Culture clash and murder in the Loita Hills

“The trouble occurred over the requisition of a bullock of mine which I particularly loved,” said Karambu ole Sendeu, at the beginning of his trial for the murder of Hugh Grant, District Commissioner for Narok. “I asked the DC himself at the sale... and he refused to give it back. I had thought that he would return it when I asked, but when he did not do so, I became very angry indeed and I killed him.’

Karambu had killed Hugh Grant by hurling his spear – with such force that it passed right through the DC’s body. The bloodied spear slid through the dust of the cattle pen, where the sale was taking place. Karambu followed, picked it up, vaulted over the railings and fled.

MAASAI ROYALTY

His two brothers gave chase. When they caught up with him, the older brother said, “Why did you do such a big thing as this?”

The brothers took Karambu back to the cattle pens and handed him over to the askaris.

Karambu was tried for the murder. He was found guilty. And he was hanged.

This was an event that happened in the colonial times, of course. In fact, it was back in 1946. Hugh Grant was an experienced administrator, who had served in Lodwar, Mandera, Moyale, Nyeri and Machakos. He had also held a post in Kajiado – so he should have been familiar with the ways of the Maasai.

Karambu was from an elite Maasai family. When the great leader of the Maasai, Mbatian, died in 1890, his two sons, Lenana and Sendeu, fought bitterly over the succession. Lenana won the battle, and Sendeu sought refuge in the Loita Hills.

He settled and established the nucleus of the Engedongi clan of the Loita Maasai. Karambu was a son of Sendeu.

The story of Karambu and the murder of the DC has now been told by Rupert Watson in his book, Culture Clash: The Death of a District Commissioner in the Loita Hills. Rupert has lived in Kenya for 35 years. He is a lawyer and a mediator. But I think his main passions are for his work as a naturalist and as a writer.

Rupert has a great feeling for place. And that comes through in this book. The murder happened at the small settlement of Morijo, nestling in the Loita Hills. The hills rise up beyond the Nguruman Escarpment, the western wall of the Rift. They are not plagued by the rash of lodges and camps that have spread across and around the Maasai Mara Reserve to the west.

After you turn south off the tarmac road a few miles beyond Narok,  you cross the open Loita Plains, well stocked with herds of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle – and also herds of Maasai cattle. And then the road rises steeply through the hills towards Morijo, following a tributary of the Naroosura River.

Rupert writes that the Loita Hills are “surely one of the most spectacularly beautiful parts of East Africa”. I agree.

COMPULSORY PURCHASE

The lawyer skills of Rupert come through in the telling of Karambu’s story. His key source is the file on the trial held at the Kenya National Archives. And Rupert brings the trial to life, although there was little drama. Since Karambu had admitted his guilt, his defence counsel could only plead that the DC’s terse and repeated “Hapana”, rather than having a discussion in response to Karambu’s request, could be interpreted as provocation.

But the main thrust of the book is indicated in the title, “Culture Clash”. On the one hand, Rupert explains what was behind the imposition of a compulsory purchase scheme on the Maasai – the surge in demand for tinned meat during the Second World War; the Europeans’ belief that the Maasai grazing lands were overstocked; and their fear of cattle disease spreading to their own livestock.

On the other hand, Rupert describes what cattle meant to the Maasai – the means of sustenance; the only valid currency; and the indicator of status. Not only that – the feeling a Maasai man had for a particular beast could be extremely strong. The bullock that the DC refused to give back to Karambu was Lemelelu, a black bullock with a white tip to its tail. It was his favourite – one he had raised by his own hand after its mother had died.

“With both the British and Maasai so resolutely convinced of the superiority of their own respective ways of life, was it not almost inevitable,” Rupert asks, “that a tragedy of this nature would happen somewhere, some day?”

The book, which available in bookshops, will be launched next weekend from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at 114 Mukumu Road, off Magadi Road, Lang’ata. There will also be an art exhibition of metal sculptures by Kioko and paintings by various artists. If you would like more information, call 0722-237138.