Astronomy and calendar

The Milky Way is known as Poit'ap kechei (literally sea of stars), the morning star – Tapoiyot, the midnight star – Kokeliet, and Orion's Belt – Kakipsomok. The Milky Way was traditionally perceived as a great lake in which children are bathing and playing. Furthermore, the movement of stars was sometimes linked to earthly concerns. For example, the appearance or non-appearance of the Pleiades indicated whether or not to expect a good or a bad harvest. Sometimes superstitions were held regarding certain events. A halo was traditionally said to represent a cattle stockade. At least as of the early 20th century, a break occurring on the east side was considered to be unlucky while one on the west side was seen to be lucky. A comet was at the same time regarded as the precursor of a great misfortune.^[10]

The Kipsigis call a month 'Arawet', which is also the term for our satellite, the moon. A year is called 'Kenyit' which can be derived from the phrase 'Ki-nyit' meaning 'to accomplish, to fill in'. A year was marked by the order of months and more importantly by ceremonial and religious celebration of the yearly harvest which was held at the various shrines. This event being analogous to a practice observed by most of the other Africans has inspired the Kwanza festivities celebrated by predominantly by people of African descent in the United States. Kenyit started in February. It had two seasons known as olto (pl. oltosiek) and was divided into twelve months, arawet (pl. arawek).^[11] In place of a decade is the order of Ibinda which is usually between 10 and 17 years. In place of a century is the completion of the age set which takes between 100 and 120 years.

The first season of the year, olt-ap-iwot (iwotet), was the wet season and ran from March to August. The dry season, olt-ap-keme (kemeut), ran from September to February.^[11] The kipsunde and kipsunde oieng harvest ceremonies were held in September and October respectively to mark the change in Seasons.^[12]

Social organization

The Kipsigis tribe is a patriarchal society that was organized in terms of geo-political groupings, clan systems, age sets and military ranks.

Geopolitical organization

Em or emet, was the highest recognized geographic division among the Kipsigis. It spans a geopolitical region demarcated as being a jurisdiction of the tribe and entitled to a decree of sovereignty. This unit was identifiable as a political institution but the main work of civil control and administration was done by the kokwotinwek (plural of kokwet).^[14] Linguistic evidence indicates that this form of societal organization dates back to their Southern Nilotic heritage. It is believed that the Southern Nilotes of two thousand years ago cooperated in loose supra-clan groupings, called *e:m.^[15]

Kokwet was the most significant political and judicial unit among the Kipsigis. The governing body of each kokwet was its kok (village council). Kokwet denotes a geographic cluster of settlement similar in concept to a village. Kok elders were the local authority for arbitration and conflict resolution.^[16]

Military organisation

Kipsigis warriors of the 1950s

While evidence suggests precolonial Kipsigis as having engaged in conquests of territory, a mistaken impression emerges of an efficient organized military; rather the existence of a Kipsigis army was indicative of a social organization at the tribal level despite evidence of large portions of conquered territory and defeat of strong armies.^[18] The precolonial Kipsigis were presented as a markedly acephalous society politically with both military and political organization having to be examined in terms of relatively autonomous territorial groups within the tribe.^[18]

The Kipsigis armies organized themselves into four regiments (pororiosiek) namely: Kikaige, Ng'etunyo, Kebeni and Kasanet. Recruitment into the regiments was achieved through the age set and clan system. Each regiment fought independently which often resulted in weak and often conflicting strategies.^[18] At a later stage, the four regiments merged into two consisting of Kipkaige and Kasanet on the one side and Ng'etunyo and Kebeni on the other; but ultimately, the strength of this army was tested with a resounding defeat at the hands of Gusii in the battle of Ngoina dated to circa 1850. Once again, the Kipsigis army regiments regrouped into one force composed equally of all four regiments and while this development would spur a record of victories, it would also be tested in the battle of Mogori circa 1890 with a defeat that had dire implications on the spirit and identity of the Kipsigis.^[18]

Other studies depict a more elaborate military organization; for instance, there were an extra tire of regiments and ranks including: the generals (Kiptayat/Kiptaiinik), spies (Yotiik, Seegeik and Sogooldaiik), and the procession ranks (Ng'anymetyeet, Pirtiich, Oldimdo/Lumweet and Kipeelbany). There were yearly mock up practice for warring called Kaambageet.

