0:00:02 > 0:00:10For more than twenty years, filmmaker Joan Root had a life of romance and endless adventure,
0:00:10 > 0:00:15making documentaries with her daredevil husband about the wilds of the continent that she loved.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17..independence means a better life...
0:00:17 > 0:00:20But it was a love that could not be sustained
0:00:20 > 0:00:22in an Africa that was changing.
0:00:25 > 0:00:32A love that would become dangerous when she tried to save a lake that came to define her whole world.
0:00:34 > 0:00:41Joan didn't realise that this is a life and death question to people, to families, young,
0:00:41 > 0:00:42still hungry, wanting a life.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45SHOUTING
0:00:46 > 0:00:48She bailed him out of trouble.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52She paid people off to keep him out of trouble.
0:00:52 > 0:00:58And we don't know what hold he had on her, or why.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08She knew she was trapped, she knew she was going down a pipeline
0:01:08 > 0:01:11and she desperately wanted out, but she didn't know how.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18GUNFIRE
0:01:18 > 0:01:21SHOUTING
0:01:21 > 0:01:26Whatever happened, whatever Joan did, whatever caused somebody to think
0:01:26 > 0:01:29that she deserved...
0:01:29 > 0:01:31what she got...
0:01:34 > 0:01:37..I find that very difficult.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42..to track the gunmen and are under pressure as this is the latest in a series of murders of white people...
0:01:42 > 0:01:45..and suspect it was an act of retaliation for her conservation work.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49The attack happened at her home near Lake Naivasha.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59Alan Root and his wife, Joan, are reckoned to be
0:01:59 > 0:02:03the best wildlife filmmakers in the business. Just watch them.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10They're coming back, Alan, are you ready?
0:02:10 > 0:02:12- OK.- Ready? Go!
0:02:17 > 0:02:19It was an endless adventure.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23She was great, very game and didn't complain,
0:02:23 > 0:02:25and loved it. And I think she did love it.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33We'd come down from the far end of Uganda, you know, Kadepo National Park, right up near the Sudan,
0:02:33 > 0:02:40one day in Nairobi, turn around, and we'd be off to the Serengeti or wherever, just non-stop.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45What is it the Roots have that makes them the A-team?
0:02:45 > 0:02:50Well, for a start, they are obviously just that, a team.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55She was absolutely great. I could come and say, "Hey, we're off to wherever."
0:02:55 > 0:02:58And she'd say, "How long?" and I'd say, "About a month,"
0:02:58 > 0:03:05and that would be it. And the next thing I'd know, she was filling the house with supplies
0:03:05 > 0:03:09and I'd have to pack them in the car and the trailer and off we'd go.
0:03:25 > 0:03:33Through the 1960s and 70s, Joan and Alan Root made nearly 40 ground-breaking documentaries,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36capturing images of wildlife as never seen before
0:03:36 > 0:03:40and opening the world's eyes to the wonders of their beloved Africa.
0:03:50 > 0:03:57Joan was born into the ruling class of colonial Kenya, the only child of an English settler.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Her family had made a fortune, first as coffee farmers,
0:04:00 > 0:04:05and then as pioneers of the emerging safari business.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11Joan enjoyed a life of elite schools and endless safaris.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19DISTANT VOICES
0:04:19 > 0:04:22When she returned to the colony after finishing school in Europe,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24her reputation preceded her.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32I'd heard about this girl, a lot of guys were talking about her.
0:04:32 > 0:04:38She'd been away to school in Switzerland and had just come back and caused quite a stir.
0:04:41 > 0:04:47She was definitely one of the most beautiful young women in Kenya at the time.
0:04:47 > 0:04:53I drove up in my battered old Jeep to a lodge in Ngorangora crater in Tanzania,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56and there was this big safari wagon covered in mud
0:04:56 > 0:05:01that just drove in with a big cage full of chickens on top.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05And out stepped this stunning girl in a sort of safari outfit,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07and, er...
0:05:07 > 0:05:10well, I was instantly smitten.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15It was about a year later we got married.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23The Roots spent their honeymoon filming in the bush.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26It was the beginning of a project to reveal to the world
0:05:26 > 0:05:31an Africa different from white hunters seeking the excitement of the kill.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36The Roots' Africa was delicate, beautiful, pristine
0:05:36 > 0:05:38and complex.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45We saw nature holistically.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51We never made a film about a single species, because that isn't the way they are,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55everything is interconnected, there's so many sub-plots, if you like.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59She was incredibly observant.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02She would say "Hey,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06"look at this, there's something else going on here."
0:06:06 > 0:06:09And we'd be able to incorporate that into the story.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Joan and Alan were a complete unit.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22Alan was the sort of genius and Joan was the side-kick.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26They knew how each other thought.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31Joan had got the right lens out almost before Alan asked for it.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40Both of them loved what they were doing.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44She knew exactly what was needed and she presented it.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52Anybody who saw films like that, it was new.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13Millions of people around the world watched the Roots' films and now wanted to visit Africa.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18Discover it. The wild is where you find peace,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22where you feel that nothing much has changed for the last 200,000 years.
0:07:22 > 0:07:28By the late '70s, more than 250,000 people a year were flying to Kenya.
0:07:28 > 0:07:34Within the world of wildlife and conservation, the Roots were celebrities.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39Completed last year, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary of 1978.
0:07:39 > 0:07:46With extraordinary patience and ingenuity, a husband-wife team of naturalist-photographers has...
0:07:46 > 0:07:51Joan organises their trips and uses her vast knowledge of wildlife to contribute to their scripts.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Though she looks fragile, her appearance is deceptive.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02We'd both wanted kids when we first got married,
0:08:02 > 0:08:07but decided to put it off until we got established.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11And she just went along to have a check and the doctor said,
0:08:11 > 0:08:17"I'm sorry to tell you that you're having premature menopause symptoms
0:08:17 > 0:08:21"and I don't think you're going to be able to conceive."
0:08:21 > 0:08:24And sure enough she couldn't.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30She was so successful in every other field and...
0:08:30 > 0:08:33and couldn't have children.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35You could see her pain.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39And she never really discussed that with me or with anyone,
0:08:39 > 0:08:45and so there was never ever a discussion about whether we should adopt.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51It was just closed, a closed subject,
0:08:51 > 0:08:57and she just internalised that pain and she lived with that.
0:09:00 > 0:09:06Something that I learned later in life was that her parents had followed this strange doctor's idea
0:09:06 > 0:09:11of bringing up children, which was that if a child cried, you just let it cry.
0:09:11 > 0:09:18And then it knew that no help was coming and it would grow up knowing that it was on its own
0:09:18 > 0:09:23and independent and not yelling for help when it needed it.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28It was almost as though that upbringing had produced this behaviour
0:09:28 > 0:09:33where you just didn't call out for help.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Early in their marriage, Joan and Alan settled on the shores of Lake Naivasha,
0:09:48 > 0:09:55the only freshwater lake in Kenya, known the world over for its extraordinary plant and wildlife.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59It was paradise. It really was. I mean...
0:09:59 > 0:10:03they were just ranches around the edge.
0:10:06 > 0:10:13The land was spread out and full of wildlife, masses of wildlife coming down to drink in the lake.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Full of hippos,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20vast areas of water lilies
0:10:20 > 0:10:23with thousands of water birds.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Unpolluted, clean.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28It was just incredible.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36We had a net about this long,
0:10:36 > 0:10:40which we had just waist deep out from the edge.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43You could walk out to unload the fish
0:10:43 > 0:10:48and that provided us and our staff and our otters and our tame heron,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52we got all the fish we needed from a 6ft long net.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02Their lakeside home became a sanctuary for the menagerie of wounded animals they'd adopted.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08And provided a break from the gruelling schedules that pulled them across the continent.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14We spent so much time together.
0:11:14 > 0:11:20We'd be in the vehicle from dawn to dusk, just every day, every day.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26We often joked that we had five years of togetherness
0:11:26 > 0:11:29for every normal year of marriage.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35And I think that actually got to us after a while.
