OUR OWN WILD WEST

30April2021

WHEREVER YOU GO, GO WITH ALL YOUR HEART. Confucius

Those who woke up early and acquired land early benefited from the best land Kenya ever had.
This was largely Highland Kenya such as Central Province, Rift Valley and areas such as the prime beach properties along the Coast.

But a hidden gem of prime land lies on the foothills of Mt Elgon. This mountain sits right on the Equator and thus has special weather of extreme cold, daily rains and the overhead equatorial sun - which can bear down upon you during drier spells.

One of the larger towns in the region is Kitale which is approximately 45km from the border with Uganda.

Kitale used to be a sleepy town until devolution took root after the promulgation of the new constitution.
Trans Nzoia County was known and still is the bread basket of the country.
A significant portion of maize - the staple food of Kenya - comes from this and surrounding counties.

Maize Plantation: Foothill of Mt Elgon (photo: ALK)

In spite of the lush green of the plantation, the rains this year have been poor and expectations for a good harvest are low. The farmers spirits are low.... the politicians are not helping as they drum up support for their own survival in next years general elections. The common man is left to the vagaries of erratic weather, dishonest and greedy leadership and the COVID pandemic which is wrecking havoc upon the economy. The future is  not rosy but Kenyans being believers have hope.

My first travel to Kitale was in the mid 90s when I was doing projects for Coop Bank and I had good dear friends such as the late Mr Mutegi and the late Mr Githaiga and Mr Mnyika. During one such instance we decided to hire a van and mix work with pleasure and we traveled to Kitale via Bungoma and Mumias both of which towns had projects we needed to inspect. After the inspections it was time to relax and we traveled to Kitale and onward to Lodwar. This was when Kitale was a sleepy place and everything was slow and relaxed and had the feel of a wild western agricultural town....indeed it was our own wild Western town.
Things have changed. The population has dramatically multiplied. Mobile phone technology, the advent of boda boda and devolution are some of the main drivers of change, development and sadly the degeneration of the environment too.
But thankfully the sceneries, the green fertile farm lands, the happy and welcoming people remain the same.
Then and now, when I sleep in Kitale; I relish waking up to sounds of cockerels crowing at 4 am and birds chirping away from as early as 5am. The sounds are country sounds unlike the urban sounds of Nairobi of constant hum of the traffic and boda bodas and loud honking of the manyanga matatus.
The air is distinctly fresh and clear.
There is the relishable feeling that you are in the rural Kenya yet still within a bustling town.

Life is slow. The only guys in a hurry are the boda bodas who are always in a hurry anyway - even where there is no need for hurry..

Sunset over Eldoret (Photo: ALK)

 

One of the specialties of Western Kenya are the stupendous sunsets. And Kitale gets its fair share of these. Today I managed to capture some vivid colours as you see in the pictures. I am not sure what the scientific reason is for these lovely sunsets but I suspect Lake Victoria has a significant say in this...

Another specialty of this beautiful part of the country is the daily 3pm rain. This rhythm has somewhat been disturbed by global warming, but thankfully the region still gets more rain than other parts of the country.

This - and the very fertile lands - explain the generally higher population density and for this we should be thankful to God.

Sunset from Westside (photo: ALK)

From my room number 101 in Westside Hotel I see the open plot opposite the main gate where someone has kept cows, sheep and free range chicken. I've been seeing this view for over 3 years now. The staff working on the plot have not changed. Every morning they dutifully wake up around 6am and start their daily tasks. The first one being to milk the cows. They do this in the open. Today one of the men has his wife and young son with him and they dutifully go about their chores as I pack my stuff in readiness to leave for my meeting. No breakfast for me today; its Ramadhan so I am fasting.

Historically, Trans Nzoia County was sparsely inhabited by the Bukusu and Sabaot. But as the population of Kenya grew there has been constant immigration into the county. So today the county is a rich mixtures of all tribes of Kenya.....a cosmopolitan county.

The project I'm working on is a particularly challenging one. It has 2 projects in one. A border post between Kenya and Uganda at Suam and  market in the centre of Kitale town. The budgets are tight and expectations are very high. The fun part is that you meet a large spectrum of people from different professions, with different priorities and very different perspectives to life.

The Lush Forest near River Suam (photo: ALK)

The Source of River Suam (photo: ALK)

  

 

Suam is the name of the river that runs the length of Kenya Uganda border until it joins River Turkwell which eventually drains into Lake Turkana.

River Suam starts off in the Mt Elgon forest and its crystal clear at Suam town. The town is totally on the Uganda side of the border because the land on the Kenyan side belongs to ADC and KFS so settlement is not possible until one gets to the nearest centres at Chepchoina or Mowlem. 

The altitude here is more than 7000ft above sea level so the evenings and morning are very cold. During the day the equatorial sun bears down on all flora, fauna and humans.

In the market project I've had to interact with a variety of stakeholders and leaders and the humble members of society too. My involvement has been to such an extent that most of the boda boda, hawkers and small traders at Laini Moja area know me by name. If I had political ambitions I would certainly succeed as power comes from the down trodden and lowly people; a majority of whom come from this part of the demographic spectrum. 

Part of the project requirement is wide public participation....and this has exposed me to all levels of society from Governor level, to the County Commissioner and the small traders who eke out a living by selling daily wares for the common mwananchi.

I am getting well known amongst the down-trodden - unfortunately I can only help so much. Alot of their problems are steeped in the political quagmire that all third world countries wade into. I've said it in the past and I repeat - if we Africans are to save ourselves from the repeated cycles of poverty - then we need to divorce leadership from greed and making money at any cost. Leadership should be voluntary - and with very minimal stipends - rather than the hefty salaries and connections one gets once in a leadership position.

Leadership is a calling and must not attract any financial gain - rather it should be a blessing that a leader bestows and seeks from those that are led. No real leader in the world was rich - name them ... Mohamed, Jesus, Moses, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, several Popes .... the list is endless. They were all paupers! They had no wealth and left no material wealth to any of their heirs or companions or friends. THEY LEFT THEM WITH WISDOM AND ENLIGHTENMENT!

Back to our own Wild West - I have to journey towards Cherangany whose blog is already published ...... and to get to Cherangany I have to reach Moi's Bridge ...... a confluence of 3 counties and a town steeped in history and on the banks of one of our own great rivers - The ever dependable River Nzoia - which has even lent its name to a county, a small town, a sugar factory and even a soccer club whose heydays are long gone.........

The great Nzoia sources its water from the Cherangany Hills and flows through the lush farms of the Cherangany Hills onto the plains of Trans Nzoia, through Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia, Siaya and then Lake Victoria. The Nzoia basin is a lifeline of millions of Kenyans and it is the artery of our own Wild West!