The story of colonialism in Kenya would not be complete without mentioning the legendary Nandi leader, Koitalel arap Samoei, who led a movement against British rule. His story has been immortalised in a museum in Nandi Hills.
A political and spiritual leader, Samoei ruled the community with the support of 24 elders. On October 19, 1905, Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen duped Koitalel and the elders that they had come to make a truce at Ket Barak, which now hosts the Nandi Bears Club.
“When he reached the venue, the colonel killed the elders, then, at 11am he shot Koitalel dead,” says Mt Francis Tallam, the curator at the Koitalel arap Samoei Museum, now under the National Museums of Kenya.
The outside wall of the museum that President Mwai Kibaki opened in 2012 is painted white, a fitting colour, since Koitalel means “a white stone”.
It has two doors with the main one facing Mt Elgon in the north-east, believed to be the point where the Kalenjin entered the country during their migration.
On the eastern side is Koitalel’s symbolic grave overlaid with marble. It is short, to show that his head is missing. The British took it to London.
Four pillars support mausoleum’s inner roof just like the traditional stool of Nandi elders. The structure signifies communal stability and unity.
There is also a house the colonialists built for Samoei’s son, Barsian arap Manyei. Between 1918 and 1962, he was jailed in different prisons in Murang’a and Mfangano islands.
“They lied to him that they had built him a house, but he rejected it, saying, he could not live in a house next to his father’s grave since it would remind him of how he was killed,” says Mr Tallam, who is also the museum’s assistant director.
Manyei had been charged with illegal possession of firearms and organising resistance against the kipande system, which required Africans to wear identity cards around their necks at all times or face punishment.
In 1962, Manyei was released after the Nandi Legislative Council member Jean-Marie Seroney petitioned for his release ahead of Kenya’s independence.
Inside the gallery are artefacts depicting the rich history of the Kalenjin. They include traditional items such as simple handbags made from hides and skin, an oval-shaped shield made from buffalo skin, a brass breast cover worn by Nandi women, spears and a variety of gourds for various occasions.
There are also three sticks Samoei used, which were returned from London in 2006. One is Y-shaped and represented his religious or spiritual role, a club-shaped military stick, and another that represented his political role.
In 2006, scholars Kipkoech arap Sambu and Kinyango arap Seroney, together with Col Randle Meinertzhangen, the son of Col Richard Meinertzhangen, witnessed the handing over of the artefacts to the museum.
“Ten thousand artefacts confiscated from the Nandi are in the Pitts Rivers and other British museums in London,” Mr Tallam says, adding that the colonialists took about 100,000 other items from the various communities.
The county and national governments plan to build a new Sh20 million museum for which 16 acres have been acquired.
The back door, which faces the south, is small and one has to bend to pass. It is used mainly during ceremonies, especially after boys are circumcised.
Standing in the compound are two, huge fig (simatwet) trees, one of which is believed to be on the spot the hero was buried more than 100 years ago.
Next to the museum are two grass-thatched huts, kot ab gaa, filled with Kalenjin regalia commemorating the major events in the community’s history.
Koitalel arap Samoei was born in 1850 in Aldai, Nandi County.
He was the fourth and last-born son of Kipnyole arap Turgat, a renowned Nandi prophet.
The Nandi were a highly autonomous people, so they viewed British colonialism as an infringement on their territory. Samoei led a rebellion against colonial rule for 12 years.
He was lured to his death by the British during what was supposed to be a peace meeting. He was shot dead on October 19, 2015 by Col Richard Meinertzhangen.