0:11:40 > 0:11:46It wasn't something we could discuss, so it just didn't get discussed.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50And if you don't talk about those kind of problems, they don't get solved.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01In 1983, after more than 20 years of marriage, Alan had an affair.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07But after three years of turmoil, they both agreed they wanted their old life back.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13A couple of days after I got back, Jenny, the lady I'd been with,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17was told she had leukaemia and had probably two years to live.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20I felt that I couldn't abandon her...
0:12:21 > 0:12:29..and I think Joan felt, "Well, two years, you know, it's been eight months already,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32"let's hang on. This is something Alan needs to do."
0:12:32 > 0:12:34And I felt I needed to do it.
0:12:34 > 0:12:41And so, there was just a tacit agreement that that's what would happen,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45that I would stay with Jenny and that I'd be back.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Jenny lived another 15 years.
0:12:55 > 0:13:01Joan was absolutely devastated. I mean, Alan was just the other part of her.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04They were two halves of a whole as far as she was concerned.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09And she really was lost when it all broke up.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21Here, you lose your whole life, really,
0:13:21 > 0:13:26as a business, you lose your vocation, you lose your best friend,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29you lose your partner, you lose your lover,
0:13:29 > 0:13:35you lose your husband, you lose everything in a very short period of time. How do you cope with that?
0:14:16 > 0:14:21Joan moved to live down here in Naivasha, which had been their home since 1960,
0:14:21 > 0:14:26but, basically, it was a dumping ground between filming trips.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30She didn't know Naivasha, she didn't know the area, she didn't know the people.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34And, suddenly, she was a lonely woman
0:14:34 > 0:14:37sitting in this big lonely house
0:14:37 > 0:14:40with her only friends, the animals, around her.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Joan turned in on herself,
0:14:55 > 0:15:00a woman in her late forties who'd lost her place in the world.
0:15:00 > 0:15:06For the better part of a decade, she spent much of her time tending to her land and feeding her animals,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08as the Africa around her changed.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11And Nelson Mandela walks to freedom,
0:15:11 > 0:15:17betraying only the hesitation that comes of a man thrust into the spotlight again after 27 years.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21..the Hutu exodus from Rwanda continues.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Today, a constant stream of frightened people made the crossing to Zaire.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28They're fleeing what may be...
0:15:28 > 0:15:30..the scale of the crisis is evident...
0:15:33 > 0:15:37It was the lake that gave her a renewed purpose.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40In the mid-'90s, more than a decade after her split from Alan,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43she started noticing changes in its levels,
0:15:43 > 0:15:48and the behaviour patterns of the plant and wildlife it sustained.
0:15:48 > 0:15:54The outside world, in the form of industry, could no longer be ignored.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57She loved nature. That was her life.
0:15:59 > 0:16:05She cared about the great infrastructure of nature and how it worked,
0:16:05 > 0:16:12and how one small change in nature can have such a big chain reaction.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19She was looking at it from a complete ecological standpoint.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Things were changing on that lake.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26She saw the effects of the lake going down and coming back up, the different algae that was produced,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30the different things that would start growing at certain times of the year,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34and she was concerned about why the ecology of the lake was changing.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43It didn't surprise me when she started to concentrate on the lake
0:16:43 > 0:16:46because it's such a personal thing, you know,
0:16:46 > 0:16:53we had several hundred yards of lake frontage which had once been pristine and untouched,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57and the odd fisherman would go past in his canoe and wave.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03And then suddenly, she'd have 50 acres just down the road is covered in plastic.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10They were pumping water straight out of the lake,
0:17:10 > 0:17:16there were pollutants going back into the lake in the form of pesticides and fertiliser and so on.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21And so I think she had a very good case against them.
0:17:21 > 0:17:28And once she took it up, I knew she'd be passionate and militant about it.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33There's a timeless feeling on this lake, but things are changing here.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37The woods that once cloaked the surrounding hills have mostly been felled.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42And now the lake itself may be facing new threats from man.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50The threats come from the flower farmers that have burgeoned
0:17:50 > 0:17:54on the shores of Lake Naivasha, roses and carnations for the living rooms of Europe.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01The flower industry started more or less probably by accident
0:18:01 > 0:18:07in the late '70s with two companies, a Danish company called DCK and Oserian.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12Both these companies were really struggling like pioneers do,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15and last minute they got it right
0:18:15 > 0:18:19and actually paved the way for the industry.
0:18:21 > 0:18:26On the back of these two companies, many other entrepreneurs jumped on the bandwagon.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31Infrastructure on the farms was developed, infrastructure in Nairobi was developed.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35The freighters started to coming in and it sort of developed
0:18:35 > 0:18:41into a serious exporting business for this country which, at this point,
0:18:41 > 0:18:47can be considered as probably one of the biggest success stories in sub-Saharan Africa.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52Walk into any supermarket, you'll notice flower displays placed strategically near the door.
0:18:52 > 0:18:58We spend £750 million a year on cut flowers from supermarkets and they deliver big profit margins.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Flower growing is Kenya's big success story,
0:19:01 > 0:19:07fast catching up with coffee and tea as its top employer, and a major export earner.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13The large farms employ anything up to 4,000 workers each,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16they come from all over the country to this Mecca of employment.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20Most of these immigrants end up living in slums.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Prior to the 1980s, it was just people living here, it was a small community.
0:19:27 > 0:19:33But once the flower industry started, that requires a lot of employees,
0:19:33 > 0:19:39and suddenly Naivasha boomed and expanded big-time.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43A lot of migrant workers moved in and with them come more people again,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47because there's a service industry as well for people who have a wage.
0:19:53 > 0:19:58The problem is that the pressure around the edge of the lake from the horticultural industry
0:19:58 > 0:20:03and the people who work in the horticultural industry together
0:20:03 > 0:20:07are creating what scientists call "eutrophication",
0:20:07 > 0:20:12which just means the lake is over-fertilised, overfed really.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15The algal growth gets thicker,
0:20:15 > 0:20:19it becomes a pea soup at times.
0:20:22 > 0:20:28The end species that thrive in the highest concentrations produce toxins
0:20:28 > 0:20:32and when they're in really, really high concentrations,
0:20:32 > 0:20:39the toxins that get into the water are in a high enough concentration to cause damage to mammals.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49Joan saw that the increase of the development and the agricultural development
0:20:49 > 0:20:53and the industry round the lake was actually the prime cause
0:20:53 > 0:20:56of the changes on the lake.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00She was not afraid of standing up and voicing her opinions.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04She wasn't afraid of standing up and actually implementing her opinions,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06if she thought that they would have an impact,
0:21:09 > 0:21:14Joan helped to persuade the flower farms to stop building on riparian land,
0:21:14 > 0:21:20the delicate band bordering the lake that is crucial to the local plant and wildlife.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25She joined a growing campaign to reduce their use of fertilisers and pesticides.
0:21:25 > 0:21:31She drew attention to the millions of gallons they were siphoning weekly to water their product.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39Then she took on another, more sensitive issue.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42As people continued to flood into the area,
0:21:42 > 0:21:48desperate for work on the flower farms, they and their families needed to eat.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50They turned to the lake for free food.
0:21:50 > 0:21:56By 1998, Lake Naivasha was dangerously low on fish.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20The local department of fisheries was powerless in the face of this assault on the lake.
0:22:20 > 0:22:26Its enforcement staff consisted of just three men and a boat, often with no fuel to power it.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31With the department's support, Joan stepped in with a plan
0:22:31 > 0:22:36that went beyond the one year fishing ban already being discussed.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39We were literally running out of fish,
0:22:39 > 0:22:44so it was agreed that the fishing on the lake should be shut down totally for a whole year,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48but, of course, it didn't stop the illegal poachers,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51who were dragging their nets through the shallow waters,
0:22:51 > 0:22:56which is an illegal way of fishing, does a lot of harm to the submerged vegetation
0:22:56 > 0:23:02and takes out all the baby fish before they've had a chance to grow big enough to breed,
0:23:02 > 0:23:07which of course totally went against everything that Joan believed in.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10The poachers were unbelievably bold.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14You would see them in the riparian land of many of the flower farms,
0:23:14 > 0:23:20fishing with complete impunity because they knew nobody was going to come and challenge them.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24They were quite capable of being violent, quite capable of attacking anybody.
