Origin of the name Kaprobu, in Sergoit Ward

By William Kiptoo

The vintage farmhouse below and the plunge cattle dip at Kaprobu, in Sergoit Ward in Moiben sub-county, originally belonged to a British settler known as JM Martins.

The settler owned a 2,000 acres of land around the present-day Kaprobu and carried out large-scale farming activities during the colonial period.

After Kenya gained independence in 1963, the land was transferred to Africans through a government land transfer program to settle the landless.

Kaprobu derives its name from a Kalenjin word "robu," which translates to "distribute."

During the early settlement of Uasin Gishu, some European settlers, who were farmers, are said to have faced financial constraints and were unable to pay their farm workers in cash. As a result, they resorted to distributing cereals as a form of payment for their labor. This practice led to the term "Chumbindet no robu" or that guy (mzungu/white settler) who distributes. Eventually it evolved into the name Kaprobu (the home of the guy who distributes).

Now you know!

Note: This story was narrated to me by Mr. Jackson Kiptum aka Nori of Chemaluk village, Uasin Gishu. He grew up in Kaprobu area, and his parents worked for JM Martins and other European settlers in Uasin Gishu during the colonial period.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Lochab Bros family company, Eldoret

Image
Compiled by William Kiptoo Source:  LOCHAB BROS is one of the big names among the pioneer settlers of Eldoret from India. They represent the various business of the family and signifies the strength and unity of the Joint family System to everyone. The unique system in the Lochabs is that they stay with their families under the same roof and eat together from the food of the same kitchen. Family history dates to 1887, when the pioneer, Late Mr Hira Singh Lochab came from Ishapur, Punjab, to make a fortune in Kenya. His son Late Mr Ghumand Singh Lochab joined the Marine Department of Kenya Railways. At that time, Kenya was the HQ of the East African Community, and it was difficult to get a technical job under the colonial system and by dint of his hard work and dedication, he rose to the position of 2nd Engineer, which was generally reserved for the Britishers. He worked for the Railways in Uganda and Kenya till 1939 and started a Sawmill in partnership at Kaptagat. In 1941, he came...
Read more

Early History of the Uasin Gishu

Image
  A few notes on the early history of the Uasin Gishu f rom the Kenya Scrapbook  b y A.C. Hoey. *** PART 1:  (This piece was written about 1956 for a church magazine) Few people had heard of the Uasin Gishu Plateau prior to the year 1900, and the first reference I can find is that made by Major JR MacDonald RE who headed a survey party in the years 1891 1894, exploring a route for a railway to be built from Mombasa to Uganda. In his book "Soldiering and Surveying in British East Africa" he specially refers to the rolling downs and beautiful grass country of the Uasin Gishu when he was making his way from Naivasha to Mumias.  It was in 1905 that I met in Naivasha a very nice Afrikander by the name of Van Breda who was keen on taking up land in the southernmost part of Uasin Gishu Plateau, near the Elgeyo Escarpment. It was about this time, having heard of the wonderful shooting to be obtained in the Uasin Gishu, that I made a safari. I had considerable difficulty in o...
Read more

The Kapbrar Farm in Chembulet

By Dominic Ng'etich The Kapbrar farm in Chembulet, is a vast land located about 35Kms from Eldoret town along Eldoret-Iten Road.   The sprawling 2000 acres land was once inhabited by a white settler named Britham Brar Singh, of Indian origin. He acquired the land in the late 1960s from a Boer farmer who was leaving the country for South Africa after Kenya gained independence.  Brar Singh was a wheat farmer.  In the early 1990s, during the Moi regime, the late powerful Energy and Lands Minister Nicholas Kipyator Biwott acquired the the land and gave it to the Keiyo community, mostly women's groups.  Chiefs from Kaptarakwa, Chebior, Kitany, Kapkoi, Mutei, and Irong asked locals to send their daughters, wives, mothers, and any female who was willing to pay 5000 to own an acre of land.  The northern side of the land was given to the people from Irong, the eastern side to Mutei and Kaptarakwa, and parts of the southern and lower western sides were given to peopl...
Read more