Julie Ward and the relentless man who fought to bring down moi-even on his UK death bed

I have a story for you that closely relates to our current politics in Kenya. Many people talk about why Moi eventually had to leave power. The truth is, he wasn’t prepared to step down. In what we now call the second liberation of Kenya, Moi seemed set to remain at the helm for another 30 years or more. Let me be clear: Moi didn’t fall because the opposition was too tough or because they outsmarted him. No. If that’s the story you believe, it’s not true—at least, in my opinion. Moi was always one step ahead of his opponents. You simply cannot compare Moi's era to the current regime under William S. Ruto. Whether we have a new constitution or not, that’s just the truth.

Actually, one of the main reasons for Moi's fall was spiritual. For the first time, I’m going to link this to an incredible and horrifying unsolved mystery. It all started on the night of September 6, 1988, leading into the early hours of September 7, when a young British photographer and tourist, Julie Ward, went missing at the Masai Mara. This incident was unprecedented. Since that day, it has not happened again that a tourist simply vanished at the world-famous Masai Mara. By the time Julie Ward, a 28-year-old British national, went missing, she had been in Kenya for seven months and was planning to spend her last week in Nairobi before heading back home.

Her parents, John Ward and Janet Ward, were devastated. John Ward, a self-made millionaire in the UK’s hotel industry, recently passed away. But for 35 years, he remained relentless in his pursuit of justice for his daughter, even as successive administrations in Kenya came and went. He never gave up. John made over 200 trips to Kenya and spent more than 2 million British pounds—about 389 million Kenyan shillings at today’s exchange rates. Even on his deathbed this June, he still hadn’t given up.

This case was tightly woven into Kenyan politics, with politicians, including the president himself, involved. Let’s go back to September 5, 1988. Julie and her friend, an Australian doctor named Glenn Barns, were returning to Nairobi in their Jeep when it broke down. They managed to get help from a nearby hotel, where a mechanic identified the problem as a broken fuel pump. Dr. Barns flew to Nairobi, got the part, and arranged for it to be sent back to the Mara so that Julie could join him for her last week in Nairobi. Unfortunately, that was the last time anyone saw her alive.

Six days later, on September 12, 1988, her father, John Ward, arrived in Nairobi, and immediately flew to the Masai Mara, where he hired a plane to search for his daughter. The very next day, on September 13, he found her remains: a small strand of hair, part of her jaw, and part of her lower leg. Someone had made a significant effort to destroy all evidence.

Initial reports from the Kenyan government indicated that Julie Ward had died after being attacked by wild animals and then struck by lightning. This was even published in Kenya’s respected Daily Nation newspaper. Later, the government suggested that her father should consider that she may have committed suicide, after which animals found her, followed by a lightning strike. Ridiculous, I know, but incredibly sad.

John Ward began his own investigation, gathering evidence wherever possible. Along the way, he encountered both corruption and people of integrity. One woman slipped him a handwritten note identifying Jonathan Moi, son of then-president Daniel arap Moi, as the man responsible for his daughter’s death. Another witness, Valentine Ohuru Kipo, claimed to have seen the murder and said that Jonathan Moi ordered Julie to be silenced after she threatened to report him.

Despite John Ward’s best efforts, he found little support from the British government. Years later, a retired MI6 intelligence officer admitted that British intelligence had helped cover up the murder to maintain favorable relations with Kenya. Even with this betrayal, John Ward did not give up. Every time a new regime came to power in Kenya, he would return and try to advance his daughter’s case.

In 2019, when Jonathan Moi passed away, Ward was hopeful that witnesses would finally come forward, and indeed, following the death of former President Daniel arap Moi in 2020, some did. Many witnesses, however, were too afraid, and some, like Valentine Kipo, had already died. Others, like Ibrahim Chog, died under suspicious circumstances, silenced for what they knew about that tragic night in the Mara.

As Kenya continues to grapple with questions of justice, the blood of this innocent young Briton still cries out for it. Her father, now gone, and the Kenyan people did little to demand answers. No demonstrations or outcry ever followed. But let’s remember: nothing escapes the watchful eye of divine justice. This tragic case highlights the impunity of a political class that too often goes unchallenged.

Julie Ward’s unsolved murder may well have been a turning point in Moi’s presidency. After 1988, things started to unravel for him, leading to Kenya’s second liberation and the erosion of KANU’s decades-long grip on power. And so, it’s my hope that the truth will eventually come out, and that those who have the courage to fight for it will ultimately prevail.

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