0:23:29 > 0:23:35So she went off and thought, "Well, what's the best way of dealing with this?
0:23:35 > 0:23:39"Let's get poachers, turn them into gamekeepers." Good idea, good plan.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Enter Mr Chege.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Mr Chege was very, very plausible.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47He was a very, very intelligent young man.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52He was a great marketing man, he was a great communicator, and he got Joan's confidence.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56She put together, with him, a little task force
0:23:56 > 0:24:03that ranged from eight people to 15 people just to control and make sure fishing was protected
0:24:03 > 0:24:05so that you didn't overfish the lake.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10"February 3rd, 2001. Spoke with Chege.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14"He came up with good points, illustrating bad fishing methods.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18"I spoke about my plan to patrol with 15 guys.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55"Nets - 19 x 3½ inch three-ply.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58"1 x 3½ inch three-ply. 3x3 inch two-ply.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01"5x4 inch two-ply.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03"500g nylon wire,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06"one 400g nylon wire..."
0:25:10 > 0:25:13For a while it did very good work.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18The number of nets that they managed to confiscate was unbelievable.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22There were always a mountain of them in her back yard.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27Chege and team pulled up about 40 2x2½ two-ply nets.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Long talks with Chege about their operation.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35Yesterday they went to Kabonge where they burnt ten boats and caught three poachers.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15There's no Swahili word for "poachers".
0:26:15 > 0:26:19It's a colonial word. It's bad, it's evil.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Any poacher is something that has to be eliminated.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Poachers don't know where to put themselves, because they're not evil.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29They're ordinary people just trying to make a living.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31They don't see any way they've wronged.
0:26:31 > 0:26:37They've not gone to steal, they've not gone to kill anybody, they're not even stealing nets.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40They've only gone to fish in a God-given lake.
0:26:42 > 0:26:48"Naivasha Fisheries Report. Two years leading up to April 2003.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51"Improved sizes of fish leading to partial..."
0:26:51 > 0:26:53"General improvement on shoreline ecology..."
0:26:53 > 0:26:58"Confiscation of over 3,000 illegal fishing nets and more than six arrests..."
0:26:58 > 0:27:00"Arrests of over 400 suspects."
0:27:00 > 0:27:04The poachers Joan was trying to eliminate were like most
0:27:04 > 0:27:09of the 350,000 people living in the slums that now surrounded the lake.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15Only one in ten had found employment on the farms.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19The rest scraped out livings as best they could.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24The flower industry is directly responsible for the slums.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28I'm not talking necessarily every flower farm,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30but the flower industry in Naivasha,
0:27:30 > 0:27:35I think one could say, must be responsible for the slums.
0:27:35 > 0:27:40Firstly, because their workers come from there, they're not housed on-site,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43and, secondly, because they have
0:27:43 > 0:27:48indirectly encouraged the massive growth of satellite industries
0:27:48 > 0:27:53and migration of people into this area who weren't here before,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55who have come to look for jobs
0:27:55 > 0:28:00or to be supported by the one or two of their family who have jobs on the flower farms.
0:28:09 > 0:28:14Where do these people get their firewood? Where do they get their charcoal for cooking?
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Where do they get their meat?
0:28:19 > 0:28:24A family of five uses one bag of charcoal a month.
0:28:24 > 0:28:30Now, there is 60,000 households around Naivasha, where do they get their charcoal?
0:28:30 > 0:28:32It has to come from the catchment.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34Is there any trees specifically planted
0:28:34 > 0:28:40to be able to meet the charcoal demand so it can help counter the deforestation of the catchment? No.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44Joan knew that the disappearing fish
0:28:44 > 0:28:48were just part of the larger environmental destruction of Naivasha.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54What she didn't know, or perhaps chose not to acknowledge,
0:28:54 > 0:28:59was that the fish the poachers didn't eat they sold onto middle men,
0:28:59 > 0:29:04who were part of a criminal industry that stretched all the way to the capital of Nairobi.
0:29:09 > 0:29:10I did worry about her.
0:29:10 > 0:29:15Where food is concerned, it's a big issue in this country, especially if you're white,
0:29:15 > 0:29:18especially when you've got enough food and there's people,
0:29:18 > 0:29:24you know, around the place that are all looking for the cheapest source of protein they can get.
0:29:24 > 0:29:29I suppose a lot of people were making a lot of money from those under-sized fish.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33There's a consumer, there's a buyer, there's a wholesaler, so if they're not getting...
0:29:33 > 0:29:38if she's making it difficult for these tiny fish to be sold,
0:29:38 > 0:29:41then that's very much infringing on their business.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54But if Joan knew, she didn't let it stop her.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57She had bankrolled the task force for four years now
0:29:57 > 0:30:03and watched with mounting excitement as the fish returned to the lake in healthy, marketable sizes.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11The fishermen were relieved because they were back to earning a living.
0:30:11 > 0:30:16The community was happy. There were now plenty of fish to buy at market.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22To celebrate, she and the fisheries department held a public burning
0:30:22 > 0:30:25of the thousands of nets they'd confiscated.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Joan's mission was succeeding.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34The task force filled a big empty space.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37She was part of a gang, in a way.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39I think it was, you know, quite exciting.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43She was able to achieve something.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46Every day, she had to get up and do something that was quite compelling.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59But as time went on, questions were starting to be raised
0:30:59 > 0:31:05about the motives and methods of the man Joan had put in charge.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34"Payments to Chege, 9th of November 700 shillings, 25th of December..."
0:32:18 > 0:32:21Chege grew up in the slums
0:32:21 > 0:32:27in that young, changing Kenya with limited opportunities.
0:32:27 > 0:32:33Joan grew up with almost, what you would say, unlimited opportunities,
0:32:33 > 0:32:39and then went to pursue wildlife photography and wildlife conservation,
0:32:39 > 0:32:44which in itself is almost a different class from the realities of what Kenya is,
0:32:44 > 0:32:49a changing country, a new generation coming, hungry, wanting to be able to take also opportunities.
0:32:49 > 0:32:57Joan, she wanted to preserve the lake as natural and pristine as she'd seen it in her lifetime.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05To Chege, here is a way, a vehicle to make all the money he want.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08What is conservation?
0:33:08 > 0:33:12Well, I don't think Chege really understood what conservation is.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20From a poacher who was humble and trying to sell his fish,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24given the power, he became an absolute dictator
0:33:24 > 0:33:28with the total power to crush things.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34He realised within no time that, "I am the man, I have the power,"
0:33:34 > 0:33:36and he used those powers brutally.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14They fight. You've got to retaliate, haven't you?
0:34:14 > 0:34:21And retaliation is arresting someone with the minimum of amount of force necessary, which you can do,
0:34:21 > 0:34:26but sometimes, you know, you go too far,
0:34:26 > 0:34:28or one is able to go too far.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32SHOUTING
0:34:37 > 0:34:39They were the force.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41They were the law.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45There was no need for court - they were the court.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50So they had the right to beat you up, the right to humiliate you as much as they want
0:34:50 > 0:34:55and inflict any fee they deem fit within the time.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00But to the local realities, we want food.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06The task force did not realise that this is a life-and-death question.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09They have to feed their families.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11They have to have a living.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19By early 2004, a war had broken out on the lake,
0:35:19 > 0:35:24with both sides resorting to increasingly desperate measures.
0:35:25 > 0:35:31Then an incident involving a young poacher named Joseph Ojare changed everything.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33I go to the hospital,
0:36:33 > 0:36:38and I find Ojare there to the hospital crying,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40serious crying.
0:36:42 > 0:36:47He told me, "Andrew, I was beaten serious.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51"I was beaten my whole body."
0:36:57 > 0:36:59"By who?"
0:36:59 > 0:37:02He told me, "Mr Chege
0:37:02 > 0:37:06"and all of task force."
