The Zionist Inspection of the Uasin Gishu, 1904

Shared by William Kiptoo. Author anonymous.

First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 23 September 2023.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia were very nearly made into a foretaste of the Promised Land.

Joseph Chamberlain had long been sympathetic to the Zionist movement, and after a severe pogrom in Russia he proposed that the Jews find a temporary home while they waited to return to Palestine. As Colonial Secretary he toured East Africa and was struck by the emptiness of the land, its fertility and healthy climate. Here, he thought, was an ideal "antechamber to the Holy Land." The settlers already in the Protectorate, still waiting for their title deeds, received the idea with alarm.

The Jews themselves were divided and not especially keen, but they agreed to send a three man commission to the Uasin Gishu, as suggested by Sir Charles Eliot, then Commissioner of the Protectorate. The three inspectors arrived in 1904 and, with two settlers as guides, took the train to Londiani and walked from there. After a stiff climb they camped at the edge of the forest at the top of the escarpment. On the next day's march they were surrounded by Maasai warriors in full war dress, who withdrew after the settlers reasoned with them. That night a lion came close to the tent, and again the three inspectors got little sleep. In the morning, after they had seen the pugmarks, the settlers told them the story of the man eating lions of Tsavo.

The commission stayed only briefly and went back to England to report that the area was quite unsuited to settling urban Jews from Russia.

The scheme is often called the "Uganda Scheme," since the plateau was then part of Uganda. The commission's actual visit was in early 1905, though the account dates it to 1904.