FATHERS OF TRANS NZOIA JOACHIM MACHARIA-BIOGRAPHY

My father, Joachim Francis Macharia, is an enigma. When he speaks, he uses parables and analogies. When addressing crowds, he maintains an aloofness that is difficult to penetrate. His high sense of humor is unmatched. He will often leave his audience in stiches when he narrates interesting stories from his past, present and what he thinks the future will I was a child, I listened keenly to these stories, about how he took part in the liberation of Kenya from the British colonialists, about his political life, his involvement in church affairs and wondered, were these fables? When I grew up, I began piecing these stories together through research of Kenya’s history. The struggle for independence, the history of Trans Nzoia District, immigration of members of the Kikuyu tribe into Rift Valley Province and the Settlement Schemes (white highlands), among other interesting tales he told us. What amazed me is how accurate his accounts were. He was there. He lived through that part of Kenya’s a tall, handsome, bald and hefty man, yet humble, is an ordinary man with an extra-ordinary story. This is a man who was also involved in the making of Kenya’s history. Though not recognised or written about, my father was detained, suffered discrimination like any African, his movement was restricted under the infamous ‘Kipande System’, among other historical injustices in the hands of the British colonialists. Thanks to the creation of the ‘African Reserves’ his parents lost their ancestral land in Murang’a and had to shift to an unknown land- the Rift Valley in search of land and a new that this Biography spans different historical periods in Kenya, namely; Pre-colonial, Colonial and Post-colonial periods. However, for the sake of understanding the context of this Biography, I have stuck to the old administrative boundaries notably, in the local governments known as County Councils, Districts and Thus, this book is set in Trans Nzoia District, Rift Valley Province in Kenya, East is the account of my father’s life history as he narrated to me during a series of interviews at his farm in Kipsaina Settlement Scheme, Trans Nzoia district between the years 2014 and 2016. I have also incorporated excerpts of Kenya’s rich history derived from research, journals and publications available online and in of the accounts are my recollections from childhood to adulthood on issues relating to our upbringing and my father, but I have been careful to stick to his own point of