How farmer survived horrifying elephant attack in Taita

On a quiet drizzling evening on September 27, Kilongola Mwandoto was searching for his lost goats at a neighbouring farm in Makwasinyi village, Taita Taveta County.

A few metres from his home, the 71-year-old encountered two elephants.

In shock, Mwandoto ran into a thicket but one of the female elephants turned around and raised her trunk and fully extended her ears ready to attack. 

The elephant went into a rage and knocked him down, goring and shattering his leg with his tusks.

"I had only walked a few metres from my home when I encountered the elephants. I realised that the animals were ready to attack and one of them ran after me," he recounted at his home.

He fell on a tree trunk and injured his back.

After he fell, the jumbo tried to stomp on him but he held the sole of its foot and made his last prayers, thinking it was the end of his life.

To his astonishment, the elephant charged off into the thicket and joined her calf and disappeared, leaving him for dead.

"While lying there on the ground, I could see the elephant on top of me, but I did not scream because that would not have helped me. I knew my days on earth were over," he said.

Even in the intolerable pain, Mwandoto had to try to save his life after the horrifying ordeal.

"I looked around, the elephants had left. It was dead quiet in the thicket so I had to quickly figure out my next move," he said.

"I was hurt but I had to move because I thought the elephants might come back for me. I was bleeding, the flesh on my left leg was flayed wide open with a flap of skin hanging. My back was also in so much pain."

He phoned his wife to inform her that he was injured and needed help.

"I heard her wailing on the other end and I disconnected my phone. I then limped to the road and made another call to my son-in-law and sat on the roadside," he said.  

He was rescued by a group of bodaboda riders and other villagers who had come to the scene of the attack after they were told about it.

He was taken to the nearby Makwasinyi dispensary, where he was treated and stitched.

"The medics cleaned up the wound sites and stitched them and I came back home," he said.

He said he was lucky, because most people don’t survive such attacks.

"I escaped death by a whisker. I had thought my life had come to an end and I thank God that I’m alive today," he said.

The injuries in his leg and back are a reminder of that fateful evening. He says the attack brought his life to a complete standstill. He cannot run his errands as he used to. 

"I am a farmer but I cannot do any farming because of these injuries. I cannot be compensated by the government until I get well," he said. 

Incidents of wildlife killing or injuring locals are on the increase in the county due to its proximity to Tsavo National Park. 

The ongoing drought has aggravated the situation, with residents living in fear of wildlife invasions.

Earlier this month, the national government released Sh206 million in compensation funds to victims of human-wildlife conflict in the county.

Despite the loss of lives and property, the government had not compensated the affected families in the county since 2014.

Leaders in the county, led by parliamentarians, want to push the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to take responsibility for the welfare of communities neighbouring wildlife zones.

Voi MP Abdi Chome and his counterparts from Taveta, Mwatate and Wundanyi will propose changes to laws to extend the mandate of the KWS to the community so that it can protect residents from the animals.

"The mandate of KWS is very confining. It only focuses on the welfare and management of wildlife. It's time they consider those living next to wildlife-protected areas," he said.

Senator Jones Mwaruma said he will urge his colleagues to review the laws and establish a trust from which residents can get timely compensation.

"We want the law to reduce the compensation time to one year. The trust will also take care of quick compensation as the national government plans to release the money," he said.

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