The arms of the fighting men usually consisted of a spear, shield, sword and club. By the late 19th century, up to four kinds of spears, representing various eras and areas were in use. In Nandi, the eren-gatiat, of the Sirkwa era was still in use though only by old men. It had a short and small leaf-shaped blade with a long socketed shank and a long butt. Two types of the Maasai era spear, known as ngotit, were also in use. Those of the eastern, northern and southern counties had long narrow blades with long iron butt, short socket and short shaft. Those of the central county (emgwen) had short broad blades with short iron butts. In the western counties, a spear that had a particularly small head, a long shaft and no butt was in use, it was known as ndirit.^[19] The pastoral Pokot carried two Maasai era spears, known as ngotwa while the agricultural sections armed themselves with a sword, known as chok.^[20]

Archery was also very much a prominent skill practiced among the Kipsigis for purposes ranging from agriculture to defense and security. There were an array of arrows for various specialties such as for shooting a bull for blood, hunting arrows and defensive arrows meant either as a deterrent by causing mortal wounds or others meant to get stuck in the victim while others were poisoned and thus each of the arrow types were used depending on the occasion.^[21]

Menya Arap Kisiara

Menya is narrated among the Kipsigis as an excellent diplomat and war hero. He is credited for defeating the Maasai who used to inhabit larger portions of Kericho county. Significant battles are recalled having been fought in Iltianit(Londiani), fought in Kericho, Chemoiben, and then Siriat in Sotik. Initially an outcast and an outlier, Menyua Arap Kisiara was banished off the tribal land for marrying a Kapkerichek clanswoman which at the time, was also his own clan. He defected with his company of warriors, - Tapkile and Kipketes/Kipkeles into Maasai community. He then started his own clan of Kapkaon. Returning later on as formidable warrior and establishing his army, he challenged the Maasai into a duel estimated from oral traditions to have taken place in the 1770s to where Kaplong town in Sotik is situated today, Menya led an army to war against the Maasai in order to resolve land disputes and territorial privileges. The war ensued for a number of weeks to a couple of months and for the most part, both sides lost many warriors, and many were injured. Towards the end, Menya called in a truce and overnight, amassed aid and reinforcements from Kipsigis warriors across the whole of Kipsigis. On returning to the ultimate and decisive battle, he easily outwitted the Maasai with an army of an estimated 3000 warriors or more. Maasai conceded defeat and resolved to vacate what constitutes today most if not all of Bomet County and Narok West Constituency.^[23]

Orgoik

'Orgoik' (plural) or ‘Orgoiyoot’ (singular) is any clansperson of the Talaai clan spread across Nandi, Kipsigis, Tugen and Marakwet. In Kipsigis, most of the Talaai clansmen can identify a patrilineal genealogy to three sons of Kimnyole Araap Turgat namely: Kipchomber Araap Koilege, Chebochok Kiptonui Araap Boisyo and Araap Buiygut; Koitalel Araap Samoei was their younger sibling. The three brothers were sent by their father, Araap Turgat to Kipsigis nation shortly before his assassination by the Nandi people. Their benefactor was their uncle, Araap Kiroisi of Sotik.

Considered special and thought to have out-of-worldly powers, the three were pushed into leadership and for the first time in Kipsigis history, they were able to hold positions that can be equalled to a king or leaders of autonomous regions. Their influence led to expansion of the Kipsigis territory adding to the achievements of Menya Araap Kisiara. They were also considered herbal medicinemen and thus acquired wealth from war reparation and pay for medical services. They went on to have very sedentary lifestyles with their homesteads employing several servants and a primitive equivalent of slaves.

Following Lumbwa treaty between Kipsigis and The British, the three brothers got arrested and would later on about 1903 be deported to Kikuyu-land while their siblings and immediate families consisting of about 700 individuals were banished to Gwassi in Homa Bay County and stayed there excommunicated between 1934 and 1962. They were later on resettled in Kablilo, Sigowet-Soin, Kiptere, Ainamoi, Belgut and some few in Emgwen.^[24]

Among the Kipsigis, there is speculative talk that implicates Daniel Arap Moi and Jomo Kenyatta as having relations with the Orgoik.