0:37:35 > 0:37:41There was no evidence that Chege had been personally responsible for the assault.
0:37:41 > 0:37:48But as rumours spread through the slums, human-rights organisations began to scrutinise the case.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52The task force was facing a public-relations disaster.
0:37:54 > 0:37:59Gaymer and Chege know if this man is here,
0:37:59 > 0:38:05they will be prosecuted, because human right...
0:38:06 > 0:38:11.they will follow this channel up to the police commissioner,
0:38:11 > 0:38:15so they know this is a serious case.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19So what we have to do,
0:38:19 > 0:38:21we have to...
0:38:21 > 0:38:23take this man away.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28And they go to the hospital
0:38:28 > 0:38:32and tell the man, "Leave about human right.
0:38:32 > 0:38:37"They cannot help you, they cannot give you money, you leave about them.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40"We want to give you 50,000
0:38:40 > 0:38:42"and hide you away from Naivasha."
0:38:46 > 0:38:48Ojare returned to his village.
0:38:48 > 0:38:55Several weeks later, he died from complications from surgery to repair his broken leg.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00In that story, the man was in the hospital
0:39:00 > 0:39:06and you or Chege paid for him to go home because this was going to become...
0:39:06 > 0:39:11- an issue for the task force. Is that true?- Correct.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14But Joan paid, not me.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17What exactly did she do - Joan?
0:39:17 > 0:39:19I think through Chege
0:39:19 > 0:39:25they went and paid the hospital bill and got the man out and gave him enough money to get home.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27And their reasoning was...?
0:39:27 > 0:39:31There was going to be more trouble had he remained with a broken leg
0:39:31 > 0:39:35and everyone could point a finger at the task force.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38So Joan actually paid.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Joan paid.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44Joan paid a lot of money on things like that,
0:39:44 > 0:39:49and I'm sure she paid a lot that I didn't know about and never got to know about.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01News of Ojare's death spread around the lake.
0:40:01 > 0:40:07The task force and anyone associated with it were now perceived to have blood on their hands.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56Ojare's death was part of a changing Naivasha.
0:40:56 > 0:41:02By early 2005, the area had become a hotbed of violent crime.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05Rapes, car jackings and armed robberies were common.
0:41:05 > 0:41:12Whites and blacks alike were being murdered, sometimes for as little as 50 or a mobile phone.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16Yet people kept coming,
0:41:16 > 0:41:21lured by the dream of getting some of the run-off from the riches of the flower industry.
0:41:21 > 0:41:27The industry was now a global player, one of the top three flower producers in the world.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Over 20,000 employees and their families are dependent
0:41:30 > 0:41:34on the flower-growing companies around Lake Naivasha.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Flying them to the USA, Canada.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41A lot of countries, from France, Belgium, Italy, Russia,
0:41:41 > 0:41:47Far East, Japan, Poland, Scandinavian countries.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51It's extremely important to Kenya economically.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55It's an industry of which we are very proud. We are trying to do our best.
0:41:55 > 0:42:00What's happened here in Naivasha is a form of industrial progress.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04Industrial progress demands compromise.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10To the eye, if you come here into Naivasha coming from the escarpment
0:42:10 > 0:42:15and you see these acres and acres and acres of plastic,
0:42:15 > 0:42:19yeah, of course it looks different than 30, 35 years ago,
0:42:19 > 0:42:25where there was no plastic and no shanty towns, and no everything, and it was absolutely pristine.
0:42:30 > 0:42:35I could run down a 1½ hour list of projects
0:42:35 > 0:42:42which have been done by the private sector around Lake Naivasha which is actually not our responsibility.
0:42:42 > 0:42:47Schools are not our responsibility, roads are not our responsibility,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50hospitals are not our responsibility.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53At the end of the day, half the schools wouldn't be here
0:42:53 > 0:42:57if there wouldn't be flower farms, and half the hospitals wouldn't be here.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08The huge number of flower farms
0:43:08 > 0:43:11in Naivasha at the moment is unsustainable.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13It is going to kill the lake.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Because the flower has to be fed.
0:43:19 > 0:43:26It has to have that constant water to meet the market dates and to meet the required production standards.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32A rose is 70% water,
0:43:32 > 0:43:34and it's flown all over the world,
0:43:34 > 0:43:41every single day, 365 days, constantly.
0:43:41 > 0:43:48That is Naivasha water pumped out of the area and flown all over the world every single day.
0:44:00 > 0:44:06Joan was very realistic and realised that this was just part of the way it was going,
0:44:06 > 0:44:09development was the human way of life.
0:44:13 > 0:44:18Because of the encroachment of the farms, the greenhouses,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21the development and all the rest of it,
0:44:21 > 0:44:26she really felt that there should be some place that was
0:44:26 > 0:44:29in its natural, untouched virgin state.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37She wanted her land to be an example to others
0:44:37 > 0:44:40of what this area used to be like.
0:44:41 > 0:44:48And I think her passion for what she did here was a silent protest.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12In May 2005, John Sutton, a security consultant
0:45:12 > 0:45:16hired by Naivasha landowners to reduce crime around the lake,
0:45:16 > 0:45:20rented the cottage adjoining Joan's house.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24He was immediately struck by Joan's connection to her land.
0:45:26 > 0:45:31You could see that it was very much part of her being, her existence.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35She was like part of it. It was like she had roots in the ground.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39When she was moving, her steps and everything was like just part of it.
0:45:39 > 0:45:45She would stand still and the mongooses would be around her, and wild animals,
0:45:45 > 0:45:47but they weren't afraid.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53I was fascinated by this connection to nature.
0:45:53 > 0:45:59It was something I'd never, ever experienced or seen in my life before.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02Amazing. Er, she was really in tune.
0:46:15 > 0:46:21It wasn't long before Sutton discovered that not everything was as harmonious as it seemed.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28Joan had a Stone sign that had JR written and painted on it.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32I started finding that stone in different places.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35I found it upside down, I'd find it in the tree,
0:46:35 > 0:46:41I found it with what looked like blood had been poured on it.
0:46:42 > 0:46:47Sometimes I'd come to the second gate and there was a chicken, not stuffed.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49It had been put with straw on the gate.
0:46:53 > 0:46:59I was worried, because witchcraft in this part of the world is serious stuff.
0:47:01 > 0:47:07When I confronted Joan about the situation, she told me it had been going on quite some time
0:47:07 > 0:47:13and she explained that it was a neighbour thing and that it was actually a personal feud.
0:47:15 > 0:47:21I said, "OK, but perhaps we should get the neighbour over to come and talk and maybe find out what's..."
0:47:21 > 0:47:25"Oh, no, no. I can't. She won't come and talk to me. She hates me."
0:47:25 > 0:47:28I said, "What do you mean, she hates you?"
0:47:28 > 0:47:30"Oh, yes, she hates me. That's another story."
0:47:32 > 0:47:38For as long has Joan had lived in Naivasha, Diana Bunny had been her neighbour.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42Like Joan, she'd been born into the colonial world.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46Her grandparents had arrived as missionaries early in the century
0:47:46 > 0:47:51and her father had been the local doctor for 40 years.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54She, too, had a clear vision for her land.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58It was a place of peace,
0:47:58 > 0:48:01comfort,
0:48:01 > 0:48:05joy and encouragement, and hope.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11We've felt it was God's property.
0:48:13 > 0:48:18When you come here, you feel God's presence here. It's different.
0:48:18 > 0:48:24You feel the love and care. That's what people have said.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26And they've loved coming,
0:48:26 > 0:48:28and it's...
0:48:28 > 0:48:31so warm and welcoming.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34So that's the reputation it has had.
0:48:42 > 0:48:47Since inheriting the 22-acre plot from her parents,
0:48:47 > 0:48:51Diana, a single woman, had struggled to make ends meet.
0:48:51 > 0:48:56For Joan, Diana's hardship presented an opportunity.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59Joan wanted that land for the animals.
0:48:59 > 0:49:04She wanted to leave it as it is, clean, wild for the animals,
0:49:04 > 0:49:07which are lucky enough to get in there, to be there and be safe.
