Exploring the Relationship Between Colonial Governance and Nandi Leadership in Kenya, 1905 - 1918.
Abstract
The relationship between colonial governance and Nandi leadership in Kenya has received significant scholarly attention, particularly their dual roles in serving both colonial administrations and their communities. While there are limited studies on the Nandi colonial chiefs in this context, this research critically examines their roles in the Nandi’s social, economic, and political transformation from 1905 to 1918. Grounded in the ‘Principal-Agent’ Theory, the study utilised a historical research design, incorporating oral interviews and archival document analysis. Purposive and Snowball sampling methods were used to identify knowledgeable respondents. Validity and reliability were ensured through expert review of the data collection tools. Findings indicate that the introduction of colonial chiefs represented an alien form of governance initially met with rejection by the Nandi. However, these chiefs fostered social, economic, and political developments as acceptance grew. The study concludes that the Nandi chiefs faced a principal-agent problem, navigating conflicting interests of their communities and the colonial administration, leading them to be seen as both agents for the Nandi and loyal members of the colonial system
References
1. Afigbo, A. E. (1972). The Warrant Chiefs: Indirect Rule in South-Eastern Nigeria, 1891-1929. London: Longman.
2. Anderson, D. (2000). The struggle for land and freedom in Kenya: The Nandi and the colonial state. In The Politics of Land in Kenya (pp. 461-481). James Currey.
3. Anderson, D. M. (1993). Black mischief: crime, protest and resistance in colonial Kenya.
4. Ashton, E. R. (1947). Democracy and Indirect Rule. African, 17, 324.
5. Atieno-Odhiambo, E. (1971). Some Reflections on African Initiatives in Early Colonial Kenya. East Africa Journal, 8(6), 31-42.
6. Atieno-Odhiambo, E. S. (1972). The colonial government, the settlers and the” Trust” principle in Kenya 1939. Trans-African Journal of History, 2(2), 94-113.
7. Berman, B. (1992). Control and crisis in colonial Kenya: The dialectic of domination. East African Publishers.
8. Berman, B. J. (1990). Control and resistance in colonial Kenya: The Nandi and the Mau Mau. In The African Experience: A History (pp. 150-175). Longman.
9. Berman, B., & Lonsdale, J. (1992). Unhappy valley: conflict in Kenya & Africa. Book 2, Violence and ethnicity. James Currey.
10. Bogonko, S. A. (1985). Colonial Chiefs and the Making of Class: A Case Study from Teso, Eastern Uganda. Journal of International African Institute, 2, 140-159.
11. Chelimo, F. J., & Chelelgo, K. (2016). Pre-Colonial Political Organization of the Kalenjin of Kenya.
12. Colony and Protectorate of Kenya (1902). The Headman Ordinance, 1902 (The Official Gazette). Colony and Protectorate of Kenya.
13. DO Kapsabet FW Isaac. Nandi Quarterly Reports, 1905., KNA.
14. East African Protectorate (1908). Crown Lands Bill, 1908. The Principal Secretary of State, The Colonial Office, Nairobi.
15. East African Protectorate (1908). Crown Lands Bill, 1908., KNA.
16. Edward, S. (2008). Remove or Reform: A case of Restructuring Chiefdom Governance in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone. African Affairs, 107, 387-403.
17. Ellis, D. (1976). The Nandi protest of 1923 in the context of African resistance to colonial rule in Kenya. The Journal of African History, 17(4), 555-575.
18. Erik, G. (2011). Indirect Rule and Colonial Intervention: Chiefs and Agrarian Change in Nyasaland, ca. 1933 to the Early 1950s. International Journal of African Historical Studies, 44(2), 254.
19. Evans, I. (1997). Bureaucracy and Race.
20. Geschiere, P. (1993). Chiefs and Colonial Rule in Cameroon: Inventing Chieftaincy, French and British Style.
21. Government of Kenya. The Official Gazette of the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya. 18 August, 1920, No. 727.
22. Greenstein, L. J. (1978). The Impact of Military Service in World War I on Africans: The Nandi of Kenya. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 16(3), 495-507.
23. Huntingford, G. W. B. (2012). The Nandi of Kenya. Routledge.
24. Irungu, S. (2019). The Role of Colonial Chiefs in Kenya: Their Impact on Kenya’s Security Standards, Educational System and Agricultural Sector. Mount Kenya University.