Kipchomber arap Koilege

He lived in Cheriri in Kiptere before he was imprisoned by the British and sent to Rusinga island of Kisumu. He was instrumental in dispersing Luo people from Kiptere to Sondu.

Cultural attire worn by Jomo in art statue

Among the Kipsigis, and perhaps among all the other Kalenjin, Arap Koilege is believed to have blessed Kenyatta Jomo and handed to him his attire which included a hide, a belt colloquially called 'Kenyatet', a head gear among others after which, Koilege asked Kenyatta to visit a leader of the Maasai who was a Laibon. The attire was worn by Jomo very many ceremonial times when he was the president of Kenya. Today, Jomo Kenyatta's traditional attire is buried with him in a muselium in Kenya's National Assembly building in Nairobi.

Mugenik Barngetuny Araap Sitonik

Barngetuny Mugenik was a Kipsigis prophet who is still respected by the Kipsigis community. His age set was initiated between 1815 and 1838, and lived in what is now the town of Sotik, located in Bomet county. He was of the Kipkendek clan, and his maternal uncle was Kimyole Araap Turukat, from Talai clan, the famous Nandi Orgoiyot. It is estimated that he died in 1885 and was buried adjacent to what is today's Sotik Police station in Sotik town. The Kipsigis hold that Mugenik had revelations and visions which he told to the people. These revelations contained instruction on how the Kipsigis people were expected to live a holy life before Asiis, their solar deity. Mugenik's visions also foretold future events that were to take place in the Kipsigis country. Among his prophecies were the arrival of the British, the arrival of trains, the development of towns, modern clothing, and the establishment of colonialism and the eventual independence of African nations.^[26] Also significantly, it is narrated how he had visions of the establishment of Sotik Police station, Sotik KCC creameries factory and two of Sotik bridges that were to be operated under colour bar system. There are also accounts from his visions that detail vast expansion of the Kipsigis territory and others that hint a decimation of the Kipsigis population as a handiwork of a boy, or more precisely translated to mean derogatively an uncircumcised boy. Among many other prophecies, perhaps of great intrigue to the Kipsigis was one in which he foretold about a Kipsigis man with a star on his (possibly military) who lead what is equivalent to Kenyan jurisdiction today.

Lumbwa Treaty

Sotik Massacre

Originally not part of the White Highlands, Sotik District was a Y-shaped strip of land about 50 miles and in some places not more than three miles wide, carved out of the Native Reserve. Sotik was Abugusii and Maasai territory before 1800 but, under a treaty promulgated by Menya Araap Kisiara, the Maasai were pushed to Trans-Mara. Following the arrival of the British, the Kipsigis rallied alongside the Nandis to fight against the building of the Kenya-Uganda Railway.

Seeing the long-drawn-out resistance of the Nandi led by Koitalel Araap Samoei, the intelligence officer Richard Meinertzhagen, vowed to break the impasse. In the middle of 1905, a punitive raid led by Major Pope Hennessy killed 1,850 men, women, and children who were rounded up and fired upon indiscriminately with a Maxim gun and other weapons. The massacre was ostensibly in retaliation against the refusal by the Sotik people to heed an ultimatum by the British government to return cattle raided from the Maasai. It is noted that medal of honours were awarded to officers who took part in these operations around the same time.^[27]

Some months later on 19 October 1905, Richard Meinertzhagen tricked Koitalel into what was effectively an ambush and shot him at point-blank range, killing him on the spot and the rest of his entourage. With Koitalel dead, the Nandi resistance was neutralized, and the British proceeded to evict the Kipsigis and Nandi from their land and sent them to areas that were largely unfit for human habitation. The Sotik massacre and the assassination of Koitalel were directly linked to the setting aside of Sotik for European settlement and the colonial system of forced labour, punitive taxes for Africans, economic, and racial segregation. It is disingenuous to argue that it was a buffer zone to keep warring African tribes apart.^[28]

In August 2020, following the murder of Gerge Floyd, Claudia Webbe, Member of Parliament for Leicester East wrote in a letter addressed to UK's Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, about Sotik Massacre and asked that the massacre should be taught in British schools.^[29]

World War I

World War I is infered among the Kipsigis as 'Boriet ap Talianek' - literally 'Italian War' and it's an inflection point among the Kipsigis coming out of which, integration into modernity. Some men were drafted or volunteered to fight and it is remarked how the Empire they fought for did not recognize them or keep any records or accounts of African soldiers.

