Simon Githinji, 55, who alleges he was arrested by Solio Ranch rangers in Kinyaiti village in Nyeri on January 8, 2025. , recounts his experience during an interview.P
As the morning sun of Wednesday, January 8, painted Kinyaiti village in Nyeri County with its golden glow, Simon Mwangi Githinji set out for what he thought would be an ordinary day.
The 55-year-old boda boda had promised his daughter he would return within an hour to take her to school.
But beneath that serene dawn, fate had begun to script a harrowing tale—one that would test his strength and leave the village demanding justice.
About a kilometre from home, while fetching firewood near Solio Ranch, he was stopped by five men in plain clothes, armed with batons.
“They claimed they were security officers patrolling the ranch and accused me of trespassing. I told them I had not entered the ranch but had only used a well-worn public road by the fence which is a common route for locals. But my explanation fell on deaf ears,” he says.
To his shock, the men ordered him to follow them to the ranch office, where the management would hear his case.
Mwangi complied, unaware of the harrowing ordeal that awaited him.
A few metres into the walk, the conversation took a frightening turn. The men handcuffed him and took his mobile phone and the Sh13,000 he had in his pocket—money meant to pay his daughter’s school fees.
When he questioned their actions, they responded with violence.
“They started beating me and dragged me into the forest, where they bound my hands and legs with wires and tied me to a tree,” he says, adding that they stripped him of his jacket, gumboots, and a panga that he was carrying, leaving him defenceless.
He would spend the next two days in the forest, cold and hungry.
“They covered my mouth with a cloth so that I could not scream. At night, I could hear hyenas laugh and lions roar and it was terrifying. At one point, some hyenas walked just next to me. I prayed to God to save my life,” he says.
Back home, his wife, Irene Mwangi, recalls the tense morning they waited in vain for him to return and take their daughter to school. By noon, there was still no sign of Mwangi.
“I kept calling him repeatedly. At first, the calls went unanswered and later his phone went off,” she says.
On January 9, the family discovered Mwangi’s motorbike abandoned on a farm about a kilometre from their home near the ranch.
Locals organised a search and reported the matter to Kanyagia Police Station. However, they allege that the police were slow to act.
“We reported the matter at 10am on Thursday but the police didn’t take any action until 4pm,” said Irene.
She said preliminary police investigations showed that her husband’s phone had allegedly been traced to Busia, over 500 kilometres away.
But that evening, a search team of locals and police stumbled upon Mwangi’s phone lying in an open area of the ranch, strangely dry despite the heavy downpour earlier in the day. This raised questions about the alleged police report of the phone being traced to Busia.
The discovery heightened suspicions about the ranch’s involvement, fueling tension that culminated in a demonstration on Friday, January 10.
Hundreds of locals blocked the busy Nyeri-Nyahururu highway for more than five hours, demanding answers.
Mwangi was finally released at around 5pm, calming the situation.
He was rushed to the hospital where he received treatment. However, his ordeal has left deep emotional scars.
“Since he came home, life hasn’t been the same,” Irene says.
“He can’t sleep and keeps waking up from nightmares. He still struggles to believe that he survived. Worse still, our 15-year-old daughter hasn’t returned to school because the attackers took the money meant for her school fees.”
According to locals, such incidents of harassment by the ranch guards are common.
“Our relationship with Solio Ranch has always been tense. Even using public roads near the ranch is risky. Six years ago, a teacher was found murdered near the same place Simon was taken. How can we feel safe? ”said Francis Wanjohi, a family member.
When contacted for comment, Solio Ranch management dismissed the allegations.
The ranch’s Security Manager, who only introduced himself as Mr Omar, maintained that their guards were not involved in Simon’s alleged arrest.
“This is false. We deployed some of our guards to join the search team. They helped in looking for the missing man,” he said.
The ranch is guarded by a team comprising Solio guards and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers.
KWS Senior Assistant Director of the Mountain Conservation Area Lucy Mwati said that an internal investigation by the organisation showed no involvement of their officers in the incident.
Meanwhile, Kieni West Sub-County Police Commander Samuel Ndegwa confirmed that the police are conducting forensic investigations on Mwangi’s phone to determine where it was last operated.
