Freedom fighters, heroes and traditional leaders who led their communities to fight the British government during colonization have been celebrated and widely recognized but little is known about Barsirian arap Manyei.
He is arguably Kenya’s longest-serving political detainee and a son to Orkoiyot Koitalel Arap Samoei of the Nandi community who was murdered in 1905 by the colonialists.
Barsirian arap Manyei born in 1882 was the second born son and he took over the office of the Orkoiyot in 1919 from his elder brother, Kipeles Arap Tamasun who had died under unclear circumstances. Kipeles Arap Tamasun had succeeded Koitalel Samoei.
Barsirian ruled for three years before his life took a U-turn when he was arrested in 1922 and arraigned in Eldoret Magistrate court charged with sedition. He was sentenced and deported to Nyeri, then moved to Meru by the new year until 1964, thus spending forty-two years in prison making him Kenya’s longest-serving political detainee.
At independence, Arap Manyei was among Kenyans who gathered at Uhuru gardens to witness the hoisting of Kenya’s flag and he crowned Kenya’s first Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta with Nandi tradition gown when he visited Rift Valley on January 17, 1964, at Nakuru.
During his detention, Barsirian arap Manyei lost his all property and his family was subjected to torture and suffering. He died in 1974 as a ‘poor hero’ and his remains were buried at Lemoru in Uasin Gishu county.
Credit: Lennie Croozy
…but wait till you hear how he was treated after independence by our leaders, quite inexplicable. Posting soon.
8-4-4 was clearly well designed propaganda erasing characters the govt. was uncomfortable with. Watoto wafunzwe kuhusu Kenyatta, Moi, Gichuru, Tom Mboya, Harry Thuku, Jaramogi, Ngala etc.
A person like Orkoiyot Barsiran here is clearly historically important but he was left out. Just as Dedan Kimathi was only mentioned in passing. Who were his other generals? Who will tell their story? Who will tell the story of other Orkoiyots?
Nabongo Mumia a collaborator was in the syllabus… but they left out Barsiran and Kimnyole… ni sawa tu Moi na Jomo. Bado tumejua hawa heroes many years later.
What a sad story…i have read so much Kenyan history but this i have never heard… .and then Jomo rose to be the founding father…
The forgotten heroes… these leaders who started resisting the British settlements in the 1800 and early 1900 had real guts… their stories should be published n preserved in special places where they will never be forgotten…
1.Koitalel Arap Samoei
2.Mekatilili Wa Menza
3.Waiyaki wa Hinga
4.
Their stories have very sad endings …
add more please…
Btw it was Jaramogi who uttered words in the legco that would eventually initiate tha chain of events that ultimately led to Kenyatta becoming premier.
Only to treat him like trash later when they differed. Humans
I think Kenya would have been better of if the younger guys took over power…they were more progressive.
Tom Mboya, James Gichuru , Mwai Kibaki etc… Kenyatta was just too greedy and tribal… Oginga would have led us to the communist way.
I also hear these young guys had written off Kenyatta as too old,circumstances like the one you have stated led to his rise
I ussually believe hii story ya tribe ililetwa na huyo mzee for his own benefit that is why haijawahi isha,but watu wameanza kuamka politically,kidogokidogo watu watajua the truth
labda wangeuana as illustrated by other nations with young leaders e.g. Zaire.
Tom Mboya na Jaramogi were not on talking terms. And Jomo played them against each other. Also one must remember that Jomo himself approached these young ones. They were his regional appointees to join him in KAU.
I read somewhere where he says he brought the reluctant Jaramogi into politics but that Jaramogi was often head strong. I think it was those Cia disclosed dossiers.
And Jomo often appointed teachers like himself e.g. Moi, Jaramogi, Kibaki the lecturer, Gichuru, Ngala etc.
The young ones later hoped that Jomo their leader, their appointer, would choose from amongst them and be the decider but unfortunately the old fucker chose to lead for 15 years.
Goes to show you, that you can’t really trust a teacher with power.
Kwanza Tom Mboya, probably the brightest politician Kenya will ever have. It’s safe to say Kenya ingekuwa level ya South Africa if the guy had been Kenyatta’s successor.
He would have probably set better standards than Kenyatta, Kenyatta setup tribal n looting systems, then semi-illiterate Moi took over and completed the cycle. Now we are fighting a difficult war of trying to get back, but the beneficiaries are holding us.
Also because Mboya sided with the U.S. and Jaramogi with Russia could there have been a civil war of sorts had the two been left to their own devices?
Jomo himself said he stood with none of the two superpowers but would work with both. Non alignment. But biased to the west.
In a way hata kama Jomo alikuwa dictator katili he steered the nation from disaster unlike other African states. He was older and he had experienced both life in the U.K. and the birth of Soviet Russia.
He had visited Russia in the 1930s lakini akaona hapana.This system is a bit much. Niwache Ngai kabisa kiaje na customs zetu… ati nifuate mafundisho ya mzungu Lenin?!
He even studied in Russia for three years in the same school Deng Xiaoping attended.
Kamotho much later got a scholarship to study in Russia and became disillusioned as well and left. It is interesting that we now gravitate towards communist China and even Cuba.
Si tu resettle Kikuyus in the Rift Valley. Remember Kikuyus had little land. He needed an inside man in the Rift Valley. Also Jomo himself intended to grab a sweet portion of the white highlands extending into lumbwa territory, you need to form alliances I imagine. Moi was the pointman.
Moi was no fool. He cobbled up a loose tribal grouping called kalenjin and used it to negotiate with and for power. How a class eight educated shy christian from a small tribe despised even among the kalenjin groups managed what he did points to the man’s smarts
Wait a minute, I thought Nabongo Mumia is in the history books courtesy of being the only king within Kenya’s present day boundaries, not because of being a collaborator?