Big game in Sotik plains in 1910

Nandi Protest of 1923

A number of factors taking place in the early 1920s led to what has come to be termed the Nandi Protest or Uprisings of 1923. It was the first expression of organized resistance by the Nandi since the wars of 1905–06.

Primary contributing factors were the land alienation of 1920 and a steep increase in taxation, taxation tripled between 1909 and 1920 and because of a change in collection date, two taxes were collected in 1921. The Kipsigis and Nandi refused to pay and this amount was deferred to 1922. Further, due to fears of a spread of rinderpest following an outbreak, a stock quarantine was imposed on the Nandi Reserve between 1921 and 1923. The Nandi, prevented from selling stock outside the Reserve, had no cash, and taxes had to go unpaid. Normally, grain shortages in Nandi were met by selling stock and buying grain. The quarantine made this impossible. The labour conscription that took place under the Northey Circulars only added to the bitterness against the colonial government.

All these things contributed to a buildup of antagonism and unrest toward the government between 1920 and 1923. In 1923, the saget ab eito (sacrifice of the ox), a historically significant ceremony where leadership of the community was transferred between generations, was to take place. This ceremony had always been followed by an increased rate of cattle raiding as the now formally recognized warrior age-set sought to prove its prowess. The approach to a saget ab eito thus witnessed expressions of military fervor and for the ceremony all Nandi males would gather in one place.

Alarmed at the prospect and as there was also organized protest among the Kikuyu and Luo at that time, the colonial government came to believe that the Orkoiyot was planning to use the occasion of the Saget ab eito of 1923 as a cover under which to gather forces for a massive military uprising. On 16 October 1923, several days before the scheduled date for the saget ab eito, the Orkoiyot Barsirian Arap Manyei and four other elders were arrested and deported to Meru. Permission to hold the ceremony was withdrawn and it did not take place, nor has it ever taken place since. The Orkoiyot Barsirian Arap Manyei would spend the next forty years in political detention, becoming Kenya's, and possibly Africa's, longest-serving political prisoner.

MBE. Senior Chief Cheborge arap Tengecha

Cheborge Arap Tengecha was a distinguished and decorated war hero among the Kipsigis. He was appointed the Senior Chief of the Kipsigis Tribe in Kenya by the British Colonial government. He was a close friend of Jomo Kenyatta. He was accorded the Queen's birthday honours of 1961 as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), Civil Division.^[30]

World War II

With the German, Italian and Japanese threat at the borders of the British Empire, many people were dragged into military service during World War II. In East Africa, a huge number of Kenyans were recruited to serve in the Burma and Ethiopian Campaigns. Known to the Kipsigis as 'Boriet ap Jeromaan', literally German war, the world event marks a period of time and denotes a generation where some of its youthful men either volunteered or were drafted into the King's African Riffles forces. In the 1940s, KAR soldiers were dispatched to fight German forces between what is Kenya-Tanzania border today, moreso in Taita-Tavetta. Apparently, Some were dipatched to join the fight in Burma and Japan. After the war, African soldiers were forgotten and hardly any records of them and their accounts were kept.

Music, film and written arts

Contemporary Kalenjin music has long been influenced by Kipsigis producers, artistes, and musicians leading to Kericho's perception as a cultural innovation center in Kenya and effectively in the Great-Lakes Region of Africa.^[31] Community introspection reveals how Chepalungu constituency has beaten the odds to carve a niche for itself as the home of Kalenjin secular artistes. One notable Raphael Kipchamba arap Tapotuk was a luminary artiste, song writer and producer credited as being a forebearer of Kalenjin pop culture often manifesting his works as folk song, country, and jazz. His music records are beloved by the entirety of Kalenjin; Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi, William Samoei Ruto and a host of Kalenjin leaders and celebrities in attending Kipchamba's funeral in his home in Chepalungu, 14 April 2007 remarked the might and their love for the artiste.

