Eldoret Postman Runners

 By William Kiptoo 

In 1907, J.T. Gosling (John Thomas Gosling), the Postmaster General for the East Africa and Uganda Protectorates, established postal services in Eldoret, known then as Farm 64.

In those early days, there were no cars or trucks to carry mail in most places. Only towns along the Uganda railway including Eldoret, had mail by train. In other areas, people used a system called “runners.”

Runners were men who carried letters by walking or running. They passed the mail from one runner to another. Sometimes they were placed 30 miles apart. They would carry the letters all the way until they reached the person it was meant for.

The tapestry panel below was commissioned at Eldoret's Hill school in the 1960s. It represents "postal runners' who conveyed messages and posts to outlying farms in Uasin Gishu. The runners carried letters in a cleft stick—a split wooden stick that held the mail. They also carried a spear to protect themselves from wild animals. These brave runners helped people stay connected for many years

In the background is Sergoit hill with some Maasai or Rothchild's giraffe Giraffes, and Kongoni (Coke's hartebeest) in the middle distance., which were abundant when the first settlers arrived.

From 1920s onwards, almost all the Zebras, Kongoni, Lions, and other large antelope had been decimated by settlers.