Murdered tourist Julie Ward's family vow to continue father's fight

Family of murdered British tourist Julie Ward, 28, vow to continue her father’s 35-year fight to pin her murder on the son of then-President of Kenya Daniel arap Moi

• Brothers Bob and Tim have vowed to continue their parents’ tireless work 
• Read more: Father who devoted his life to finding his daughter’s murderers dies

The family of murdered British tourist Julie Ward has pledged to continue her father John’s unrelenting 35-year fight to nail the prime suspect for her murder in Kenya.

Julie, 28, died on a photographic safari in the Masai Mara game reserve near the Tanzanian border in 1988 and hotelier Mr Ward battled cover-up, corruption and even alleged collusion by MI6 to try and bring his daughter’s killer to justice.

Mr Ward’s death at the age of 89 was announced this week, only two weeks after his wife Jan, who was the same age.

Now their sons Bob, 60, and Tim, 61, have vowed to continue their parents’ tireless work to pin the murder on Jonathan Moi, son of the then President of Kenya, Daniel arap Moi.

The evidence Mr Ward gathered during over 150 trips to Kenya left him in no doubt that Moi had raped and murdered Julie.

Julie Ward (pictured) was kidnapped while on holiday in Kenya

Yesterday John Ward’s son Bob announced his father had died. Tragically Julie Ward’s mother Janette also died last month

Now their sons Bob, 60, and Tim, 61, (pictured with their sister Julie) have vowed to continue their parents’ tireless work

The family want to pin the murder on Jonathan Moi (pictured), son of the then President of Kenya, Daniel arap Moi

Such was the level of corruption in the Kenyan government and police that it took the authorities a year to even admit that she had been murdered, and blamed wild animals for her death – something which particularly upset the Ward family, given Julie’s love of animals.

Julie had vanished near the Park’s Serena Lodge as she drove to pack up her tents and was due to head for Nairobi for a flight home to her family in Suffolk the next day.

Initial police reports blamed her death on animals, or even suicide, despite the fact her body had been mutilated with a bladed weapon and partially burnt.

With gritty determination, John Ward, the multi-millionaire boss of a chain of hotels, used every ounce of his energy and razor-sharp intellect to build the case against Moi, who died in 2019 from cancer.

The Kenyans only officially owned up to their part in the cover-up at Julie’s inquest in Ipswich, Suffolk, in 2004

Coroner Peter Dean praised John’s campaign, saying: ‘It is impossible not to have been moved by the unrelenting dedication of Mr Ward and his sheer determination to seek the truth against what appears to have been a mounting wall of official obstruction and ludicrous misinformation.’

In 1991 John published a book called The Animals Are Innocent: The Search for Julie’s Killers, telling the story of his fight for justice up until then.

The 28-year-old wildlife photographer (right) was murdered in 1998

Julie Ward’s (left) father died without seeing his daughter’s killer brought to justice  

Julie War’s (pictured) father made 200 trips to Kenya in his bid to solve his daughter’s murder

Speaking of his father’s dedication, Bob Ward told the East Anglian Daily Times he was following leads ‘until the end’.

‘His eyes started giving up, as did his hearing, but he never stopped,’ he added.

‘We’ve been helping him for the last six years and loved working with him.

‘He was a truly extraordinary man, a relentless individual and both he and my mother will be greatly missed.’

Now, he and his brother will take up the mantle and a second book by their father, as well as a documentary, are on the way.

Mr Ward added: ‘I always said to dad, if we can’t win the legal challenges, let’s at least expose them and tell everyone the truth.’

READ MORE: Devoted parents who spent £2million trying to find daughter Julie Ward’s killers after she was raped and murdered in Kenya die within days of each other – but their sons vow to continue the quest for justice

John Ward claimed Moi and his drunken friends came across Julie when she stopped to photograph the wildlife near the Serena Lodge in the Masai Mara. Moi owned a large farm not far away.

He says Moi then raped and murdered her as his sidekicks prevented farm manager Ibrahim Choge stepping in to stop him. Moi’s men were then ordered to dispose of her body, John claimed.

Mr Choge – who was married to President Moi’s daughter Doris – quit his job for the family.

He died in a suspicious road accident 10 years later, which Mr Ward claimed happened after Choge threatened to expose Moi.

Mr Choge’s father Simeon, a former assistant government minister, also claimed his son’s death was orchestrated and blamed police for allegedly covering it up.

John told the Mirror in 2020: ‘A lot of information has been gathered over the years. For a long time, anything I gathered I reported to Scotland Yard, expecting them to act on it, but they never did.’

In 1992 two park rangers were charged but cleared in court. In 1998 Simon Ole Makallah, chief park ranger at the time, was arrested. He was cleared the following year. John always believed all three were scapegoats.

The Suffolk coroner also heard how MI6 had been in contact with Kenyan police within days of the murder.

An unnamed agent admitted he could not explain the involvement of the Secret Intelligence Service, but denied it was part of a cover-up.

A separate report by Jon Stoddart, later chief constable of Durham, accused Kenyan police of being ‘brazen, deceitful and dishonest’.

John Ward (left), who devoted his life to hunting the brutal killers of his daughter Julie Ward in Kenya, died yesterday after his wife Janette (right) died last month

John Ward told in 2020 of a new witness who came forward with crucial information about Moi, following the suspect’s death.

‘Once Moi died, people were more willing to speak,’ he said.

‘I met one guy who was able to tell us Moi had been in the park, had been in that immediate area where the body was found, and he had proof.

‘When I met him he was physically trembling.’

Compared to his eminent father, Jonathan Moi, known as ‘JT’ was merely a playboy, happy to spend his money on lavish entertaining and indulging his fondness for rally driving.

His only attempt at standing for a Parliamentary seat failed when his father refused to back him, and likewise, any prospect of him going for the presidency fizzled out.

John Ward wrote in Nairobi Law Monthly of the dramatic moment when he first heard the name of Moi as the prime suspect.

As he waited for transport at one of the Mara lodges, a ‘large lady’ approached him and furtively pressed a folded note into his hand.

It said: ‘The man who killed your daughter is Jonathan Moi’, with a Mombasa PO Box number.

He later learned that the woman sold second-hand clothes to the wives of park rangers and Moi’s guilt was an open secret among the staff and their families, but all were too frightened to say so.

Bob and Tim Ward are as determined as their father and mother to see justice done, even if Moi managed to escape it in his lifetime.

Bob told the Mirror ‘We will never stop.’

‘There have been lies and cover-ups all the way along.

‘The Kenyan government and British government were both complicit in attempting to cover up Julie’s murder. This isn’t over.’

Tim added: ‘The facts clearly suggest Jonathan Moi killed Julie.

‘We know that but the authorities still refuse to admit it.

‘Both governments [in Kenya and the UK] know this as well, but it became too much of a big issue for both of them. But we do have the evidence.’

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