A song "Chemirocha III" collected by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey in 1950 from the Kipsigis in Kapkatet in Kericho was written in honour of Jimmie Rodgers. The song's title is an approximation of the musician's name.^[32] According to legend, tribe members were exposed to Rodgers' music through British soldiers during World War II. Impressed by his yodeling, they envisioned Rodgers as "a faun, half-man and half-antelope."^[33] "Chemirocha III" is credited to "Chemutoi Ketienya with Kipsigis girls", and was described by Tracey as "humorous" in his notes. "Chemirocha III" is included on Tracey's "The Music of Africa: Musical Instruments 1: Strings" LP, from 1972.^[2]

Kimursi, an actor in the 1950 adventure film: King Solomon's Mines, is credited as being of Kipsigis ethnicity. In the cast, he took on the role of Khiva.

The Kenyan long distance runner Ezekiel Kemboi danced to a Kalenjin hit single, "Emily Chepchumba", during the 2011 IAAF Daegu World championship, after crossing the finish line in the 3000 metres steeplechase and during the London Summer Olympics held in August 2012, after crossing the finish line in the 3000 metre steeple chase finals and winning gold. The song was written, sang and recorded by a Kipsigis artist, Bamwai.^[34][35]

Science and academia

It is observed that among the Kipsigis, knowledge is measured binomially where to be thought of as knowledgeable, ng’om, one has to display the application of the corresponding knowledge.^[37] In academia, the 'Kipsigis' word or eponym has inspired the nomenclature of an extinct genus of East African antelope from the middle Miocene (Kipsigicerus). Other academic terms associated with the Kipsigis include Acraea sotikensis and Sotik lion (Panthera leo melanochaita).

Dr. Taaitta Araap Toweett was a Kipsigis elite and political leader. He was awarded scholarship by the Kipsigis County Council in 1955 to the South Devon Technical College, Torquay, to study for a diploma in public and social administration. He obtained a B.A. (1956) and B.A. (Hons) 1959 from the University of South Africa. On his return from Britain in 1957, he was appointed Community Development Officer for Nandi District, the first African CDO to be recruited locally in Kenya. During this period was the editor of the Kipsigis vernacular magazine Ngalek Ap Kipsigisiek, published quarterly. He was one of the eight original Africans elected to the Legislative Council in 1958 as Member for the Southern Area, a constituency comprising mainly Kipsigis and Maasai Districts. He formed Kalenjin Political Alliance Party that later on got into an alliance with KADU. He served on the Dairy Board and played a crucial role in the foundation of the co-operative movement nationally. In 1960, 1962, 1963 he attended the Lancaster House Conferences held in London to draft Kenya's Constitution, paving the way for complete self-rule. Before Kenya's independence, he was appointed Assistant Minister for Agriculture (1960), Minister of Labour and Housing in 1961 and Minister of Lands, Surveys and Town Planning in 1962. After Kenya's Independence, he was appointed Minister for Education in 1969, Minister for Housing and Social Services in 1974, Minister for Education in 1976. He was also elected President of the 19th General Assembly of UNESCO (1976–1978). In 1977, he finished his PhD thesis on "A Study of Kalenjin Linguistics". In 1980, he was appointed as the chairperson of Kenya Literature Bureau. In 1983–1985, he served as the Charperson, Kenya Airways after which he was appointed the chairperson, Kenya Seed Company. He also served as a Director of the Kenya Times newspaper and went on to edit and publish his own newspaper, Voice of Rift Valley, between 1997 and 2000.

Professor Jonathan Kimetet Araap Ngeno was a Kipsigis elite who was sponsored by African Inland Church from Litein to study in the United States. He was invited back to Kenya and reintegrated by Daniel arap Moi to achieve political attrition over Dr. Taaitta Toweett. He was appointed to Ministerial positions and was elected the Fourth Speaker of the Parliament of Kenya succeeding coincidentally his baghuleita (a male agemate who was initiated in the same seclusion home), Moses Kiprono arap Keino.

