The man who killed Koitalel

Richard Henry Meinertzhagen, the man who silenced the Nandi rebellion by killing the community’s paramount leader Koitalel arap Samoei in 1905, has been described as a man who killed for pleasure.

Meinertzhagen is described by online biographers as brilliant and cruel, adventurous and treacherous, with few scruples.

He was a soldier, intelligence officer and ornithologist.

He worked in India, Africa and Palestine and rose through the ranks to become a colonel.

killing orders

In 1902, at Kihumbuini, Thika, he ordered every living thing, except children, to be killed after the villagers killed a European settler by placing him on his back and urinating into his mouth till he died.

He is said to have killed his second wife, whom he claimed had shot herself accidentally in the head.

Koitalel arap Samoei mausoleum in Nandi Hills.

In his book, Kenya Diary (1902-1906), Meinertzhgen appears to regret the killing of Koitalel.

"My drastic action on this occasion haunted me for many years. I, Richard Meinertzhagen, murdered Koitalel Samoei, the Nandi Orkoiyot (leader) on October 19, 1905," he wrote.

Killed for pleasure

Elspeth Huxley, the famed author of The Flame Trees of Thika, described Meinertzhagen thus: "A killer. He killed abundantly and he killed for pleasure."

He was tried three times over the Koitalel murder but was acquitted in all instances.

Despite questions over his conduct as a soldier, he went on to become Chief Intelligence Officer of the British Army during World War II and was decorated by the Queen.