The Sosian lodgehas been closed indefinitely after continued attacks by bandits leading to loss of lives and destruction of property worth millions of shillings.
Richard Constant, one of the Directors of Sosian
on Monday said the decision had been reached by the management and 21 members of their staff have been made redundant.
The
management has
said it will re-open the lodge
when and if it is safe to do so.
However, they believe it will take several years to rebuild what was a productive, successful business.
"On Friday, June 2, the Directors of Sosian
made the very difficult decision to shut the lodge
for the foreseeable future. The destruction of three valuable properties and the murder of Tristan Voorspuy can be laid squarely at the door of those political leaders who incited the Pokot and Samburu invasion," he stated.
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Constant further called on the government to intervene on the security issue in the area to avert the closure of more businesses in the area.
"As a business, we call for the disarmament of the illegal weapons possessed by those who still unlawfully sit on our property and the arrest of their ring leaders. Many of our neighbours to whom we provided grazing in past droughts have suffered just as much at the hands of these terrorists.”
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He said businesses are making losses with the lodge shareholders having re-invested all profits into the cattle and tourism business, creating some 150 permanent jobs.
"Sosian’s reputation as a tourism destination in Laikipia was highly rated bringing over 1,870 bed nights in 2016. The mothballing of the tourism lodge
will undoubtedly hurt Laikipia from both a reputational and economic perspective."
Constant said that invaders have killed 13 elephants for their ivory in Sosian.
Numerous other species, including the endangered Grevy’s zebra, impala, hartebeest and buffaloes have been found riddled with bullets and their meat crudely butchered.
Reports from the Laikipia Farmers Association LFA’s membership show that wildlife patterns have been severely disrupted, risking serious damage to one of Laikipia’s most important industries, tourism. The county’s conservancies that support rhino are operating under intense pressure with the proximity of so many armed opportunists.
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