In the 1990s, Professor Davy Kiprotich Koech by then the Director of Kenya Medical Research Institute and Dr. Arthur O. Obel, the Chief Research Officer published in two medical journals the initial results of the newfound drug "Kemron" that was perceived from the preliminary study of 10 patients to cure AIDS. The drug was introduced in a public ceremony presided by Kenya's former President, Daniel Toroitch Arap Moi and the work of the new wonder drug discovered was hailed as a major step against HIV/AIDS.^[38] Kemron was the trade name for a low-dose of alpha interferon, manufactured form of a natural body chemical in a tablet form that dissolves in the mouth.^[38] Clinical trials of Kemron funded by WHO in five African Countries did not find any health benefits reported by Kemri Scientists. Thereafter, WHO in a press release in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, termed Kemron as an experimental drug of unproven benefit for HIV/AIDS treatment. The American National Institute of Health concluded that no one had been able to duplicate the effects claimed by scientists behind Kemron.^[39] In 1998 Prof. Davy Koech led the Commission of Inquiry into the Education System of Kenya. Hosted by Kenya Broadcasting Cooperation (KBC) in 2019, Prof. Koech cited bad peer review on his experimental drug and that he was currently overseeing reexamination of Kemron and further research in China.

Professor Richard Kiprono Mibey has discovered more than 120 species of fungi, made major input to the discovery of environmentally friendly fungi for bio-control of the obnoxious water hyacinth weed in Lake Victoria has contributed to the preservation of rare and highly specialised micro-fungi of Kenyan plants.

Professor Paul Kiprono Chepkwony, the incumbent governor of Kericho County has declared in a Kenyan comedy show, Churchill Show (hosted in Tea Hotel Kericho in 2018) a lengthy list pending and granted patents on various fields of Biochemistry.

Professor Moses King'eno Rugut is a Kenyan Research Scientist and the current C.E.O of the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation.^[40] He sits in the board of National Quality Control Laboratory,^[41] Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization, committee member on Drug Registration at Pharmacy & Poisons Board since 1999 and National Museums of Kenya. He also served as the Director General of the defunct KARI that was de-gazetted and was preceded by a newly established state agency KALRO^[42] and as Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology^[43] before being appointed the chief executive officer, National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation. He was awarded Head of State's Commendations in the year 2008 for his distinguished service to the nation^[44] and subsequently awarded with the Order of the Grand Warrior, OGW in the year 2016^[45] Prof. Moses Rugut has authored, co-authored or authored publications alongside other authors. Some of these publications include: Seroepidemiological survey of Taenia saginata cysticercosis in Kenya; Diagnosis of Taenia saginata cysticercosis in Kenyan cattle by antibody and antigen ELISA; Anthelmintic resistance amongst sheep and goats in Kenya and Epidemiology and control of ruminant helminths in the Kericho Highlands of Kenya.

Gladys Chepkirui Ngetich at the Rare Rising Stars Awards of 2018

Gladys Chepkirui Ngetich is a Kenyan engineer of Kipsigis origin, and a Rhodes scholar^[46] pursuing a doctorate degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.^[47][48] She is the recipient of the Tanenbaum Fellowship and the Babaroa Excellence Award.^[49][50] In 2018, Ngetich was credited with a patent in collaboration with Rolls-Royce Plc.^[47] Her research work has been in BBC Science and the Oxford Science Blog and Medium.^[47] She received the ASME IGTI Young Engineer Turbo Expo Participation Award, for her paper at the 2018 Annual American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) conference.^[47] In September 2018, Business Daily Africa named Ngitech among its "Top 40 Under 40 Women in Kenya in 2018".^[51] In 2019 she started investigating sustainable space science using a Schmidt Science Fellowship.^[52] Ngetich is the co-founder of the ILUU, a Nairobi-based non-profit that aims to inspire girls and women.^[47][53]

Dr Richard Kiprotich Chepkwony is a Kenyan wildlife ecologist of Kipsigis origin and currently the Senior Assistant Director at the Kenya Wildlife Service and the State Department of Wildlife, Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage. He hails from Cheborgei Bureti Sub-County, Kericho County. He studied at Chepsir Primary school in Kericho East. He was awarded a scholarship by the Interdisciplinary Research Fund INREF-CCGIAR-EVOCA programme in 2016 to the Wageningen University and Research(WUR) in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, from where he obtained his doctorate degree in wildlife Ecology and Innovations in 2021. He is an alumnus of Kaplong Boys' High School in Bomet County and Moi University Eldoret, Kenya, where he obtained his bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in wildlife management and Ecology. He has also studied environmental sciences at Tokyo International centre, Japan; Information technology at the Kenya School of Government; Kenya Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Academy-Manyani, among others. He has published widely in the fields of ticks and tick-borne diseases, technology and innovation, Spatial biopolitics of infectious disease control, human-wildlife interactions and Plant Ecology. He is supervising PhD and master's students from Wageningen University and Research. He has a vast knowledge of human-wildlife coexistence, spanning more than 23 years.

