The firebrand politician and fierce defender of Maasai rights

For some the late Cabinet minister William ole Ntimama was a thorn in the flesh. For others, especially his Maasai tribesmen he was their undisputed King.

Ntimama, whose word was law in Maasailand - bestrode the Kenyan political landscape like the proverbial colossus during the regimes of former Presidents Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel Moi, Mwai Kibaki and the current Jubilee government, championing the rights of his people.

The former minister, a member of the Maasai elite, was first appointed to the Narok Africa District Council as a councilor in 1954.

According to history books, he impressed the colonial state earning him an appointment as clerk to the council in 1958 and then to the Kenya Legislative Council (Legco) in 1959.

At the Legco, Ntimama passionately presented issues affecting the Maasai community.

He pushed the colonial government to restore the Maasai‘s pre-colonial status as the “ruthless ruler of some part of Kenya and East Africa“ by assisting them with „good cattle management and in agriculture“.

Those who interacted with him told The Standard on Saturday that the former minister was never interested in tribal integration because the Maasai were “ultraconservative,“ and did not see the benefit of the “present thing called civilisation.“

Although he considered other communities friendly, Ntimama argued that the Maasai “still felt a bit tribal.“

In one of the sessions at the Legco, he was quoted insisting that “there is a bit of tribal smell, I think you agree, Mr Speaker.“ The Speaker at the time was Ferdinand Cavendish Bentrick who quit in 1960, because at the time Lancaster House Conference had committed itself to African majority rule. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Ntimama directed his efforts towards fighting for the rights of the Maasai that saw him arrested and even accused of masterminding the Enoosupukia ethnic clashes where he made the infamous statement “lie low like an envelope.“

Inquiry of 1992

He was blamed for orchestrating attacks against the non-Maasai in Narok, which was subject of the Akiwumi Commission of Inquiry into the 1992 ethnic clashes — blamed for uprooting of thousands of the Kikuyu from parts of Rift Valley.

The former minister was instrumental in the push for Majimboism (federalism) system of government arguing that “Most of the pastoralists in Kenya ... are now feeling that people are coming to occupy their land and eat all their resources and squander all their wealth while they look on helplessly. They feel it is time for their rights to be established.“

When he appeared before the commission, Ntimama said: “Only the majimbo (federalism) system of government can effectively protect the interests of vulnerable communities.“

The Narok North MP, who was led in his evidence-in-chief by his advocate, Patrick Lumumba, said the pro-majimbo rally held in Narok on September 28, 1991, was intended to educate the people on recommendations of the Saitoti Review Committee and to counter the Ford propaganda.

Some time in June 2006, Ntimama was arrested for allegedly threatening non-Maasai residents of Narok District with eviction.

The then MP for Narok North was arrested in Nairobi by two senior police officers attached to the Rift Valley Provincial Police headquarters.

When Lord Delemare‘s son, the late Thomas Cholmondeley, was accused of murdering an under-cover KWS ranger, Ntimama organised Maasais to demonstrate and their grievance was that “the British had stolen the land in the first place hence it was not for the court to try the matter since this white-man had no reason whatsoever to defend what was not his in the first place.“

He said: “It is the British who stole the land in the first place but look at us now, we have become part of the wildlife!“

Beside his political agenda, he was humorous. The former minister at times adorned the Maasai regalia and during political rallies he wore a red suit. He has left behind a widow Dorcas and four children.