25. Isichei, E. (1976). A History of the Igbo People. London: Macmillan.
26. Iyer, L. (2010). Direct Versus Indirect Colonial Rule in India: Long-Term Consequences. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 92(4), 324.
27. Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305-360.
28. Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) (2018). Introduction of Hut Tax and Pool Tax. Retrieved from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) (2018). Introduction of Hut Tax and Pool Tax.
29. Kiwanuka, S. (1972b). From Colonialism to Independent. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau, p. 106.
30. KNA DC/NDI/30/9/1910. Nandi District Quarterly Report, 31 March 1910. Kenya National Archives.
31. KNA DC/NDI/I/I. Annual Reports of 1904-1912 and 1905-1920. Kenya National Archives.
32. KNA PC/RVP/9/1. Annual Report for the Year ending 31 March 1915.
33. KNA PC/NZA.3. Nandi Political Record Book. Vol 1 Select 31.
34. KNA/DC/ND/18. Annual Report 19/17/18. National Archives.
35. KNA/DC/NDI/1/1/20. Annual Report, 1919-20. Hempstead DC.
36. KNA/DC/NDI/1/2. Annual Reports, 1901-20.
37. KNA/DC/NDI/I/I. Quarterly Report 1904-1912.
38. KNA/PC/AZA/2/2/2. PC Nandi District Inspection Report. John Ainsworth, 22 September, 1915
39. Lagat, A. (1995). The Historical Process of Nandi Movement into Uasin Gishu District of the Kenya Highlands.
40. Lagat, A. K. (1995). The Historical process of the Nandi movement into Uasin Gishu, 1906-1963.
41. Lagat, P. (1995). The Historical Process of the Nandi Movement into Uasin Gishu District.
42. Leader of the British East Africa, March 1913., KNA.
43. Logan, C. (2013). The roots of resilience: Exploring popular support for African traditional authorities. African Affairs, 112(448), 353-376.
44. Magut, P. K. (1969). The Rise and Fall of the Nandi Orkoiyot, C. 1850-1957.
45. Mamdani, M. (1996). Citizen and subject.
46. Michalopoulos, S., & Papaioannou, E. (2015). On the ethnic origins of African development chiefs and pre-colonial political centralisation. Academy Management Perspectives, 29(1), 32-71.
47. Mitnick, B. (1974). The theory of agency: The concept of fiduciary rationality and some consequences (Unpublished PhD Dissertation). Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania. Univ. Microfilms No. 74-22, 881.
48. Ngeny, S. (1972). Nandi Resistance.
49. Ochieng, W. R. (1972). Colonial African Chiefs –Were they Primarily Self-Seeking Scoundrels? Politics and Nationalism in Colonial Kenya, 4(46), 62.
50. Ochieng’, W. (1975). An Outline History of the Rift Valley of Kenya Up to A.D. 1900. Kenya Literature Bureau, pp. 63-65.
51. Odinkalu, C. A. (2005). Pluralism and the fulfilment of Justice Needs in Africa. Open Society Institute-AfriMAP. Okia, O. (2008). The Northey Forced Labor Crisis, 1920-1921: A Symptomatic Reading. The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 41(2), 263-293.
52. Okoth-Ogendo, H. W. O. (1991). Tenants of the Crown: Evolution of Agrarian Law and Institutions in Kenya. ACTS Press.
53. Palagashvili, L. (2018). African chiefs: comparative governance under colonial rule. Public Choice, 174, 277-300.
54. Power, J. (1992). Individualism is the Antithesis of Indirect Rule: Cooperative Development and Indirect Rule in Colonial Malawi. Journal of Southern Africa Studies, 18(2), 329.
55. Report by Symes-Thompson on Chiefs in Nandi District
56. Richards, F. (1998). Locating the politics of a Sierra Leonean Chiefdom. Africa, 68, 357.
57. Ross, S. (1973). The economic theory of agency: The principal’s problem. American Economic Review, 62(2), 134-139.
58. Schapera, I. (1928). Economic changes in South African native life. Africa, 1(2), 170-188.
59. Shiroya, O. J. E. (1992). African Politics in Colonial Kenya: Contribution of World War Veterans, 1945-1960. Nairobi: Educational Research and Publications.
