The day 27-year-old Tilam Leresh graduated into a Samburu moran was among the happiest times of his life, according to his family.
But the brave moran wouldnt live long enough to enjoy this revered status in the community, raise a family and ultimately transition to an elder in his sunset years, as he would have hoped.
Instead, in the same fields that he spent most of his life, herding cattle and hunting down prey, his life would be brutally cut short by a trigger-happy British soldier.
Twelve years later, a court in Isiolo has fulfilled the familys protracted quest to bring the morans killer to justice.
Clinging onto the only photo of Tilam adorned in the traditional Samburu attire, his brother Jacob Leresh recalls the fateful day that would envelop their family in gloom.
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My brother was shot dead while he was out grazing livestock. We found out about it when word spread through the community about a shooting incident, Jacob recalls the sad incident. He spoke to last week following the court verdict that ordered the prosecution of the British soldier for the murder of his brother.
It was the morning of Sunday, June 10, 2012. The search for greener pastures had taken Tilam and 12 of his friends into the vast Ol Kanjau area in Samburu.
What the group of morans didnt know was that they had trespassed into a zone where soldiers from the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) were having a live fire exercise. Essentially, they had strayed into a restricted military zone.
People in the community were not aware that it was a training area because there was no fence, demarcation or warning sign showing that it was an army training area. It was a piece of community land which the British soldiers had leased. There was a lack of communication to the locals many of whom are pastoralists and often went grazing into the land, particularly during the dry seasons, says Jacob.
The group of men who were with Leresh say they saw something that looked like a tiny aircraft observing them in the air. We later learnt that it was a drone. They were startled by it but went on grazing. Shortly thereafter, a helicopter began hovering over them, Jacob recounts the accounts by Tilams friends.
Aboard the helicopter was Captain Richard Christopher Lynch who was on a surveillance mission to ensure the safety of 120 soldiers taking part in the exercise. The captain was with warrant officer Shaun Stewart as he flew around the training area to also ensure there were no civilians or animals within the range.
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Its in the course of the flight that they spotted six to eight civilians moving within the area at about 6am to 6.30 am.
Captain Christopher told the inquest the civilians were carrying two G3 rifles and others which he did not recognise.
Sergeant Brian George Maddison who was in charge of safety in the shooting range went in a Land Rover towards the area where the civilians had been spotted.
The low-flying helicopter jolted the group. The men fled in different directions. Witnesses say that everybody got far away from danger except Tilam.
Amidst the loud buzz of the helicopter, shots rang out. The crackle of gunfire echoed across the hot vast plains. Tilam lay dead.
Maddison had fired two rounds from an SA80 A2 rifle. A skilled arms instructor and a sniper trained to instructor level, his shots were on target and with deadly impact.
Maddison claimed he shot Tilam in self-defence. He alleged that Tilam pointed a G3 rifle at him and refused orders to lay down the weapon. This was his initial statement to authorities. He never testified in the subsequent inquest into the death of Tilam.
But witnesses disputed the British soldiers claim. Moyalo Lesotia and Mokali Lorubat, who were with Tilam said the group of 12 fled when the low-flying helicopter swooped over them. The herdsmen said they never shot at the British soldiers and only realised that Tilam had been shot once they regrouped. The court eventually found Maddison had lied. Evidence produced during the hearing, including a post-mortem examination report, showed Tilam was shot in the back, as he ran away.
And the court uncovered an elaborate cover-up scheme by Batuk soldiers present at the scene, including obstructing Kenyan investigators. And it emerged the G3 rifle found at the scene had been stolen from a Kenyan police officer killed during a bandit attack 14 years earlier.
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Major Doctor Guang Huayin from Batuk arrived at the scene to find Tilam, in a blood-stained khaki greenish jacket mar