0:49:07 > 0:49:12I think she was very worried that one day Diana would leave this to a church group
0:49:12 > 0:49:17and it would all be sold for development in some way that Joan wouldn't have liked.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24She told me that they were the best of friends,
0:49:24 > 0:49:28and they were the best of friends until such time as she'd made a bid
0:49:28 > 0:49:30and she'd wanted to buy that property.
0:49:30 > 0:49:35And since then, that was it, they were absolute enemies.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39"I have been very distressed and deeply hurt since I received your letter..."
0:49:39 > 0:49:43"I should be careful before throwing out false accusations.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47"I too am heartily sick of incidents that have happened..."
0:49:47 > 0:49:51"It is very upsetting when what I do or say is misconstrued.
0:49:51 > 0:49:55"Please let me know what..." "No-one can underestimate God's power.
0:49:55 > 0:50:00"And as I have told many people, this is God's property."
0:50:00 > 0:50:03We were very friendly with her,
0:50:03 > 0:50:06invited her over,
0:50:06 > 0:50:12but behind one's back the terrible things she said
0:50:12 > 0:50:15were not true
0:50:15 > 0:50:19and trying to just get us out, really.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23It was all quite a dangerous game.
0:50:33 > 0:50:39Sutton discovered that the feud with her neighbour wasn't the only intrigue in Joan's life.
0:50:40 > 0:50:45By now, Joan had downscaled the task force to Chege and four others
0:50:45 > 0:50:48whose only job was to patrol her lakefront.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52Yet former members were still coming and going.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55Joan was known to be generous,
0:50:55 > 0:51:00but Sutton sensed that these men weren't looking for new jobs or handouts.
0:51:01 > 0:51:06One evening, when Joan shared an ominous text message with him,
0:51:06 > 0:51:11he got a glimpse of the complicated web in which she was caught.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14I asked Joan, "What did this mean?"
0:51:14 > 0:51:17And she said, "Well,
0:51:17 > 0:51:22"what this is is members of the task force who are protecting me
0:51:22 > 0:51:28"against illegal fishermen who we had apprehended during the time of the task force
0:51:28 > 0:51:31"who now want to come and do me in."
0:51:35 > 0:51:40I asked her, "How do you know it's happening?" "Well, I don't know," she said.
0:51:40 > 0:51:45"I'm being told this by my main guy, because I trust him.
0:51:45 > 0:51:50"He's protecting me. He's the only person that's protecting me from all these situations."
0:51:52 > 0:51:55BARKING
0:52:01 > 0:52:04I became very concerned.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06I didn't understand this relationship,
0:52:06 > 0:52:10I didn't understand where the levels of loyalty lay and so on.
0:52:10 > 0:52:15And there were too many contradictions at that time. Things were not adding up.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18Things were not right.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26Sutton now feared for Joan's very safety.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30Then he found out something that made him worry even more.
0:52:30 > 0:52:36Four months earlier, Joan had been car-jacked as she drove home from the bank with the staff's wages.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38SHOUTING
0:52:38 > 0:52:42The gang had slapped her around and stolen her phone and cash.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46Some of her friends were suspicious that Chege had been involved,
0:52:46 > 0:52:51a charge he'd vigorously denied and for which the police had found no evidence.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55Joan's faith in him had never wavered.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57Chege really had her confidence.
0:52:57 > 0:53:03She liked him, she respected him, she thought that he had integrity.
0:53:03 > 0:53:08She really thought that he was there for the reasons that she was there.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10In actual fact, he wasn't.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12It was very personal.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16I don't suspect they were necessarily having a physical relationship,
0:53:16 > 0:53:23but, spiritually, they were so entwined, that she was wrapped in that and he was the focal point.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29"Dashed to meet Chege to give him 22,000 shillings."
0:53:29 > 0:53:32"Chege phoned. Last night they ambushed at Bushey Island."
0:53:32 > 0:53:34"Three of them were attacked by 18 men."
0:53:34 > 0:53:37"Chege wrote me a letter wanting to buy a small motorbike."
0:53:37 > 0:53:39"Chege came to tell me latest intrigues from Fisheries."
0:53:39 > 0:53:43"Told Chege to send Umwara tomorrow as a spy."
0:53:43 > 0:53:47"Chege came and we discussed Saturday and Sunday."
0:53:47 > 0:53:52The more I questioned, the more I realised how...
0:53:52 > 0:53:57wrapped up Joan was in this whole security situation.
0:53:57 > 0:54:03It had become a way of life. It had entrapped her completely.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07And it was almost like it was like a drug for her.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12The intrigue, the mystique,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15the cloak-and-dagger kind of scenarios,
0:54:17 > 0:54:22it was an alternative existence to the outside world.
0:54:23 > 0:54:28It was a life where she was in charge, she was in control,
0:54:28 > 0:54:32where she was able to take care of herself.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35And this was, I think, going back to perhaps...
0:54:35 > 0:54:43The start of all that was the breakdown of when she departed from her previous marriage.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58She talked about Alan quite a lot.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00He was still, in a funny way,
0:55:00 > 0:55:06a part of her life, in that he was very much a presence in her house.
0:55:08 > 0:55:14The sitting room had the same covers on the sofa and the books on the shelves.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17The dining room had stayed the same way.
0:55:21 > 0:55:27Though she wanted to change the house, she couldn't bear to take away a lot of the memories.
0:55:29 > 0:55:34She told me on several occasions that Alan was the only person
0:55:34 > 0:55:40that she was able to share and experience nature
0:55:40 > 0:55:43in the way that she loved to do it.
0:55:45 > 0:55:50There was nobody that she could walk around in the bush with,
0:55:50 > 0:55:55and they would both notice and be interested in exactly the same things.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00She really, really missed that.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02She really missed...
0:56:02 > 0:56:05being with him.
0:56:05 > 0:56:07And, erm...
0:56:12 > 0:56:16..I think she always thought they'd be together again.
0:56:16 > 0:56:23And she came over one evening with a letter that I think he'd written to quite a few friends.
0:56:23 > 0:56:28She read the letter to me with tears in her eyes.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35It was the realisation that they weren't going to be together again,
0:56:35 > 0:56:41and the letter was basically saying that he had met Fran and that they were going to have a baby together.
0:56:41 > 0:56:45And I suppose that was the end of a dream and a hope that she'd had.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55"Long talk with John about the task force.
0:56:55 > 0:57:01"He advised me to completely close down, get rid of Chege and all five of them.
0:57:01 > 0:57:06"At night, stayed awake worrying what to do about Chege."
0:57:12 > 0:57:18For weeks, a member of Joan's house staff had been stealing money from her bedroom.
0:57:18 > 0:57:24When she discovered that the thief had a close connection to Chege, she finally accepted that he had to go.
0:57:26 > 0:57:31I said to Joan, "Remember the laws of the land, the perception of the laws of the land.
0:57:31 > 0:57:33"You're going to have to pay him off."
0:57:33 > 0:57:37I said, "When you do pay him off, you'd better be generous,
0:57:37 > 0:57:42"because you don't want anybody coming back in the back door saying, 'You didn't see me.'"
0:57:45 > 0:57:50Joan reached a settlement with Chege and found him a job in western Kenya.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53He and his family left Naivasha.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59Two weeks later, Sutton had a rude awakening.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07SHOUTING
0:58:07 > 0:58:10ALARM SOUNDS
0:58:10 > 0:58:14I heard this shouting. I stick my head out to see what was going on,
0:58:14 > 0:58:20and I saw somebody running up, and he was shouting and shouting, "Mama has been taken.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22"Mama has been taken."
0:58:22 > 0:58:24SHOUTING
0:58:27 > 0:58:34I thought, "Oh, my God, Joan's been attacked, she's been abducted and she's been taken down to the lake."
0:58:35 > 0:58:37GUNSHOTS
0:58:37 > 0:58:41I fired two shots into the air.
0:58:41 > 0:58:45Within a couple of seconds after firing the two shots,
0:58:45 > 0:58:48I heard another replying shot.