Community politics

The Kipsigis community is a rich political arena. The Kipsigis present themselves in a united political front along with their kin, the Kalenjin mass. With the leadership of Daniel Moi, Kalenjin community took a leftist form and were in favour of divolved governance under the alias Majimboism. When Moi became the president of Kenya, Kalenjins shifted to a right wing front with solemn support for Moi and his government. During Moi's regime, incidences of politically motivated violence took place and Kipsigis for the most part were touted as perpetrators. Under Mwai Kibaki, Kipsigis and Kalenjin in entirety took a passive political approach which then bounced back to a roller coaster of leftist and right wing support in alliagence to the rising star of Kalenjin Politics, Dr. William Samoei Ruto.

Prominent leadership

Presidency

William Kipchirchir Ruto, the 5th President of Kenya

Whilst the Kipsigis tribe consider Jomo Kenyatta as the spurious love child of the Kipsigis Orkoiyot, Chebochok Kiptonui Arap Boiso, they aspire to present Kenya with a president. Apparently. William Samoei Kipchirchir Ruto, Kipsigis in origin and from Komosi clan has served in various ministerial positions, and as the Deputy President of Kenya under Uhuru Kenyatta's presidency. As of August 2022, William Ruto was announced the winner of the Kenyan 2022 general elections and after a court appeal by the defeated candidate, Raila Odinga, Ruto's win was upheld. William Samoei Ruto was inaugurated in September 2022 as the fifth president of the Republic of Kenya and is currently the incumbent president.

Ambassadors

1. Francis Sigey (Kibororek): distinguished civil servant and Ambassador of Kenya to Nigeria and currently serving as a Member of parliament Sotik constituency
2. Joshua Terer (KipKesbaek): Ambassador of Kenya to India and

Speaker of Parliament

1. Moses Kiprono arap KeinoKipkelesek clan): Third Speaker of the Parliament of Kenya from 1988 until 1991
2. Professor Jonathan Kimetet arap Ng'eno (Becherek clan): Fourth Speaker of the Parliament of Kenya from 1991 until 1993
3. Joyce Cherono Laboso: Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya, between 2013 and 2017.

Cabinet Ministers and Cabinet Secretaries

There have been a number of cabinet ministers and cabinet secretaries from the Kipsigis ethnicity. A number of them include

1. Dr. Taaitta Toweett (Zoigoeek Clan): Labour and Housing (1961), Lands, Survey & Town Planning (1962), Education (1974) and Housing and Social Services (1974)
2. Prof. Jonathan Kimetet Araap Ngeno (Bechereek Clan): Education (1974), Housing and Social Services
3. John Koech: East Africa Comminuty
4. Frankline Bett (Moochoeek Clan): Roads and Transportation
5. Davis Chirchir: Engineering and Petroleum (2013-207)
6. Eng. John Mosonik(): Transport (2013–2017)
7. Charles Keter: Energy (2017–2022)

Conflicts and violence

While fairly known for a disposition to be welcoming and hospitable, the Kipsigis are also infamous in Kenya for having participated or led offensive stance during some of Kenya's ethnic violence where in some, ethnic cleansing was a characteristic. The overarching cause for this violence has primarily been discriminatory politics, land contentions and incitement. The Kipsigis amass into the Kalenjin group which in totality portray a united political alliance thus making them subject to discrimination and incitement. Secondary intrinsic factors for violence machinate through a condition of sinuosity jumbled up between historical injustices, conceitedness from historical precolonial war efforts and demographics where unemployment is rife among the youth and a majority of the population is disadvantaged and disenfranchised economically.

After a comprehensive risk assessment of social, economic and political factors that increase the likelihood of genocide in Kenya, the Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention's May 2011 report identified several risk factors including; a low degree of democracy, isolation from the international community, high levels of military expenditure, severe government discrimination or active repression of native groups, socioeconomic deprivation combined with group-based inequality and a legacy of intergroup hatred among other risk factors.^[55][56]