BLOGS FROM THE MOUNTAIN

 Photo: Masai warriors at Oloika, Ntulele in Narok.  By Thomas Chemelil The 2024 Christmas has found me in Oloika, in Ntulele within the expansive Narok. The mission is to share in the joy of one Edward Mberia Koonyo as he celebrates God's favour in his life. I am sandwitched within the red Masai shukas as song and dance rents the air to celebrate the occasion. I am joined by none other than Elijah Manangoi and Wycliff Kinyamal, two legendary Masai athletes who have joined Mberia on the occasion. Kinyamal leads me in learning the scintillating Masai moves. I know I have failed, but as the one and only messenger from the hills, I cannot allow failure to come in between me and glory. Masai women rhythmically dance to the tunes belted by two reknown Masai artists. I have forgotten their names though because my head rushes to the well cooked Nyama Choma served on the fresh leaves of local herb trees. The inviting aroma cannot allow me to master the names of the two artists. Soup l...

 Photo/Pinterest: A Pokot elder By Thomas Chemelil The date? 24th April 1950. The event? The callous murder at Kolloa in Baringo. The players? A pokot Dini ya Msambwa convert called Lukas Pkech and a young British Administrator called Alan Stevens. By the time the smoke of the guns dissipated that fateful morning, Lucas Pkech, 28 of his converts, 3 British Nationals including Alan Stevens and one unnamed African Askari lay in a pool of blood-dead! History would record this event as the Kolloa Affray. Yet the historians should have been kind enough to just call it a massacre. How the Dini ya Msambwa found its way to East Baringo is not known. It is however clear that Lukas Pkech, a Pokot convert, took the teachings of its founder- Elijah Masinde- so seriously that he used his movement to preach against the colonial government near the Kolloa area. Stevens attempt to curb his influence led to the confrontation on the 24th April  1950 as over 300 Msambwa converts armed with spear...

Photo/A-Z. animals.com: Jarring flash of thunder.  By Thomas Chemelil It is the cold season of July approaching furiously. The biting cold that can chill any strong heart into submission is here with us. Outside, the jarring flashes of Amadioha,he of the thunderbolt, and his incessant weeping conspire to create a sombre mood. The gentle murmur of the rains as it pounds the corrugated sheets of iron create a lulling effect. In the mountains of the gods, a heavy blanket of mist descends to pile misery on the populace. This is compounded by the treacherous roads. The people of Karena and Sambalat must be watching the mist above them. It will remind them of the story of their early inhabitants who thought that the mist in Embobut had killed all the inhabitants in the hill. The story is told that when the mist had cleared, the Valley residents prepared to go and harvest maize left behind by the highland people killed by the mist.  On arrival, they were suprised to find children pla...

By Thomas Chemelil The year is the early 1950s. The actors, mzee Kidomo, mzee Chemelil Yatich and a band of sixteen Komora men or thereabouts. The mission: to snatch a beautiful damsel from Kipsaiya who was attending catechism classes at AIM Kapsowar. The place was then known as Kaptibiim(The place of the girls). P9rior to the event, that was to reshape history, the elders of Kapkomora had noted that Tamsi, a member of the Korongoro age set, had lagged behind his agemates in the business of marriage. A 'farwa' was declared that the subsequent generation, the Kaberur, would not be allowed to marry until Tamsi had a wife.! It was therfore the responsibility of the Kaberur age set to find a wife for mzee Tamsi. Unfortunately for them, the white missionaries at Kapsowar AIM had grouped all girls who were ripe for marriage for religious classes. A decision was reached by the Kaberur men to snatch one damsel, Kimoi of Kipsaiya, from the jaws of the white missionaries. The leader of t...

photo/Source: Rt. Hon. Raila By Thomas Chemelil For almost a decade, I have followed comrade Amolo Odinga in his political sojourn which has been riddled will melodramatic twists and turns. He has continuously played the role of villain in Kenya's political stage. Like a marionette, we have continuously twisted him on stage to suite our story, both foe and friend being guilty of this.  Yet it saddens me to see him exit the stage in such an ignominious and less exciting manner. Like all legendary figures of African tales, the hero is not immortal. His end comes.  For Raila, It has been always a case of so near, yet so far. That such a man who has fought so hard to liberate our country should exit without a trophy to show for his efforts saddens even the harshest of his critics, me included.  I have had cut-throat discourses with his die-hard supporter- Edward Igesa- who has spared no apt adjective to describe his hero. I have always sought to convince him that Raila lacks ...

photo credit/Source: Kipteber Hill in Marakwet West, Elgeyo Marakwet County.  By Thomas Chemelil Cherang'any hills tower above the skies to the East of this place like the legendary tower of Babel. To the North, I can discern the obstinate Zebu bull-hump that is the legendary Kipteber hill. For those who don't know Kipteber, It is a small hilly piece of huge rock that  is thought to have fallen from the skies. It indeed looks odd in its environment and must have indeed fallen from the skies. Legend has it that a group of men and women were making merry and dancing. As they were doing so, a crow came and warned them that there was a huge rock falling from the sky. The people, thinking that the crow was lying chased it away. They could not fathom how a rock could fall from the sky. They continued with their partying. Soon after, the entire sky was engulfed by an unusual darkness. When the people looked up, they indeed saw a huge rock falling from the sky! They then desperately t...