60. Stichter, S. (1982). Migrant Labour in Kenya: capitalism and African response, 1895-1975. Nairobi: Longman.
61. Van Zwanenberg, R. (1975). Colonial capitalism and labour in Kenya, 1919-1939. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau
62. Walliman, N. (2011). Your Research Project: Designing and Planning Your Work (3rd ed.). London:Sage Publications.
63. Zeleza, P. T. (1982). Dependent capitalism and the Making of the Kenyan Working Class During the colonial period (D.Phil. Thesis). Dalhousie University.
2. Anderson, D. (2000). The struggle for land and freedom in Kenya: The Nandi and the colonial state. In The Politics of Land in Kenya (pp. 461-481). James Currey.
3. Anderson, D. M. (1993). Black mischief: crime, protest and resistance in colonial Kenya.
4. Ashton, E. R. (1947). Democracy and Indirect Rule. African, 17, 324.
5. Atieno-Odhiambo, E. (1971). Some Reflections on African Initiatives in Early Colonial Kenya. East Africa Journal, 8(6), 31-42.
6. Atieno-Odhiambo, E. S. (1972). The colonial government, the settlers and the” Trust” principle in Kenya 1939. Trans-African Journal of History, 2(2), 94-113.
7. Berman, B. (1992). Control and crisis in colonial Kenya: The dialectic of domination. East African Publishers.
8. Berman, B. J. (1990). Control and resistance in colonial Kenya: The Nandi and the Mau Mau. In The African Experience: A History (pp. 150-175). Longman.
9. Berman, B., & Lonsdale, J. (1992). Unhappy valley: conflict in Kenya & Africa. Book 2, Violence and ethnicity. James Currey.
10. Bogonko, S. A. (1985). Colonial Chiefs and the Making of Class: A Case Study from Teso, Eastern Uganda. Journal of International African Institute, 2, 140-159.
11. Chelimo, F. J., & Chelelgo, K. (2016). Pre-Colonial Political Organization of the Kalenjin of Kenya.
12. Colony and Protectorate of Kenya (1902). The Headman Ordinance, 1902 (The Official Gazette). Colony and Protectorate of Kenya.
13. DO Kapsabet FW Isaac. Nandi Quarterly Reports, 1905., KNA.
14. East African Protectorate (1908). Crown Lands Bill, 1908. The Principal Secretary of State, The Colonial Office, Nairobi.
15. East African Protectorate (1908). Crown Lands Bill, 1908., KNA.
16. Edward, S. (2008). Remove or Reform: A case of Restructuring Chiefdom Governance in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone. African Affairs, 107, 387-403.
17. Ellis, D. (1976). The Nandi protest of 1923 in the context of African resistance to colonial rule in Kenya. The Journal of African History, 17(4), 555-575.
18. Erik, G. (2011). Indirect Rule and Colonial Intervention: Chiefs and Agrarian Change in Nyasaland, ca. 1933 to the Early 1950s. International Journal of African Historical Studies, 44(2), 254.
19. Evans, I. (1997). Bureaucracy and Race.
20. Geschiere, P. (1993). Chiefs and Colonial Rule in Cameroon: Inventing Chieftaincy, French and British Style.
21. Government of Kenya. The Official Gazette of the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya. 18 August, 1920, No. 727.
22. Greenstein, L. J. (1978). The Impact of Military Service in World War I on Africans: The Nandi of Kenya. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 16(3), 495-507.
23. Huntingford, G. W. B. (2012). The Nandi of Kenya. Routledge.
24. Irungu, S. (2019). The Role of Colonial Chiefs in Kenya: Their Impact on Kenya’s Security Standards, Educational System and Agricultural Sector. Mount Kenya University.
25. Isichei, E. (1976). A History of the Igbo People. London: Macmillan.
26. Iyer, L. (2010). Direct Versus Indirect Colonial Rule in India: Long-Term Consequences. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 92(4), 324.
27. Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305-360.
28. Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) (2018). Introduction of Hut Tax and Pool Tax. Retrieved from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) (2018). Introduction of Hut Tax and Pool Tax.
29. Kiwanuka, S. (1972b). From Colonialism to Independent. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau, p. 106.
