Aristocrat who loved life but quick on the trigger

Tom Cholmondeley escorted by police to Nakuru law courts in 2005 over the murder of KWS Ranger Samson ole SIsina.

Even in death, controversy dogs the scion of aristocracy and symbol of what many have come to view as a closed club of privileged Kenyans of European descent who, for centuries, coexisted with peacefully with Kenyans.

No other European settler in modern day Kenya has evoked as much emotion from Kenyans of all walks of life. No one really knew Tom Cholmondeley before he infamously made global headlines for manslaughter.

When he breathed his last on Wednesday, he brought to life uncomfortable truths within the Kenyan society on the interaction of Kenya’s white settler families and the rest of the country.

“Although to some people Tom’s life will be associated with scandal, those privileged to know him well, say he was a man with a great passion for the peoples and country of Kenya. He was an impressive man in stature and character, whose generosity of spirit touched all people who knew him.

“I know that Tom would wish to be remembered for the wide range of projects that he undertook with great energy. I believe, however, that his greatest legacy was his stewardship of Soysambu, founded on his deep knowledge of its fragile ecosystem, and leading to the creation of the wildlife conservancy.

“I have never met a man with such an appetite for life, who was always happy and never complained, even through the difficult times. He is an enormous loss and we are all devastated,” his partner Sally Dudmesh said in a family statement on his death. Although eulogised as a man who loved life, it was through the taking of life that many knew about him.

Tom hit the headlines in May 2005 after he shot and killed KWS game warden Samson ole Sisina in Soysambu. Sisina was among other KWS officers who raided the farm following reports the management was involved in processing game meat.

This led to countrywide demonstrations. He was arrested and arraigned in court. Then Attorney General Amos Wako terminated the case in a move that drew condemnation from various quarters.

A year later, the cravat wearing farmer, nature lover and rally enthusiast hit the headlines again. Again, a gun was involved. Again, shots were fired on his vast farm. And most importantly, and probably most annoying was that another life was lost in very unclear circumstances. It was proven in court that he opened fire on a group of squatters who had entered him farm killing one, stonemason Robert Njoya.

He was convicted on May 2009 to eight months in prison for manslaughter after a judge found no evidence to sustain the original charge of murder. The trial, which had gripped the nation as well as the United Kingdom, his ancestral land, had taken three years during which he was confined at Kamiti Maximum Prison.

The ruling saw a jam packed courtroom. His father, the 5th Baron Delamere sat quietly on one of the bare wooden benches. Silent. Staring at one spot on the ground as an eight-month jail sentence was read out to his son, now pale, disheveled from his months of incarceration.

The tears didn’t last long though as Tom was let off early for good behavior to return to the family’s vast Soysambu Ranch. For a family rooted deep in aristocracy, there cannot be a blow harder than the loss of an heir.

“It is never right for a father to bury his son, especially as he was taken from us while at his happiest and most productive. Tom always had a great sense of adventure and was innovative in his approach to land management. His mother and I are extremely proud of him indeed,” his father said.

Tom died on Wednesday afternoon while waiting for a hip surgery at Nairobi MP Shah Hospital. He had been admitted on Tuesday afternoon ahead of a hip replacement surgery. The aristocrat, who has been out of limelight for some years now, leaves behind two teenage sons and a fiancée, Sarah Dudnesh.

His father, Lord Hughe George Delamere, is in his 80s while the mother, Lady Ann Delamere, is in her late 70s with both living in their farm in Soysambu. Unlike his predecessors, Tom had broken family’s old tradition by siring two sons and had since parted with his first wife. The last time he was seen in public was two years ago during the launch of the Naivasha Buffalo Mall in which was he was among the key investors. Workers at the Delamere estate move the narrative of Tom’s persona from a gun totting privileged white man to that of a compassionate, friendly man.

“Tom was very keen on the family’s business and he was either in their Soysambu home or abroad seeking ways of improving the business. He also listened to us when we went to him for anything” said a worker.

Those privy to the Delamere family dealings told The Standard on Sunday that Tom had been suffering from hip complications for the last two years due to a motorcycle accident in the UK a couple of years ago.

Peter Mungai, who met Tom on several occasions, termed the death a big blow to the economy of Naivasha.

The family, in a statement, says the results of a postmortem on his death are inconclusive and it is not appropriate for anyone to speculate on the cause of death before those tests have been completed and the results are known.

Thomas Patrick Gilbert Cholmondeley. Aristocrat. Farmer. Racer. Convict. Loved. Loathed. Misunderstood. Dead at 48.