Heroes from yesteryears whose names are immortalised by deeds
By Kipkoech Komugor
Long before Kenya’s Independence, there were heroes. These are people whose exploits were so outstanding they were put on a pedestal by their communities.
Koitalel arap Samoei
Even before the British landed in their territory, Koitalel, a Nandi prophet and chief, had foretold their coming. In his prophesy, he warned of the coming of a long, fire-spitting snake that would pass through Nandi land. The prophesy came to pass with the building of the Kenya-Uganda railway, which was not only a symbol of the British penetration of the hinterland but also helped them establish their power and influence on the people.
Koitalel led a decade-long resistance of the building of the railway through their territory. The resistance ended on October 19, 1905 when the British tricked him to a meeting supposedly to negotiate peace, but ended up killing him.
Syokimau
To most Kenyans, Syokimau is but a residential area in Machakos county. But before the estate was a person, a famous prophetess, who like Koitalel arap Samoei, warned the Kamba people about the coming of colonial rule. And just like Koitalel, she saw it coming in the form of a snake moving from one body of water (Indian Ocean) to another (L Victoria). Not long after her prophesy, the Kenya-Uganda railway was built.
She also predicted the coming of a people with strange colour who carried fire in their pockets. Before this, Syokimau helped Kamba warriors prepare for war with the Maasai and Gikuyu communities by predicting attacks.
Muindi Mbingu
When in 1938 the British ordered the Kamba to reduce their livestock — and in fact seized 2,000 cattle — ostensibly to address soil degradation, Muindi Mbingu, who was a police officer in the colonial administration, was not amused. He quit the police in a huff and led members of the community in a 60-kilometre walk to Nairobi to protest to then colonial governor Robert Brooke-Propham. After camping in Nairobi for a month, the demonstrators were allowed to have their cattle back.
The cattle left the colonial detention but Mbingu didn’t. Realising that the young ex-cop was a potential trouble maker, the British arrested and detained him in Lamu for eight years. Mbingu was killed by Mau Mau fighters in 1953 who suspected him of being an informer.
Otenyo Nyamaterere
He is best remembered for attacking a colonial administrator with a spear. The attack on the administrator inspired widespread rebellion against the British among the members of the Abagusii community.
Like in the case of Muindi Mbingu, Otenyo was angered by the British habit of confiscating the cattle of the natives. In one of the raids, the community lost 8,000 cattle and Otenyo led a group of warriors in a retaliatory attack against the British. It was during the attack that he speared a young officer named Geoffrey Alexander Northcote. Otenyo was arrested, tried in public and shot by a firing squad. His head was cut off and taken to London where it is said to be on display on a British museum.
Elijah Masinde
Formerly Masinde wa Mwasame, the Bukusu anti-colonial crusader was also known as the leader of the Dini ya Msambwa sect. Masinde was also a notable footballer who at one time played for the national team in 1930s.
In 1944, he led the local community to defy the colonial authorities. His attack on a colonial chief landed him in prison. He was even confined at the Mathari Mental Hospital for two years after the British said he was insane.
He was again arrested and in 1948 and charged with sedition and being a member of the Dini Ya Msambwa. Masinde remained in detention until the early 1960s.
Independence didn’t bring relief to him. The Jomo Kenyatta government detained him for
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apparently spreading religious hatred and banned Dini ya Msambwa. He died in 1987.
Lenana
The name is synonymous with a famous school. But the man who ‘donated’ the name was a powerful Maasai laibon (chief) whose power struggles with his rebellious brother, Senteu, forced him to enter into an alliance with the British colonial government for support. Because of Lenana’s collaboration with the British, he was given protection from his brother and other communities, like the Kikuyu, and in return, he allowed them to build the railway and occupy Maasai land. While the collaboration led the loss of their territory, like the Laikipia plains, to the settlers, the Maasai were spared devastating war with British, which other communities that resisted their rule suffered.
Dedan Kimathi
Dedan Kimathi (pictured) is easily the best known anti-colonial fighter because he was the head of the Mau Mau, Kenya’s biggest resistance movement against colonial rule. Kimathi started as a soldier of the colonial government but could not last a month, apparently because of his unruliness. Later he dabbled in politics and at one time was a branch official of the Kenya African Union, one of the many African parties fighting for independence.
But it was in the militant anti-colonial rebellion in the 1950s that Kimathi found his calling, rising through the ranks to become the military and spiritual leader of the Mau Mau. The brutal war severely tested the British resolve and is considered one of the major contributors to Kenya’s independence in 1963. Kimathi was captured on October 21, 1956, charged and executed. He was buried at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in an unmarked grave that is yet to be found.
Luanda Magere
In Luo folklore, Luanda Magere was a great warrior who possessed extra-ordinary powers. According to fable, his body could not be penetrated by arrows and spears and was a valuable asset to the Luo in their wars with the Lang’o (Nandi). Like the story of Samson of the Bible, Magere’s fall was brought about by his enemies who tricked him into marrying one of their daughters. She later found out where the warriors weakness was — his shadow. The Nandi woman went back to her people with the invaluable military intelligence.
In the next battle, a Nandi warrior knew where exactly to aim to fell Luanda Magere. He died in battle and his body turned into a huge stone which is now a tourist attraction in River Nyando, Kisumu.
