New dawn for Nandi County: Online interview by Dr Seronei arap Chelulei Cheison for EmoPolitics Blog

A map of Nandi County

Brian of an online blog, Emopolitics, recently contacted me with a list of questions for an online interview.

EMOPOLITICS: In a nutshell, who is Dr. Cheison? (Family, origins, present locality and profession, any other information you would deem necessary for the electorate).

SCC: That is quite a bulky question there! Well, let us begin with the first question in CRE at Form one: Who Am I? I was born Barnaba Kibet on Tuesday February 20^th 1968 at my grandmother Opot Tera’s house just above Chererees river at a place called Chebinyiiny in what is currently Tindiret District in Nandi County to the late Joseph Kiptorus arap Rugut and Julia Chemoso (nee Chebo Koisamoo). Notably, my maternal grandfather, Surtan arap Koisamoo, was a Maotiot to Koitalel Samoei and his "court" tree-shade (Ketitab arap Koisamoo) still stands at Taito right below Taboiyat Primary School in Nandi Hills. I was later given the “kureneet” name Seronei after my grandfather’s brother (Nyongi Seronei). I dropped my Baptismal name Barnabas at Kapsabet Boys after reading the literature set-book “Betrayal in the City”. In that book, a “meeting” was called in Kafira and the first item on the agenda was “Africanisation of our names”. A good number of us changed our names as a consequence. That is how Barnabas went. Because the exam registration could only take three names, I kept Seronei arap Chelulei Cheison. Obviously I was given the name arap Chelulei after I went through the Nandi right of passage in 1986, although I had been instructed by my paternal uncles to register it as I reported to form one in February 1986, well before I was initiated, in November of that year. My family and I are born-again Christians. We fellowship with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God in Kenya.

Nandi County take-off to prosperity: Core issues for 2012 and beyond

Nandi County in Rift Valley presents an interesting face of Kenya. Geographically, it stretches from the low-lying soiin to the south through the lush green highlands of Kapng’etuny (Nandi Hills) to the stretch of endless plateau in Mosop to the North. The landmass seems to rise laboriously from the tip of Kapseng’ere to the west through the pristine forested midlands of Chesumei through Kapsabet to the elevated ridge of Ol’Lessos to the forests of North Tindiret. In between lie the tea estates and a whisper of wattle plantations. Cultural melting pot it is also, owing to the ethnic diversity of the inhabitants and the over 795,000 residents enjoy what is no doubt an eye-catching mix of culture, economic and socio-political menu. Nandi is home to such minority groups as the Okiek, Ngerekek, Luhya, Luo, Kikuyu, Kipsigis and Terik all living in harmony. Thanks to the new constitution, each of these peoples’ rights are protected and future county governments must cater for them by ensuring their inclusion in matters of governance. There are also special populations like the disabled, single parents and widowed families each facing their unique challenges. Our society must provide space for them. Nandi is still faced with challenges in land ownership, lack of title deeds in some areas and people living as squatters. These are issues that require firm action in order to enable every resident feel a part of our rich county.

Nandi is home to some 66 potential tourist sites (from the eye-catching water-falls at Mulangu to the North to the caves in Keben to the East), holds the religious HQ of the Nandi at Kapng’etuny (Nandi Hills Town) which is home to Koitalel Samoei Museum, the traditional suicide cliffs (Sheu) at Kibolewo near Kaprochoke and Moropi in Kapsimotwo. The County is blessed with institutions of higher learning led by the prestigious Kapsabet Boys High School right at the centre of Nandi. In a radius of only several kilometres, one finds Kapsabet Girls, St Joseph’s High School Chepterit and the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton. These are not enough, Nandi needs more better schools, middle-level colleges to absorb and train artisans and youth who would be ready to go into self-employment as well as a university or two to alleviate the problem of shortage of education places. The future of university education might as well mean that there is need for 47 county universities. Nandi County must not be left behind in this.