0:58:49 > 0:58:53I rushed downstairs, and as I got to the door, my phone rang.
0:58:55 > 0:58:58It was Joan saying,
0:58:58 > 0:59:01"I'm OK, I'm OK."
0:59:01 > 0:59:03And I said, "Joan, where are you?"
0:59:03 > 0:59:05She said, "I'm in the staff quarters."
0:59:08 > 0:59:12She'd managed to escape out the back door.
0:59:12 > 0:59:14They had broken into the house.
0:59:14 > 0:59:17The fact that they had gone through some drawers in the office
0:59:17 > 0:59:20suggests there were some documents they were looking for.
0:59:20 > 0:59:24I do know that Joan had been keeping some title deeds of land
0:59:24 > 0:59:28whilst the staff were repaying the loan.
0:59:28 > 0:59:33Joan had bought property for some of her staff,
0:59:33 > 0:59:35including Chege.
0:59:53 > 0:59:57I don't think she chose to read clearly the signs -
0:59:57 > 1:00:02too proud, too sucked into the energy of being...
1:00:02 > 1:00:06in her home, on her land.
1:00:06 > 1:00:09Perhaps had lost sight of...
1:00:09 > 1:00:14the fact that life would go on on her lawn without her.
1:00:14 > 1:00:16Perhaps scared to move.
1:00:16 > 1:00:20Perhaps... I don't know. It wasn't... It wasn't...
1:00:20 > 1:00:23She shouldn't have stayed.
1:00:29 > 1:00:31I would say to her, "Joan,
1:00:31 > 1:00:36"you need to go on holiday. Just go on holiday.
1:00:36 > 1:00:40"Just tell everybody you're old, you're tired, you need a break.
1:00:40 > 1:00:46"Just tell everybody. And don't tell them when you're going, just one day you're not there."
1:00:50 > 1:00:53I was trying to get her out of the environment,
1:00:53 > 1:00:57it was getting to the point whereby it was threatening her security.
1:00:57 > 1:01:00It really was threatening her security.
1:01:08 > 1:01:13I'd been going to her house once a week for a few months
1:01:13 > 1:01:18and I'd never been invited in, not even onto the veranda.
1:01:18 > 1:01:24Well, after her murder I find all the security she's putting in the house. I knew nothing about it.
1:01:30 > 1:01:33I believe she kept me out of the house because she didn't want me
1:01:33 > 1:01:39to find out that she was going to that extent of putting security in
1:01:39 > 1:01:43to save her life, and she must have been very worried about something.
1:01:48 > 1:01:51"Chege and Esther back in Karagita.
1:01:51 > 1:01:54"Chege trying to get a job through Barry. Barry been informed."
1:01:54 > 1:01:57"Very stressed pm.
1:01:57 > 1:02:01"John phoned to say he'd rushed to Nairobi for emergency.
1:02:01 > 1:02:09"Then power cut. No supper cooked. That night felt insecure so soon after break-in, and John away."
1:02:11 > 1:02:17As 2005 drew to a close, Sutton was often away on business across the continent.
1:02:17 > 1:02:21Joan was increasingly alone in her house.
1:02:22 > 1:02:25On the night of January 12th 2006,
1:02:25 > 1:02:29Sutton was 400 miles away in Tanzania.
1:02:39 > 1:02:44It was about...about midnight when I got the first phone call.
1:02:44 > 1:02:46PHONE RINGS
1:02:50 > 1:02:55Joan said, "They're back. They're here." I couldn't understand what she was going...
1:02:55 > 1:03:02and then I heard the siren going again and I knew that intruders had come into the house.
1:03:05 > 1:03:08She said, "They're trying to get in through my bedroom door."
1:03:12 > 1:03:17I told her to get down and go to the bathroom,
1:03:17 > 1:03:20"Stay put. I'll call for help."
1:03:20 > 1:03:22SHOUTING
1:03:23 > 1:03:25I called the police.
1:03:25 > 1:03:31I called the people and said that there was an attack taking place at Joan Root's premises.
1:03:31 > 1:03:35I then had another phone call within, I don't know,
1:03:35 > 1:03:40a minute, not even, perhaps. Can't remember exactly.
1:03:40 > 1:03:42And Joan was now talking to me.
1:03:42 > 1:03:44SHOUTING CONTINUES
1:03:49 > 1:03:54I could hear people shouting for her to open the door to let them in.
1:03:54 > 1:03:56BANGING
1:03:57 > 1:04:01She was sobbing and just kept calling out my name.
1:04:02 > 1:04:06And I could hear this banging going on,
1:04:06 > 1:04:12and I thought they were using a sledge hammer to bash the metal door down,
1:04:12 > 1:04:16but I knew that as long as those doors held they wouldn't get in.
1:04:23 > 1:04:25She was obviously very afraid.
1:04:26 > 1:04:32But she wasn't hysterical, she was just kind of sobbing, and she was out of breath.
1:04:32 > 1:04:35She was obviously in shock.
1:04:35 > 1:04:37She was afraid.
1:04:37 > 1:04:39And, um...
1:04:40 > 1:04:43..her voice got lower and lower.
1:04:48 > 1:04:54I thought she was talking, just quietly talking just so they wouldn't hear her
1:04:54 > 1:04:58but she didn't want to disconnect, she wanted just to talk,
1:04:58 > 1:05:02she wanted to hear somebody's voice or something. I don't know.
1:05:02 > 1:05:04And I was just reassuring her.
1:05:07 > 1:05:10Her voice just...faded away.
1:05:10 > 1:05:15And it just got quieter and quieter and quieter, and then stopped.
1:05:21 > 1:05:23I heard a few more bangs.
1:05:25 > 1:05:27I disconnected the phone.
1:05:27 > 1:05:32I called again the cops and said, "For God's sakes, you're running out of time.
1:05:32 > 1:05:34"Get there before they get in."
1:05:36 > 1:05:38They arrived at the house.
1:05:38 > 1:05:42They said, "The lights are off, but we can see inside,
1:05:42 > 1:05:45"and there's a huge...
1:05:46 > 1:05:51"..you know, sort of marks of blood on the floor
1:05:51 > 1:05:55"and it's leading into what looks like the bathroom."
1:05:56 > 1:05:59I tried calling her back.
1:05:59 > 1:06:02They said, "No, we can hear the phone ringing in the bathroom."
1:06:04 > 1:06:07I knew that... I knew what had happened.
1:06:08 > 1:06:11PHONE RINGS
1:06:11 > 1:06:15They found Joan in the bathroom lying on her side,
1:06:15 > 1:06:18holding the phone next to her.
1:06:20 > 1:06:23Her sobbing and everything - she had obviously been hit.
1:06:23 > 1:06:27Her voice fading away, that was her last breath of life.
1:06:29 > 1:06:33And I was sitting in a hotel...
1:06:34 > 1:06:37..hundreds of miles away. Couldn't do anything.
1:06:37 > 1:06:41Couldn't do anything for her.
1:07:30 > 1:07:35That was the first time I'd been back for 15 years.
1:07:35 > 1:07:39Er, and, you know, outside was just the same,
1:07:39 > 1:07:43just the fabulous views, the peace, the animals and birds.
1:07:43 > 1:07:46They all came out to say hello.
1:07:46 > 1:07:48And then the scene inside,
1:07:48 > 1:07:53just of the sort of fortress that she'd turned the place into,
1:07:53 > 1:07:55and then, you know...
1:07:55 > 1:08:01the bullets stuck in the furniture and the blood everywhere, and...
1:08:01 > 1:08:04just such a contrast.
1:08:17 > 1:08:22The police were all there, and they were introduced to me and knew who I was,
1:08:22 > 1:08:28and so within a short time they opened the house to us,
1:08:28 > 1:08:31which was actually quite strange to me,
1:08:31 > 1:08:34because I would have thought that they would still be there
1:08:34 > 1:08:40trying to find whatever they needed to find or what forensics needed to be done and so on.
1:08:40 > 1:08:43We found several bullets in there,
1:08:43 > 1:08:47in the mattress and places like that, which I thought they would've done during the night,
1:08:47 > 1:08:49but they didn't.
