BLOGS FROM THE MOUNTAIN

Photo/pinterest: Champions trophy.  By Thomas Chemelil Saturday evening finds me glued to our popular HD screen in the hood. I am so excited by the impending clash between the Madrid fellas and the overated Liverpool led by their Egyptian Pharaoh, Mo Salah. Like the Egyptian god Osiris, Mohammed Salah walks into the pitch astute as an ancient pyramid. A wave of excitement sweeps through the enthusiastic crowd of Liverpool fans as they bow in honour of their god, Moha Salah. Suleiman Mane walks into the pitch, his dark hue momentarily taking away the glow from Salah's radiant entry.  Christiano Ronaldo, the great Portuguese explorer who roams the turbulent sea of the football pitch without fear, walks in majestically. He shines, in the words of Shakespeare, like a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear! I see the ebony Marcello arrive in the pitch stoically, obviously aware that this is another carnival in Rio.  Sergio Ramos saunters into the pitch with a sly, wry smile. Little do w...

  Photo/corafrika: Prof. Ramenga Osotsi By Thomas Chemelil My dear readers, the holy writ says clearly that the love of knowledge is the beginning of wisdom. I do not know the exact verse because I have spend so much of my time in the hills in communion with the gods of the hill. Two decades ago, I embarked on a journey to explore the world through its Literature. I must admit that it has been a rich experience for me to visit the entire world without buying a single ticket! I am greatly indebted to my great teachers Prof. Ramenga Osotsi, Adalo Moga, Prof. Owino Rew, Kitche Magak, Prof. Luvai and the great feminist Prof. Wangari Mwai for embracing in me the value of words which are aesthetically used to create a lasting impression. You must forgive me for being impatient with men whose sentences are akin to what Prof. Owino Rew would call Chomsky's  'colourless green grass which eat green snakes.' We must always attach aesthetic value to our discourse. We must follow the di...

Photo/facebook: A smile from Rael By Thomas Chemelil It is Friday evening. The blogger from the hill is winding off at the noisy Marura market.  A sea of humanity is gathered here with the hope of salvaging a cheap second-hand item from the mean traders. The air is filled with the suffocating smell of fish and human sweat. Unable to withstand it any longer, I choose to take refuge in the peaceful environment that is my abode. As I get out of the market,  a dark car pulls by and, to my surprise, somebody  shouts my name from the confines of the car. The echo of her voice reverberates from the car.  The voice is familiar. As I edge closer, the unmistakable smile of madam Rugut greets me. "Brother Tom," she shouts . Wow! What a re-union! This was the beginning of one of the best chicken eating sessions of my life. My journey with Madam Rael Rugut began way back at the only school that bears the name and weight of a District- Marakwet High School. I recall the passion wi...

Photo/icirnigeria.org: Prof. Elechi Amadi By Thomas Chemelil Agwatorumbe walked along the path to Chiolu. He was a popular dibia(medicineman) and whenever the children spotted him, they followed him as they chanted,"Turumbe! Turumbe!" When he arrived at Anyika's village, Anyika asked him,"What brings you here?" "The same old business of chasing away spirits," Turumbe replied. Indeed am alluding to the great work by one of Nigeria's finest writer, Elechi Amadi, The Concubine. Sadly Elechi Amadi is no more. He has gone to keep company his ancestors in the land yonder- the land of no return. I know Chinua Achebe will welcome him with a warm bowl of porridge. He will place a warm yam  in his hand and welcome him with a broad smile. Yet this will not happen before they break Kola. The heroine of Amadi's story is Ihuoma, an ill-fated woman who has had the dishonour of 'killing' every man who marries her.  Several men marry her, but they all e...

