Wonders of Sergoit Hills

By William Kiptoo   Karuna hill in Karuna-Meibeki ward in Uasin Gishu County is a vital natural landmark. Known for its red murram, this hill has become a silent workhorse in the county’s push to improve rural road infrastructure. But beneath the surface of that progress lies a growing crisis: the unchecked quarrying of Karuna Hill is threatening to flatten it entirely, turning a once-beautiful and ecologically important feature into a gaping scar on the landscape. Although the land under which the hill lies in is private, under Kenyan law, owning land does not give you the right to destroy natural features like hills, rivers, forests, or wetlands. These are protected for the public good, today and for future generations. The Constitution of Kenya (2010) guarantees every person the right to a clean and healthy environment. It also obligates the government and citizens to protect natural resources and sensitive ecosystems. Laws like the Environmental Management and Coordination Act...

  By William Kiptoo Karuna Hill, also known as Karona or Karuna, is located in Moiben, Uasin Gishu, Rift Valley, Kenya. It is one of three hills that form a circular pattern on the Moiben Plateau, the others being Sergoit and Kapsiliot. With an elevation of 2,244 meters above sea level, Karuna Hill boasts a gently rounded peak that stands out amidst the surrounding landscape, with a local relief of less than 300 meters. This stunning hill is part of the family farm of the late William Chemweno, a prominent farmer and businessman in Moiben area.  The name Karuna originates from India and holds deep meaning. It is commonly translated as compassion or mercy, and sometimes as self-compassion or spiritual longing. This concept holds great significance in the Indian religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism Karuna Hill is a haven of natural beauty, adorned with a diverse range of flora and fauna that adds to its allure. Its natural beauty is a sight to behold, making it ...

By William Kiptoo On his farm in Karuna, Moiben, Mzee William Chemweno kept a place where people came together. It was called Chepkinoyo, meaning “meeting place” in Kalenjin, and many later knew it as William’s Farmhouse. For years it was his favourite spot: a small bar where he shared a beer with friends and family, especially in his later years. It was a modest setting for a man of his standing. Chemweno was one of the best known farmers in Moiben. On his Kapkabai and Karuna farms, about 5,000 acres in all, he grew maize, wheat and other crops on a large scale, and his name is often mentioned alongside Silas Tiren and Jackson Kibor. In Eldoret town he put up Wilchem Building at the corner of Uganda Road and Oloo Street, which in its busiest years housed Baringo Drapers, Otto Café and Sai Electronics. Yet when the business of the day was done, it was at Chepkinoyo that he chose to be, among neighbours and family, close to the land he farmed. The name fits: it was less a bar than a ...

By William Kiptoo Despite its beauty and magnificence, Karuna Hill, in Moiben, it is currently under threat due to the mining activities of the road construction companies which are indiscriminately extracting murrum on the hillside. In the recent past, there has been an increase of these activities in the hill driven by the rising demand for quality murrum to construct feeder roads within the County. This extraction is not only causing severe soil erosion but also leads to the degradation of the Hill's natural beauty and ecological balance. Even though the hill is a private property, it i's time alternative sources of road construction materials are explored to alleviate the pressure on Karuna Hill and to preserve the natural beauty and ecological balance of the Hill for the well-being of the future generations.

Shared by William Kiptoo for those who have been looking for the origin of the name Kambi Simba in Karuna/Meibeki, Moiben. From "Notes on the Old Days in Eldoret" by Mrs Dorothy Hughes, née Ullmann, from the scrapbook of Les Tucker, printed in the Habari 2002 newsletter of the Friends of East Africa. First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 24 July 2025. John Willie Hosking, a former Provincial Commissioner, spoke of his house at Moiben as "Kampi ya Simba," the lion camp. In the early days he saw pugmarks in the cement of a building under construction. Later he shot a lion at one corner of the building. He looked round, saw another in a different place and shot again, then shot at yet another. He did this seven times, and in the morning he found seven dead lions. His wife, very Irish and fey, believed in the "little people." She said Moiben had a haunted house, and felt her hair rise whenever she stood in a certain place. Her scept...

By William Kiptoo With the ongoing rains, there are concerns that mining activities on the hillside of Karuna hill (for good quality Sergoit murram) is an environmental threat. The excessive mining taking place here has the potential to trigger landslides and other disasters, as the removal of vegetation cover is not being adequately replaced. If left unchecked this land use activity is likely to lead to environmental degradation. Although the land in question is privately owned, the Environmental Management and Coordination Act Chapter 387 provides guidelines for the protection of any hilly and mountainous areas that are at risk of environmental degradation. The District Environment Committee is empowered to identify such areas and implement measures to safeguard them, including afforestation or reforestation, promoting voluntary tree planting initiatives, and taking steps to curb soil erosion and protect water catchment areas. There has never been efforts to address this looming pro...