1:08:51 > 1:08:56We think that they came straight round the back of the house,
1:08:56 > 1:08:58directly to her bedroom window.
1:09:01 > 1:09:05I'm convinced it was a contract murder.
1:09:05 > 1:09:08I'm convinced of that, absolutely convinced of it.
1:09:11 > 1:09:16Police in Tanzania are hunting the killers of a British filmmaker, Joan Root.
1:09:16 > 1:09:21She was shot in what friends suspect was an act of retaliation for her conservation work.
1:09:21 > 1:09:24The 69-year-old filmmaker and naturalist was shot
1:09:24 > 1:09:28in the early hours of this morning at the farmhouse in Naivasha.
1:09:28 > 1:09:30They tried to break the door,
1:09:30 > 1:09:34and finally they catch up with her in the bedroom,
1:09:34 > 1:09:40whereby they fired seven rounds of ammunition from supposedly an AK-47.
1:09:40 > 1:09:44Police are using dogs to try to track the gunmen
1:09:44 > 1:09:50and are under pressure, as this is the latest in a series of murders of white people in the Naivasha region.
1:09:50 > 1:09:55Friends believe her stand against poachers cost her her life.
1:09:55 > 1:09:57She was involved in dangerous ground,
1:09:57 > 1:10:04and wherever you are trying to regulate an unregulated market
1:10:04 > 1:10:08or impact on illegal activities, you're under threat.
1:10:08 > 1:10:14So my first feeling was, of course, that perhaps this was
1:10:14 > 1:10:17in some way the illegal fishermen getting back at her.
1:10:22 > 1:10:27Immediately, I thought Chege would probably have been involved.
1:10:27 > 1:10:32There were too many of Chege's family involved with Joan,
1:10:32 > 1:10:37with either loans or title deeds or one thing or another.
1:10:37 > 1:10:41They thought they would be better off with her out of the way.
1:10:47 > 1:10:52Joan's murder was the most high-profile case in years,
1:10:52 > 1:10:57and the police were under enormous pressure from the white community to find her killers.
1:10:58 > 1:11:03Within 24 hours, a tracker dog identified three men from the slums.
1:11:03 > 1:11:07The next day, Chege was also taken into custody.
1:11:11 > 1:11:16While we are here to celebrate Joan's life and the many benefits it bestowed on us,
1:11:16 > 1:11:23let us now allow our celebration that she lived become a cover or concealment for the way she died.
1:11:27 > 1:11:32I can't imagine anything more terrifying for anyone
1:11:32 > 1:11:36at two o'clock in the morning to have that happening,
1:11:36 > 1:11:42and, you know, I wish to God she'd collected one in the head and gone down,
1:11:42 > 1:11:45but instead of that she fought back
1:11:45 > 1:11:49and dragged herself into the bathroom.
1:11:51 > 1:11:56Joan was compassionate, to the point of being a soft touch.
1:11:56 > 1:11:59Nowhere is this more evidenced than in the loans and help she offered,
1:11:59 > 1:12:03not just to her own people, but others, too.
1:12:03 > 1:12:07Indeed, it may have contributed to her fate.
1:12:07 > 1:12:12I can't imagine that she screamed. I honestly can't imagine that she screamed.
1:12:13 > 1:12:18And if for whatever reason you need to be forgiven by Joan,
1:12:18 > 1:12:23let that forgiveness come now and let go of any hurt.
1:12:34 > 1:12:39When I came up to talk, the crown cranes, who I just have a way with,
1:12:39 > 1:12:42because I've always had cranes, came and danced around me.
1:12:44 > 1:12:47If there was something you thought you still wanted to say to her...
1:12:50 > 1:12:52It was just all so moving.
1:12:54 > 1:12:58Everything we did back in those years together
1:12:58 > 1:13:02she made possible. She was my right arm.
1:13:04 > 1:13:06She was the wind beneath my wings.
1:13:09 > 1:13:11And...
1:13:12 > 1:13:17And if we flew high and far in those days, it was because of her.
1:13:18 > 1:13:21Lots of tears.
1:13:23 > 1:13:26And then it rained.
1:13:26 > 1:13:32And, yeah, you can't have anything better in Kenya at a funeral or a wedding than for it to rain,
1:13:32 > 1:13:35because it was dry as hell and they needed rain.
1:13:35 > 1:13:39And a lot of people said, "Hey, she's up there and stirring it up already"!
1:13:46 > 1:13:49THUNDER ROARS
1:13:59 > 1:14:05Chege and the three other suspects languished in prison for more than a year before their case was heard.
1:14:06 > 1:14:11The judge found them innocent, citing no evidence.
1:14:11 > 1:14:14Chege and the others walked free.
1:15:06 > 1:15:11This place just doesn't work. The sort of politically correct term I think is "poor governance",
1:15:11 > 1:15:14but "poor" is a pretty mild term
1:15:14 > 1:15:21to describe the sort of intellectually impoverished kleptocracy that run this place.
1:15:21 > 1:15:27There was no way that there was going to be a proper trial with proper evidence.
1:15:27 > 1:15:33Barry Gaymer and I found half the bullets in the room that the police hadn't bothered to look for, even.
1:15:33 > 1:15:39The investigations that the police did were below par.
1:15:39 > 1:15:43The evidence was governed in a very shallow manner.
1:15:43 > 1:15:47Other than the shoes that were from the suspects,
1:15:47 > 1:15:54there was nothing of worth from the exhibits that were taken from the scene.
1:15:54 > 1:15:56Why?
1:15:56 > 1:16:02There was a lot of interference from the white community here.
1:16:02 > 1:16:04I do think...
1:16:04 > 1:16:09the interference started from the scene of the crime.
1:16:11 > 1:16:14The way things were being done by Luckhurst
1:16:14 > 1:16:18and the other members of the community who were living there,
1:16:18 > 1:16:23surely there is something they wanted to conceal.
1:16:40 > 1:16:43The story was far from over.
1:16:43 > 1:16:46Nearly a year and a half after Joan's death,
1:16:46 > 1:16:51the circumstances surrounding it were once again the subject of speculation.
1:16:51 > 1:16:57Her former neighbour, Diana Bunny, stood in the dock of the Naivasha courtroom.
1:16:57 > 1:16:59She and her cook, James Ombui,
1:16:59 > 1:17:06were charged with conspiracy to murder a former tenant of Diana, Brian Freeman.
1:17:06 > 1:17:13For some people around the lake, the near-fatal attack on Freeman had disturbing echoes.
1:17:13 > 1:17:17I had no idea who had murdered Joan at the time of her death.
1:17:17 > 1:17:21But Naivasha being a small community, of course everybody talks,
1:17:21 > 1:17:26and it soon became sort of common belief
1:17:26 > 1:17:31that Chege had done it. And nobody really thought further than that.
1:17:31 > 1:17:39It was only after the attempt on Mr Freeman's life that I and a few other people started to wonder
1:17:39 > 1:17:42whether there wasn't a similarity or a connection
1:17:42 > 1:17:47between his attempted murder and Joan's actual murder.
1:17:55 > 1:17:59Initially, when we moved in, it was a very sound relationship,
1:17:59 > 1:18:05but we'd only been in the property six months, and the water was turned off.
1:18:05 > 1:18:10She said we hadn't been paying our bills, when, in fact, we'd been paying the agent.
1:18:11 > 1:18:14And then it escalated.
1:18:14 > 1:18:19The dog was poisoned. We had a whole load of chickens - they were thrown over the fence with broken legs.
1:18:21 > 1:18:27We came across this mound of earth that had just been dug, looked in and there was this red pot.
1:18:27 > 1:18:33And we know James is a Kysi man, we know that the Kysis are well known for their witchcraft -
1:18:33 > 1:18:35we call it juju.
1:18:35 > 1:18:40So, um... I immediately became suspicious.
1:18:40 > 1:18:43Why was it laid in the middle of the road, our road?
1:18:47 > 1:18:50Freeman barely survived the assault.
