley - a descendant of one the characters made famous by the colonial era novel "White Mischief" - had admitted killing an undercover Kenya Wildlife Service ranger on his ranch last year, but has insisted the shooting was in self defence because the ranger did not identify himself and fired first.

The decision to drop charges against Mr Cholmondeley provoked outrage in many quarters of Kenyan society, with Maasai groups accusing the aristocrat of being above the law.

The case highlighted tensions in the Rift Valley between wealthy landowners concerned over the security of their holdings and the Maasai population demanding compensation over what they claim was the historical theft of their land.

There was no official reason given for the abrupt sacking but government sources told the Associated Press that Mr Murgor had "acted unprofessionally".

The appointment of a Maasai lawyer to succeed Mr Murgor was taken as further indication that the murder case was behind his dismissal.

The new appointee is expected to review the case and rumours that Mr Cholmdeley may flee the country were fuelled by the arrest on his estate of a British pilot who had illegally entered Kenyan airspace.

However, the prosecutor countered saying he had been sidelined because of his investigations into government fraud and cocaine smuggling involving influential people.

Mr Murgor has been criticised for his handling of several cases, including ongoing trials against nine suspects in a terror attack in 2002 and his refusal prosecute President Mwai Kibaki's wife for slapping a journalist in an incident caught on camera.

- INDEPENDENT