Mapunjan: The Story of Keiyo Resilience and Discipline

By Keiyoot Barmoiben Kipkemoi Araap Korir

First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 12 May 2025.

A new term, “Mapunjan,” has come to be used to describe the Keiyo people. Mapunjan comes from the Swahili word “vunja,” which means to break. The Keiyo, it is said, do not break a 1,000 shilling note into smaller denominations, but rather look for another one.

One of the wealthiest people in this country, Nicholas Kiprono Kipyaatoor Araap Biwott, loved the Mapunjan lifestyle. He never bragged or showed off his wealth, to the surprise of many. He used an old Peugeot 504 that would sometimes break down. Most Keiyos are like that.

This thrift surprises many Nandi, the neighbours of the Keiyo. While some Nandi brethren are not shy of selling a quarter of an acre of land and celebrating in Eldoret town, a Keiyo would never do that. Recently, Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago said that Iten town is not developing because the thrifty Keiyo, the Mapunjan, will not sell land around it. The Mapunjan are not complaining. They are not begging for malls or skyscrapers. They are not in search of a modern identity. They are content, and there is deep, immeasurable power in that.

The Mapunjan are mistaken for being mean for refusing to sell their land, for choosing frugality over flashiness, for living modestly even when they can afford opulence. The average Mapunjan owns just enough land to sustain their children and grandchildren. Those who acquired land in Uasin Gishu during the settlement schemes of 1964 still hold it intact, unlike many of their neighbours towards Western Kenya, around Kapkangani and Turbo, who have sold much of theirs.

Mapunjan land is not for sale. The Mapunjan do not hold on to land out of greed. They do so out of wisdom. They understand something that many have forgotten: that land is the only true and lasting wealth, and they do not need to sell it to feel successful.

The Original Mapunjan: Biwott and Australia

In 1962, when very few Africans had even seen the inside of a plane, Biwott left the familiar hills of Keiyo and flew across continents to Melbourne. There he joined Taylor College, and he went on to study at the University of Melbourne between 1962 and 1964. He was not just chasing personal success. He was carving a path for his people, proving that a young man from the highlands of Keiyo could stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s best.

Thanks to the precedent he set, Australia became more than just a destination. It became a second home to generations of Kalenjin. Today, students from Iten to Eldoret pursue degrees in Australian institutions, elite athletes train and compete there, and professionals thrive in cities like Perth, Brisbane and Sydney. Biwott did not just go to Australia. He built a bridge, and countless lives have crossed it.

First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 12 May 2025. For an official's view of the Mapunjan nickname in the 1950s, see Leah, the Lonely Midwife of Tambach.