30. KNA DC/NDI/30/9/1910. Nandi District Quarterly Report, 31 March 1910. Kenya National Archives.
31. KNA DC/NDI/I/I. Annual Reports of 1904-1912 and 1905-1920. Kenya National Archives.
32. KNA PC/RVP/9/1. Annual Report for the Year ending 31 March 1915.
33. KNA PC/NZA.3. Nandi Political Record Book. Vol 1 Select 31.
34. KNA/DC/ND/18. Annual Report 19/17/18. National Archives.
35. KNA/DC/NDI/1/1/20. Annual Report, 1919-20. Hempstead DC.
36. KNA/DC/NDI/1/2. Annual Reports, 1901-20.
37. KNA/DC/NDI/I/I. Quarterly Report 1904-1912.
38. KNA/PC/AZA/2/2/2. PC Nandi District Inspection Report. John Ainsworth, 22 September, 1915
39. Lagat, A. (1995). The Historical Process of Nandi Movement into Uasin Gishu District of the Kenya Highlands.
40. Lagat, A. K. (1995). The Historical process of the Nandi movement into Uasin Gishu, 1906-1963.
41. Lagat, P. (1995). The Historical Process of the Nandi Movement into Uasin Gishu District.
42. Leader of the British East Africa, March 1913., KNA.
43. Logan, C. (2013). The roots of resilience: Exploring popular support for African traditional authorities. African Affairs, 112(448), 353-376.
44. Magut, P. K. (1969). The Rise and Fall of the Nandi Orkoiyot, C. 1850-1957.
45. Mamdani, M. (1996). Citizen and subject.
46. Michalopoulos, S., & Papaioannou, E. (2015). On the ethnic origins of African development chiefs and pre-colonial political centralisation. Academy Management Perspectives, 29(1), 32-71.
47. Mitnick, B. (1974). The theory of agency: The concept of fiduciary rationality and some consequences (Unpublished PhD Dissertation). Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania. Univ. Microfilms No. 74-22, 881.
48. Ngeny, S. (1972). Nandi Resistance.
49. Ochieng, W. R. (1972). Colonial African Chiefs –Were they Primarily Self-Seeking Scoundrels? Politics and Nationalism in Colonial Kenya, 4(46), 62.
50. Ochieng’, W. (1975). An Outline History of the Rift Valley of Kenya Up to A.D. 1900. Kenya Literature Bureau, pp. 63-65.
51. Odinkalu, C. A. (2005). Pluralism and the fulfilment of Justice Needs in Africa. Open Society Institute-AfriMAP. Okia, O. (2008). The Northey Forced Labor Crisis, 1920-1921: A Symptomatic Reading. The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 41(2), 263-293.
52. Okoth-Ogendo, H. W. O. (1991). Tenants of the Crown: Evolution of Agrarian Law and Institutions in Kenya. ACTS Press.
53. Palagashvili, L. (2018). African chiefs: comparative governance under colonial rule. Public Choice, 174, 277-300.
54. Power, J. (1992). Individualism is the Antithesis of Indirect Rule: Cooperative Development and Indirect Rule in Colonial Malawi. Journal of Southern Africa Studies, 18(2), 329.
55. Report by Symes-Thompson on Chiefs in Nandi District
56. Richards, F. (1998). Locating the politics of a Sierra Leonean Chiefdom. Africa, 68, 357.
57. Ross, S. (1973). The economic theory of agency: The principal’s problem. American Economic Review, 62(2), 134-139.
58. Schapera, I. (1928). Economic changes in South African native life. Africa, 1(2), 170-188.
59. Shiroya, O. J. E. (1992). African Politics in Colonial Kenya: Contribution of World War Veterans, 1945-1960. Nairobi: Educational Research and Publications.
60. Stichter, S. (1982). Migrant Labour in Kenya: capitalism and African response, 1895-1975. Nairobi: Longman.
61. Van Zwanenberg, R. (1975). Colonial capitalism and labour in Kenya, 1919-1939. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau
62. Walliman, N. (2011). Your Research Project: Designing and Planning Your Work (3rd ed.). London:Sage Publications.
63. Zeleza, P. T. (1982). Dependent capitalism and the Making of the Kenyan Working Class During the colonial period (D.Phil. Thesis). Dalhousie University.
Authors
[1]
“Exploring the Relationship Between Colonial Governance and Nandi Leadership in Kenya, 1905 - 1918”., Soc. sci. humanities j., vol. 8, no. 11, pp. 5923–5944, Nov. 2024, doi: 10.18535/sshj.v8i11.1486.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.