Chembulet

 Chembulet center in Tembelio Ward, Moiben lies along Eldoret-Iten road.

Mzee Chembulet was among the earliest known residents to settle and invest in Chembulet area. As a respected farmer and the first person to establish a shop near the present-day center, he became a point of reference for the local community. Whenever people from nearby villages were asked where they were headed, they would respond, “Awendi Kapchembulet”, meaning “I’m going to Chembulet’s place.” Over time, this phrase was shortened to simply Chembulet, a name that stuck and eventually became official.

While Mzee Chembulet's influence shaped the local naming of the center, Kapkei and Cheburbur, two colonial-era farms, is also tied tied to this history.

It is said that one of the settlers, whose name has unfortunately been lost to history frequently used to refer to the local African workers as “Chura”—the Swahili word for “frogs.” The term was likely a racial slur used to dehumanize the local population. In a display of irony or perhaps defiance, locals began calling the area Kapchura, meaning “place of the frogs.” This name would later evolve into Cheburbur, the current name of the farm and a nearby settlement.