By William Kiptoo Lake Sergoit. Photo courtesy of Caesar’s Waterfront Resort, Moiben. On Christmas Day, thousands of people now gather on the shores of Lake Sergoit, about 30 kilometres from Eldoret, to eat, take boat rides and spend the holiday with their families. Most of them come for the food and the breeze off the water. Few know that the lake has drawn people for a very long time, and for very different reasons. A Salt Lick for Keiyo Cattle Lake Sergoit, also called Charar Dam, sits at about 2,144 metres above sea level, fed by the Katalir stream and lying southwest of Kapkapai Farm, below Sergoit Hill. Long before any settler arrived, the Keiyo people brought their cattle here for “ng’enda,” the salt lick their herds needed. The salt lick gave the area its other name. According to a story first told by Libby Sharpp, a child born here to a Maasai mother and a Keiyo father, Chebisach, was named Charar after the salt lick itself ( read the full tale of Charar ). A Hunter’s Cam...

By William Kiptoo It’s the mid-1960s, and the sun dipped behind Karuna hills in Moiben, painting the sky in hues of orange and crimson. John William Hosking, a colonial officer with a stern face and dusty boots, leaned against his Land Rover. He spoke with clipped authority, gesturing toward the acacia thickets.  “This land has seen lions,” Hosking said. “That’s why we called it Kambi Simba. You’ll need courage to tame it.”  Kimwatan, dressed in a worn coat that still carried the scent of hides from his trading days in Elgeyo escarpment, stood firm. His cousin, William Chemweno, had already told him the settlers were leaving, that the future belonged to those who dared to plant roots in these plains.  “I don’t fear lions,” Kimwatan replied. “I fear wasted land. Give me the papers, and I’ll show you what this soil can yield.”  The handshake that followed was more than a transaction. It was the passing of an era. Hosking walked away from colonial ownership; Kimwatan st...

By William Kiptoo First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 28 July 2025. Why Juma Hajee Matters Anyone who has walked through Eldoret town has probably seen the name. The Juma Hajee shop stands at the intersection of Elijah Cheruiyot Street and Stendi Kisa Yala Road, and many people have wondered who Juma Hajee was and what story lies behind the name on that building. The answer goes back to the very beginning of Eldoret. Before there was a town, there was Farm 64 on the Sosiani River, and on it stood Juma Hajee's little iron store at the river crossing that is still called Hajee's Drift. When Farm 64 was laid out as a township in 1912, he was the first merchant to move in, and his was the first shop in town. In other words, the story of Eldoret as a trading town begins with him. He went on to build a network of about a dozen shops across Western Kenya, served on the Eldoret Municipal Council, presided over the Indian Association and led the Ismaili c...

By Herman Landgrebe (Written in 1983) Source: Habari, friends of East Africa HC Kirk, usually known as HC or Bert to his friends, or Bwana Mrefu to the Africans, came to Kenya in 1907 just before his twenty first birthday. After several visits to friends he knew or knew of, he joined Mr Russell Bowker, the first owner of Mt Margaret Estate in the Kedo Valley near Kijabe. On joining Mr Bowker they set off on a six months shooting safari to the Uasin Gishu by ox waggon, Mrs Bowker going too, complete with her sewing machine. Mr Kirk received no pay but would be fed by the Bowkers and what he shot, obviously the ivory, would be his reward. He was to drive the wagon also. A base camp was set up on the Uasin Gishu side of the Nzoia River near a big swamp not far from Hoey's bridge where it joined the main Eldoret-Kitale. In 1908 Mr Kirk left Mt Margaret and joined Mr AC Hoey at Sergoit on the shores of the lake. At that time Mr Hoey owned Karuna Farm where Mr Alec farmed later, until al...

 By William Kiptoo Illustration created with AI for this article. Not a historical photograph. Elgeyo Saw Mills originated within Kenya’s colonial forestry economy when British settlers and administrators exploited high altitude forests in the Rift Valley for commercial timber. The Elgeyo Escarpment and the Cherangany Hills were used for timber extraction due to the presence of indigenous hardwoods such as cedar and podo, alongside planted softwoods introduced through colonial forestry policies. The land where the mill was later established formed part of a settler owned farm of about 4,900 acres held by a European settler identified as Captain Kenneth Rawson-Shaw, remembered locally as Shown Show or Bwana Shaw (see the section on him below) . The property lay along the boundary of present day Elgeyo Marakwet and Uasin Gishu counties and was located near forest reserves that supplied timber.  During the colonial period, timber production supported railway construction, settler...