Author gets shot

Herders attack ‘Dream of Africa’ scribe

The Italian-born author and conservationist Kuki Gallmann was shot at her Kenyan ranch and airlifted for treatment after herders invaded in search of pasture to save their animals from drought, officials said Sunday.

Gallmann, known for her bestselling book “I Dreamed of Africa,” which became a movie by the same name starring Kim Basinger, was patrolling the ranch in Laikipia when she was shot in the stom- ach, local police chief Ezekiel Chepkowny said.

The 73-year-old Gallmann (inset) had been with rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Service, assessing damage done to her property Saturday by arsonists who burned down buildings at one of Laikipia Nature Conservancy’s tourism lodges, said Laikipia Farmers Association chairman Martin Evans.

After the attack, the rangers transported her to a location where she could be airlifted to Nanyuki town, Evans said.

British Army medics attended to her before she was airlifted to the capital, Nairobi, where she underwent surgery, he said.

Gallmann’s condition was not known, and neither her family nor the hospital would comment.

Richard Constant, the association’s deputy chairman, said suspicion falls on herders from the Pokot community who have invaded Gallmann’s ranch several times. They also burned lodges belonging to Gallmann last month.

The East African nation is facing a drought that has affected half the country and has been declared a national disaster.

Herders, whose livelihoods depend on their cattle, and large-scale farmers in parts of Kenya’s Rift Valley have been desperately waiting for seasonal rains that were to start last month to ease the drought and conflicts over grazing land in which more than 30 people have died.