Ntimama was a defender of Maasai rights

On Wednesday, we lay to rest a departed long-time friend and outstanding citizen, William Ronkorua ole Ntimama.

Perhaps because of one or two inflammatory statements he made in public at one time or the other, many may not know, or are likely to misjudge, the true character of Ntimama and the values he stood for.

Ntimama and I first met as elementary school pupils in the 1930s at the Narok African Government School, the only one in the vast Maasai-land — catering for what is today the counties of Samburu, Laikipia, Narok, Kajiado, and sections of northern Tanzania.

At Narok School, Ntimama was the youngest boy in the class — very playful and full of mirth. He had the same hearty laughter he was known for to his last day.

If Ntimama was seen to be a “war-monger” at one time in his life, then I must take the blame for having taught him to be one at that point in our lives.

It happened that we had one brutal teacher who appeared to take great pleasure in inflicting pain on us even when there was no reason for it.

One day the warrior in me told me that we had to do something to stop the sadistic teacher. I organised that we waylay him in the dark and stone him to teach him a lesson.

Ntimama was one of the boys I recruited to execute the mission. Fearing that the young boy would be coerced to confess, I warned him that I would deal with him “squarely” if he ever betrayed us.

He never did and we managed to tame the big-headed teacher. Many years later, we would remember that little “mischief” at Narok School and laugh about it.

From those early days, I came to recognise Ntimama as a self-inspired person and an avid reader, with the biggest collection of books by an individual Kenyan that I have ever seen, except perhaps for Kenya’s second vice-president, Joseph Murumbi.

While I proceeded to join Alliance High School, he did not join any secondary school — in fact he never formally sat in any other school for the rest of his life.

However, he privately studied and successfully sat for secondary examinations, higher secondary school examinations, and later obtained a diploma from the prestigious Oxford University through self-tuition.

During my years in Parliament, I remember the three most eloquent and well-informed debaters — Mwai Kibaki, Tom Mboya, and William ole Ntimama.

SAVE MAU FOREST COMPLEX

Was Ntimama a patriot? Yes he was. Nothing illustrates this better than the crusade he led to save the Mau Forest complex from encroachment and destruction. Unfortunately, his fight was largely interpreted to be a campaign to evict non-Maasai people living in Narok.

The truth of the matter is that his crusade did not target any particular community — he also wanted action taken against Maasai people who were illegally occupying Mau Forest or those engaging in destructive activities such as charcoal burning and unlicensed tree-logging.

It saddens me that some people still view the preservation of Mau Forest as a “Maasai issue” or “Ntimama affair”, when it actually should be a matter of urgent national concern.

These are the facts: the Mau Forest complex is the largest of the five water towers in the county. It provides water to 12 rivers, which in turn feed lakes Victoria, Nakuru, Turkana, Baringo, and Natron. The complex is the source of water to nearly one third of Kenya’s population.

Scientific research lists the Mau complex as Kenya’s biggest contributor to environment cleaning through carbon-cycling.

The complex also plays a crucial role in flood mitigation, bio-diversity conservation, soil enrichment, and micro-climate regulation. When he fought to save Mau, Ntimama did so to preserve one of nature’s best gifts to Kenya.

When it came to articulating Maasai rights, my friend Ntimama was mistakenly seen as a hate-monger. As a friend, I knew he was not. We may have differed in the manner of saying the same things, but I entirely agreed with the substance of the issues he raised.

I believe there should be no apology that Ntimama stood firm against injustices against the Maasai people before and after independence.

Was Ntimama against non-Maasais living in Narok? I know that he was not. On the contrary, he was instrumental in settling non-Maasais in Narok when he was chairman of the Narok County Council in the 1960s to 1980s.

To my friend, Bill Ntimama, I say: Fare thee well.

Mr Keen is a former assistant minister. [email protected].