Nandi Resistance

For the Nandi, the closing decade of the nineteenth century opened with the execution of Kimnyole on a variety of charges followed by a struggle for power between his sons. The Orkoinotet had by now gained prominence as an institution and this struggle for power split the society into factions, and conflict broke out though did not extend to full-scale civil war. This period also saw a deepening of the 1890s epizootics crisis and the wider mutai it had generated.

British accounts of the invasion note that the two previous invasions of Nandi had been unable to bring about Nandi recognition of the Pax Britannica that was then coming in force. They note that raids on the Uasin Gishu Maasai and their nearby tribes were frequent, and that mail runners and isolated stragglers from caravans were still attacked and murdered. Several askaris of the Ugandan Rifles are noted to have been killed and their rifles stolen. The British perception then as captured by, C.W. Hobley the sub-commissioner of the district was that "The Wanandi, with the exception of a few in the vicinity of the station, have all along viewed our presence in the country with veiled repugnance...we were unwittingly living on the edge of a volcano.".[8]

In late 1899, Colonel Coles carried out brief retaliatory measures and took a number of sheep and goats. Reports indicate that as works continued on the railway line, thefts of ironwork, telegraph wire and stores of all descriptions from unguarded construction camps increased. The area most affected is said to have been in the Nyando Valley, between Molo and Kisumu.[9]

It is noted that a telegraph wire was cut in March 1900 and that in May, a telegraph office located at a place known as Kitoto's was raided. Further, Nandi warriors are recorded to have made a number of attacks on bridge-building parties, on caravans and on Protectorate military patrols. The sub-commissioner subsequently appealed for more troops.[10]

At the time, Nandi was garrisoned by the Protectorates Nos. 7 and 14 companies. They were joined on 3 July 1900 by a company of the Indian contingent and No. 13 Company Uganda Rifles who arrived at Kisumu. Evatt entered Nandi with his troops on 5 July and they were joined by other divisions as the scale of operations grew.

• 14 August No.15 Company from Lumbwa
• 23 August; about 300 Maasai auxiliaries
• 25 September; half of No.10 Company from Fort Portal
• 13 October; half No.4 Company from Masindi
• 17 October; half No. 3 Company from Buddu[10]

It is presently unknown what the Nandi order if any was.

The Nandi pursued asymmetric warfare, keeping away from direct conflict while killing isolated parties and stragglers.

It is reported that the conflict began almost as soon as Evatt entered Nandi. His porters are recorded to have been attacked while watering at a stream and that on 7 July, five askaris from Bushiri post were killed while escorting mail.

Nandi topography

Further encounters are recorded in early August when an escort party of 20 Sudanese was annihilated while accompanying the dawn mail to Fort Ternan. At the time, this was a new military post that had been established by Coles in 1898.

After Maasai auxiliaries joined his camp, Evatt adopted a plan of concentrating a column at Nandi fort or some other central camp while carrying out cattle raids of two or three days duration. During September, the wooded hills and valleys of Nandi county were traversed from east to west in a series of raids by small mobile columns of about 40 rifles, assisted by 100 spear-men who acted as a screen and often surprised the Nandi by their skillful approach.

By late September 1900, five officers and 296 men had become available as escorts for the British forces. Evatt received news of the whereabouts of Kipeles and Koitalel, the two Nandi leaders primarily responsible for the resistance and decided to attack before they could escape.

On the night of 12 October, two columns left the camp. The first under Colour-Sergent James Ellison, R.M.L.I marched east over the Nyando river, attacked a 'boma' (i.e ñganaset) early the following day, inflicted severe losses on the Nandi and returned to camp before nightfall.

At 4 a.m on 13 October, the second column, commanded by Evatt, surrounded and captured Kipeles 'boma' killing six Nandi. At 1 p.m that day, he camped with his captures; 700-800 cattle and about 3,000 sheep and goats. According to some reports, his troops were tired and did not complete their boma, other reports note that there was not enough bush available to do so.

About 9:30 p.m. on 13 October, on making his rounds Evatt is noted to have ordered all camp fires to be extinguished. Shortly afterwards one of these smoldering campfires was suddenly blown into a blaze, and simultaneously Nandi warriors attacked the camp in three parties. The British brought a Maxim gun into action, dispersing the Nandi who managed to recover half of the stolen cattle. The operation led to losses of ten askaris, one officer and eighteen wounded on the British side.[11]

The operations of the two columns cost the Nandi 74 men killed, 1,039 head of cattle and 3,100 sheep and goats. The total casualties of the operations, including police and auxiliaries, were 103 killed, four died of wounds and 111 wounded of whom 44 killed and 38 wounded came from the military forces engaged.[12]

The British Foreign Office, expressed criticism on the ground that some regular forces in the Nandi area had been replaced by Maasai irregulars.[12]