The Peace talks that never were.

The Nandi Field Force was a punitive force that had been formed by British colonial officials to deal with the Nandi menace. In 1905 June, Col. Richard Meinertzhagen pictured hereinabove, who had been appointed as its leader, sent a runner to his Nairobi superiors. The Nandi had gained notoriety for vandalizing the railway and stealing copper wires, staging guerilla attacks against missionary caravans, Indian merchants and patrol columns of (mostly) Nubian troops.

Col. Richard Meinertzhagen warned that if Koitalel was not defeated, he would turn the Nandi into a formidable force that would challenge the supremacy of the British. Nairobi superiors did not take Meinertzhagen's memo lightly. They sent officers led by one Col. George to Nandi county to scout the area in preparation for a military assault, which was subsequently okayed.

On 2nd October 1905, an army of over 5000 men comprising of 80 European soldiers, Maasai levies, Indian, Nubian and locally trained infantrymen gathered at Kaptumo base. They were backed by shotguns, rifles and several maxim guns, two of which were mounted on an Amoured train along the Kenya- Uganda railway. Whilst this deployment was taking place, Koitalel and Meinertzhagen were negotiating for peace through interpreters.

Col. Meinertzhagen requested for a meeting on the morning of 19th October, Koitalel accepted the proposal but asked that either side be represented by 5 unarmed men. Meinertzhagen accepted the idea but did not honour the deal. "I took with me Sammy Butler and 80 men with a machine gun", Meinertzhagen later wrote. "leaving Sammy with 75 men and the machine gun, I advanced to meet the Nandi leader with 5 men. Before going to meet Koitalel, I had warned Butler to open fire at once if he saw us being overwhelmed".

Unfortunately, Koitalel and his War Council were oblivious of the fact that dozens of troops lurked in the thick shrubs surrounding the peace talks venue (which is where the Nandi Bears Club is located today). All hell broke loose when, in the process of exchanging greetings in that tense atmosphere, Koitalel was inexplicably shot on the hip. As he fell, Meinertzhagen reached for his concealed handgun and shot the Nandi leader twice in the chest. In the confusion, Meinertzhagen's men emerged and fired indiscriminately at Nandi elders gathered at the venue of the talks. At least 23 elders were shot dead.

Following Koitalel's killing, the British embarked on a scorched earth policy, burning down grain farms and villages. Thousands of livestock were confiscated and driven away by Maasai levies. Many Nandi warriors were felled by machine- gunfire when they attempted to recover the stolen livestock. Throughout the course of the campaign, the Nandi lost not fewer than 600 men and over 10000 heads of livestock. The British authorities on their part lost 103 men, including auxiliaries.