1:18:50 > 1:18:57A bullet from an AK-47, the same model used in Joan's attack, shattered his left arm.
1:18:57 > 1:19:01The gun had misfired when pointed at his head.
1:19:01 > 1:19:07There's no doubt in my mind the person behind the attack was Diana and James.
1:19:07 > 1:19:11I have since seen police statements
1:19:11 > 1:19:15where they've admitted that they had meetings
1:19:15 > 1:19:18with a Mr Fixit
1:19:18 > 1:19:22who subsequently got the gang together
1:19:22 > 1:19:27and, in fact, stayed with them for three or four days before the attack took place.
1:19:27 > 1:19:29She paid.
1:19:29 > 1:19:32So it was a contract, really, put on my life by them.
1:19:32 > 1:19:38And I think the reason why was to get rid of me from the property.
1:19:38 > 1:19:40I had shown an interest.
1:19:40 > 1:19:45I have since learnt that because I showed that interest in buying the property
1:19:45 > 1:19:47that they no longer wanted me to stay.
1:19:51 > 1:19:56Someone told me that you'd confessed, you'd written some statement.
1:19:56 > 1:20:00Erm, there was... I think it was under...
1:20:00 > 1:20:06I just wasn't myself at all, and I don't even know what I'd...
1:20:06 > 1:20:11I was forced to, er, write things that I didn't...
1:20:13 > 1:20:15..even know I was writing.
1:20:15 > 1:20:18But, admittedly, there were probably some weak points.
1:20:18 > 1:20:20I haven't a clue what I wrote.
1:20:20 > 1:20:23I wasn't in my right mind,
1:20:23 > 1:20:29and I half-wondered if that was, erm, witchcraft,
1:20:29 > 1:20:33because you really don't know what you're...
1:20:33 > 1:20:36erm...doing.
1:20:39 > 1:20:42Were you behind the Freeman attack?
1:20:42 > 1:20:44Oh, no.
1:20:44 > 1:20:45No.
1:20:45 > 1:20:48I could never, never do that.
1:20:49 > 1:20:53The only weak part was that some of the gangsters
1:20:53 > 1:20:59were on the property, and I didn't know at the time they were...
1:20:59 > 1:21:03Occasionally there was a room we let visitors go into,
1:21:03 > 1:21:09James's visitors, as I thought at the time, but, erm...
1:21:09 > 1:21:14There were just a couple of them, and I didn't know it at the time, which is terrible.
1:21:14 > 1:21:16But other than that,
1:21:16 > 1:21:20I'd never dream of doing anything like that.
1:21:26 > 1:21:33Brian Freeman and his wife Esther had been living in Naivasha for only two months when Joan was killed.
1:21:33 > 1:21:37Esther had been on their property the morning after the attack
1:21:37 > 1:21:41and later told her husband what she'd seen and heard.
1:21:41 > 1:21:43She said that...
1:21:43 > 1:21:48Diana Bunny and James came across the fence.
1:21:48 > 1:21:51James was talking to the staff,
1:21:51 > 1:21:56telling them what he had learnt about the murder.
1:21:56 > 1:22:02Diana immediately came up to Esther and said, "That evil woman is now dead.
1:22:02 > 1:22:04"She's lying down dead.
1:22:04 > 1:22:08"Thank God for that. She's no longer here." Words to that effect,
1:22:08 > 1:22:10which surprised Esther very much.
1:22:10 > 1:22:17Not only did she say it, but she gestured as if, you know, she was really pleased about it.
1:22:19 > 1:22:25Her ongoing feud with Joan had made Diana feel her very physical safety was at risk.
1:22:29 > 1:22:33Do you think Joan was literally trying to get rid of you?
1:22:33 > 1:22:35Yes, she was. Yes.
1:22:35 > 1:22:37In what way?
1:22:37 > 1:22:45I don't know how she would have done it, but she was out for doing it, probably with her task force.
1:22:45 > 1:22:48Who knows?
1:22:48 > 1:22:52- You mean to kill you?- Yes, yes.
1:22:59 > 1:23:03There's also a rumour, and I feel I have to ask you this,
1:23:03 > 1:23:08because of your struggles with Joan Root that you might have been behind her attack.
1:23:12 > 1:23:18Erm, I suppose one's been gradually broken in over the years,
1:23:18 > 1:23:24because some terrible things have been said which aren't true,
1:23:24 > 1:23:26but it does hurt.
1:23:26 > 1:23:31But, erm, it break's one's heart, really,
1:23:31 > 1:23:38to think people can think that way, especially in the crime sort of way.
1:23:38 > 1:23:42That really does hurt, because I've never...I wouldn't...
1:23:42 > 1:23:46I wouldn't even dream of even thinking about it.
1:23:51 > 1:23:58In late 2009, Diana Bunny was acquitted of all charges relating to the attack on Freeman.
1:24:30 > 1:24:35All people like Joan who put their head up and survive
1:24:35 > 1:24:39or put their head up and don't survive, they do make an impact.
1:24:39 > 1:24:43We have progressed probably in the last 20 years or so
1:24:43 > 1:24:47from people like Joan being seen as cranks,
1:24:47 > 1:24:50only interested in butterflies and birds,
1:24:50 > 1:24:56to people who actually understand the fact this planet as we know it at the moment
1:24:56 > 1:24:59is the only planet we know which is habitable.
1:25:08 > 1:25:11Whatever anybody says now,
1:25:11 > 1:25:15they will remember the contribution that Joan Root made,
1:25:15 > 1:25:19creating an awareness of the environmental issues around Lake Naivasha.
1:25:19 > 1:25:21Joan Root started that.
1:25:21 > 1:25:24Joan Root was the one that actually put that in place.
1:25:35 > 1:25:42From my perspective, I have a different sort of legacy of which I would consider Joan.
1:25:42 > 1:25:44And it is this way.
1:25:44 > 1:25:49Here is Joan, with her idea, an ideal to try and conserve the lake.
1:25:49 > 1:25:51This task force thing
1:25:51 > 1:25:59took her out of the closet into an entirely different - almost - universe
1:25:59 > 1:26:03to which she had no idea how it works, how it operates,
1:26:03 > 1:26:07what difficulties and challenges, plus expectations it had.
1:26:07 > 1:26:10As a Naivashan,
1:26:10 > 1:26:12as someone who grew up here,
1:26:12 > 1:26:15what she funded is a brutal force.
1:26:15 > 1:26:19So it's a legacy of a bit of pain and suffering
1:26:19 > 1:26:23and a rich person there telling us how to live,
1:26:23 > 1:26:27and yet they live and have everything and we only trying to make a living.
1:26:27 > 1:26:31And she even funds some of the people that we know to suppress us,
1:26:31 > 1:26:35to deny us the chance,
1:26:35 > 1:26:38a chance for livelihood.
1:26:57 > 1:27:01Joan was a through-and-through conservationist.
1:27:03 > 1:27:06If there's progress, wherever the progress is,
1:27:06 > 1:27:11there's always certain sectors or elements who won't be happy about the progress.
1:27:11 > 1:27:13So here it is...
1:27:13 > 1:27:19on one hand, a very strong commercial, economical progress
1:27:19 > 1:27:22which is to a certain degree,
1:27:22 > 1:27:26um... in conflict with the environment.
1:27:39 > 1:27:45I guess her life, really, and her life story was a...
1:27:45 > 1:27:47microcosm of what is happening
1:27:47 > 1:27:54not just to Kenya and Africa, but to the rest of the world,
1:27:54 > 1:28:00that in the name of progress, we're destroying so much of value.
1:28:02 > 1:28:07It's terrifying, the speed at which wildness is disappearing
1:28:07 > 1:28:10everywhere around the world.
1:28:10 > 1:28:16It's all getting paved over and turned into shopping malls and flower farms and you name it.
1:28:18 > 1:28:23I really am thankful that I have two little boys
1:28:23 > 1:28:30and have to hope that the world is going to at least be liveable for them,
1:28:30 > 1:28:34although it's going to be nothing like the world I knew.
1:29:08 > 1:29:11Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd