Kitale is part of what was known as Trans Nzoia District in the early 20th century. It is situated between Mount Elgon and the Cherengani Hills at an elevation of 6,070 feet above sea level.
Kitale is home to the oldest museum in Kenya, the Stoneham Museum established in 1926 by Lt Col Hugh Stoneham, which traces the region’s colonial history.
Also known as the doorstep to Kenya’s remotest wilderness, the area borders the Pokot and Turkana people to the north.
As Special Commissioner for Uganda, Harry Johnston traversed the Rift Valley in 1901 and in his final report remarked that the highlands were “admirably suited for a white man’s country”.
Such sentiment received the unqualified support of Charles Eliot, who as Commissioner for the East African Protectorate, was an outspoken advocate for European settlement.
Eliot proceeded to give grants of large swathes of agricultural land in what came to be known as the White Highlands, to a small number of influential concessionaires, the most famous of which was Lord Delamere, who was given more than 100,000 acres between Molo and Njoro.
Most of the wealthy Europeans who were granted land were only interested in the speculative value of the land and did not develop it.
In any event, the conditions for development were so lenient that just fencing the land was considered development. This approach failed to achieve the intended outcome of populating the White Highlands.
A map of Trans Nzoia in 1908 showed numerous potential farms delineated by metal beacons stuck in the ground. Kitale appeared as a rectangle, three miles by two, but, there was nothing there; not even a building.
Trans Nzoia was not a popular destination for settlement as it was said to be the home of malaria and blackwater fever and was also far removed from civilisation, the nearest railhead being 100 miles away at Londiani and the nearest bank 45 miles away at Eldoret.
It was only after World War 1 that serious settlement began in Kitale when the British Government sent thousands of soldiers under the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Scheme to occupy the farms.
A District Commissioner, Mr Champion was appointed in 1919 but there being no buildings in Kitale, he took up residence in what became known as the Old Boma not far from Hoey’s Bridge (current Moi’s Bridge).
As more Europeans settled in Kitale, permanent buildings were erected for the District Commissioner, the Police and the Kitale Club was founded in 1924.
There was no water supply and the resource for domestic use was fetched by donkey cart from a stream below the Kitale Club. Hot water for bathing was obtained using Tanganyika boilers. Sanitation was provided by pit latrines.
Those residents who could afford it, ran generators for electricity.
Only when Sir Edward Grigg became governor in 1925 did policy change and a branch line of the railway was extended to Jinja in Uganda via Eldoret with a branch line to Kitale from Eldoret.
It was while officially opening the branch line to Kitale at the end of 1925 that Grigg provided funds for building of Kitale School, which had hitherto been accommodated in a cramped private residence.
Kitale School was opened in 1929 for the children of European settlers in the area.
Unfortunately, the agricultural depression of the 1930s and the locust invasions, which caused extensive damage to crops spelt doom for the prosperity of the emerging Kitale area.
This affected the growth of the school and it was not until the end of World War 11 that a new influx of discharged soldiers saw the fortunes of Kitale change for the better.
Kitale achieved full municipal status with full control over township affairs, which saw it develop into one of the leading towns in the colony. The first African students in Kitale School were enrolled soon after independence in 1963.
Notable alumni include Geoffrey William Griffin, Kiprono Kittony, Terryanne Chebet, Linda Obilo, Joshua Sang, Ika Angelei, Richard Etemesi and Terry Davidson among others.
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