By Thomas Chemelil Mzee Koshellei Rianakow Kasikowit of Kitarian , Kapsaniak in Marakwet East (God rest his soul in peace), cut an enigmatic figure even in his sunset years. He was tall and had a lithe, athletic figure. His purely white hair and shiny, dangling ornaments suspended on his pierced earlobes gave him the image of an extraterrestrial being. His high cheekbones and his shiny, active eyes gave him a macho image.  When he spoke, a staff firmly held in his big palms, his guttural voice would always pull the attention of his or her listeners.  He passed on at roughly 110 years of age in 1990. This age was arrived at because of his explanations that he participated in the construction of the Kenya-Uganda railway. This assertion was lend credence by the copper ornaments dangling on his extended earlobes. All his peers never had such ornaments.  For him to have participated in the construction of the railway, he must have been over 16-20 years old. Mzee Koshellei Rian...

By Thomas Chemelil In the not so distant past in Marakwet land existed a clan known as Kakuru in Marakwet East Sub-County. Yet today, Kakuru clan has been wiped from the screen of history. Do you know why? Am seated with Augustine Komen, a man from Kamogo Village, the Clan of Hon. Kangogo Bowen. Augustine Komen is making my evening lovely with the tale of of the Kakuru Clan which disappeared from the face of history because of their cruel nature! The story is told of how the Kakuru Clan was so cruel to their neighbours that each time they were aware that a visitor was coming to their village they would welcome him to sit on a stone-stool that had,out of their cruelty, been pre-heated with fire to make it hard for the visitors to sit on.  Any time a visitor sat on the pre-heat stone, he would have his bare backside scalded by the hotly heated stone! It would really hurt the visitors that their hosts would mistreat them in such a manner.  The neighbours of the Kakuru Clan were n...

  By Thomas Chemelil Photo/angelUS: Priest offering blessings in Northern Kenya.  This world is full of tales to tell. If it is not about Loti Pen and his lost wallet, the  Kakuru Clan or Edward Igesa and his allegiance to Elizabeth Akata, it will be about the legendary hill of Kipteber and the crow that warned people about a falling rock. Today, I will tell you the story of the Bishop's driver who was forced to "bless" cattle rustlers along the Soko Bora-Chesegon stretch. One day, in the not so distant past, the story is told, the late Bishop Cornelius Korir was from a peace mission in Kerio Valley. As fate would have it, the late Bishop decided to head back to Eldoret on a chopper that the Deputy President had used then. He instructed his dutiful driver to take the vehicle back to Eldoret. That journey by road would remain etched in the memory of the said driver to date. Somewhere along Kapkobil, the driver came face-to-face with a team of armed cattle rustlers who stop...

By Thomas Chemelil Anybody who has been to Embobut must have come across the legendary name 'Loti Pen'- a corruption of its English equivalent of Lord Ben. Almost every conversation with the locals will not end without mention of the exploits of this legendary  figure, Loti Pen. The story is told of how Loti Pen went to Kapsowar one day. As fate would have it, he missed a matatu on his return journey to Embobut. Loti Ben arrived in Chesoi and decided to pay a visit to Jeremiah to taste his holy waters before embarking on the arduous journey on foot to the holy mountains. After several swallows for the road, Loti Pen begun his punitive 32km journey to Embobut. He arrived home safely, but dog-tired. It was then that Loti Pen fumbled in his pockets only to realise that he had left his wallet and its precious contents 32km away! Not a man to easily give up, Loti Pen instructed his dutiful wife to fill his kerosene lamp for him with enough mafuta and light it for him as he had to go...

Photo/RaymondOmollo.org: president Ruto addressing parliament By Thomas Chemelil  President Ruto, in his address to the nation, got the tone of his message right. By all standards, it was an inspiring speech that addressed the needs of the people directly. The President, in his speech, appeared to listen to the concerns of the ordinary people by cancelling the controversial Adani deal that had been accused of attempting to take away Kenya's sovereignity. Kenyans were not happy with the Adani deal because of the alleged shaddy deals of Adani in other countries. In opposing it, they were attempting to protect what is rightfully a national strategic asset. For once, the President allowed action to speak for itself. He threw Adani under the bus and Kenyans were elated by this development. The President equally appeared concilliatory as he reminded Kenyans that their right to protest, within the confines of law, will always be protected. This was good news to the Maandamano-,loving Gen-...