Environment activist shot dead outside Nairobi home after death threats
Also: Kenyan president condemns murder of conservationist (Associated Press)
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Source: The Guardian
Environment activist shot dead outside Nairobi home after death threats
Kenyan president condemns killing of Joannah Stutchbury, who protested against building in Kiambu forest
Jason Burke
Fri 16 Jul 2021 17.32 BST
A prominent environment activist has been shot dead near her home in Kenya, after receiving multiple death threats following her campaign against the development of wetlands in a national park.
Joannah Stutchbury, 67, was killed at 10pm local time on Thursday as she returned to her home on the outskirts of Nairobi. Friends said she had stopped her car to clear branches blocking her driveway when she was shot several times. Neighbours found her body in the car with the engine still running and valuables still in the vehicle, suggesting the attack was not a robbery.
Stutchbury had vocally opposed attempts by powerful local businessmen to build on the nearby Kiambu forest, and had received death threats in the past.
“It is really awful. The conservation fraternity is very shaken. It is devastating,” said Dr Paula Kahumbu, the CEO of WildlifeDirect, a conservation NGO.
The Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, condemned the killing. “For the longest time, Joannah has been a steadfast champion for the conservation of our environment and is remembered for her relentless efforts to protect Kiambu forest from encroachment,” he said.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/16/environment-activist-shot-dead-outside-nairobi-home-after-death-threats
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Source: Associated Press
Kenyan president condemns murder of conservationist
By TOM ODULA
July 16, 2021
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has condemned the killing of conservationist Joannah Stutchbury, who was shot by unknown assailants Thursday.
Stutchbury, known for her efforts to conserve the Kiambu forest, was attacked at her home in Kiambu county, Kenyatta said in a statement Friday.
“For the longest time, Joannah has been a steadfast champion for the conservation of our environment and is remembered for her relentless efforts to protect Kiambu forest from encroachment,” Kenyatta said.
Stutchbury’s murder is second of a conservationist in recent years.
In 2018, Esmond Bradley Martin, a Kenya-based American conservationist whose investigations of the elephant ivory and rhino horn trades were seen as critical in efforts to protect the threatened species, was found stabbed to death in his Nairobi home. His murder remains unresolved.
https://apnews.com/article/africa-kenya-ee674a63d34186f73fe31e31e03f6fab
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