Nandi Resistance

The Nandi Resistance was a military conflict that took place in present-day Kenya between 1890 and 1906. It involved members of the Kalenjin ethnic group, mainly from the Nandi section, and elements of the British Army. The close of the 19th century, a time referrefed to as the "'pacification' period" by Matson, saw a number of local populations that resisted the occupation of their lands by the British. Of these, the Nandi resistance would stand out for being the longest and most tenacious.

The Nandi resistance was led by Koitalel Arap Samoei, the Orkoiyot of the Nandi at the time. On October 19, 1905, on the grounds of what is now Nandi Bears Club, Arap Samoei was asked to meet Col Richard Meinertzhagen for a truce. Instead, Meinertzhagen killed Koitalel and his entourage in cold blood.

In the later decades of the 19th century, at the time when the early European explorers started advancing into the interior of Kenya, Nandi territory was a closed country. Thompson in 1883 was warned to avoid the country of the Nandi, who were known for attacks on strangers and caravans that would attempt to scale the great massif of the Mau.

Nandi suspicion was not without cause. Like many other indigenous cultures, Kalenjin prophets foretold the coming of the white man and among the Nandi, Mongo and the Orkoiyot Kimnyole's prophesies were the most notable examples. Mongo was more detailed in his account, foretelling the arrival of the white people and warning against fighting them for they were powerful. Kimnyole, before his assassination only predicted that the confrontation would have a significant impact on the Nandi. Flush with their victories against their neighboring tribes and the Arabs however, the Nandi believed that they would succeed in protecting their homelands.

Seven years after Thompson's foray, only three small European caravans including his, had entered Nandi but no significant contact had been made. The only solid information was gathered from the Maasai who Hannington related regarded the Nandi tribe "to be the most difficult to deal with for its fighting powers".

Matson, in his account of the resistance, shows 'how the irresponsible actions of two British traders, Andrew Dick and Peter West, quickly upset the precarious modus vivendi between the Nandi and incoming British'. This would lead to more than a decade of conflict.

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