The Unforgotten Hero: Joel Kiptenai Malel

Senior Chief Joel Kiptenai Malel was born on January 1st 1898 in Nandi, his father Kimalel hailed from the Maasai community in Kenya. Kimalel married a Nandi woman and they were blessed with three boys and one daughter. The eldest of the family was Joel Kiptenai Malel, followed by Arap Malel and then Philomeon Murei.

Senior Chief Joel Kiptenai was enlisted into the Royal British Army was sent to Burma to fight for the British from December 14th 1941 to August 1945. Upon his return the British made him Senior Chief in Nandi. Senior Chief Joel Malel and his wife Elizabeth were blessed with twelve children. Their children were;

Abednego Kapkechui born 1930
Shadrack Kimalel born 1930
Lilian Malel born 1932
Japheth Kipkemboi Tenai born 1935
Nathaniel Kipkoech Tenai born 1938
Noah Kipkemboi Tenai born 1940
Joash Kipkorir Tenai born 1945
Tartius Kiplagat Tenai born 1948
Ogla Malel born 1950
Milka Malel born 1950
Magdalene born 1952
Mary born 1952

Senior Chief Joel Malel died on August 1st 1979 and was buried in a Mausoleum at his Kapkechui Farm in Kapseret. The second President of Kenya Daniel Torotich Arap Moi were among the people who attended his burial.

The Nandi Resistance was a military conflict that took place in present-day Kenya between 1890 and 1906. It involved members of the Kalenjin ethnic group, mainly from the Nandi section, and the British colonial administration. The close of the 19th century, a time referred to as the "pacification period" by Matson, saw a number of local populations that resisted British colonial rule. Of these, the Nandi resistance would stand out for being the longest and most tenacious.