Eshicherekhane: The stones ‘that fought for two clans’ — and won

By SHABAN MAKOKHA
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It is a chilly morning as we make our way across River Naburere through a thicket surrounding a rocky hill in Emukowa village, Butere Sub-County.

Overlooking Imanga township on the Mumias-Musanda road are two boulders that sit menacingly atop the hill.

Approximately 20 metres apart, the rocks look like they are about to begin rolling down.

RESISTED

Mr John Nabono, 77, says the rocks have remained in this state for hundreds of years, providing shade for locals.

“The Eshicherekhane stones have been like this since God created the world,” he says.


The boulders are clearly visible from a distance.

The name Eshicherekhane is derived from the Luhya word “Okhucherekhana”, which means something sitting on another.

Our guide Morris Shisia says he bought land in the area 15 years ago, but does not know the history behind the rocks, so he asks Mr Nabono to accompany us.

According to the elderly man, the name Eshicherekhane was coined by the Abamukowa — one of the clans in Butere — when its members migrated and settled in the area “many years ago”.

“The rocks are important and mark the boundary of Abamukowa and Abamwima, the two main clans in Butere,” Mr Abono says.

“They also separate Emukowa village from Imanga.”

Eshicherekhane rocks have attracted thousands of tourists. Their history goes beyond the era of King Wamukoya Netia of Wanga when he declared war on communities that resisted his rule, among them the Abamwima and the Abamukowa.

Mr Nabono says thickets surrounded the hill and that strangers had no idea of its existence.

CONFLICT

It was a perfect hideout for local soldiers who routed Netia’s men when the war broke out.

He says after Netia’s men were defeated, the king went to Uasin Gishu and recruited a large group of warriors.

“They arrived armed with spears, arrows and bows. The warriors terrorised locals and killed many,” Mr Nabono says.

“They took their cattle and drove them to Netia’s homestead in Lureko, near Mumias. Netia paid the foreign warriors using the plundered livestock.”

During the armed conflict, he goes on, the men from Uasin Gishu found the mysterious hill.

“They believed the rocks were giving local warriors advantage over them and resolved to roll them from the hill,” Mr Nabono adds.

The octogenarian says the men from Uasin Gishu then started pushing the rocks.

“They pushed and pushed without success,” he says.

SNAPPED

According to Mr Nabono, the warriors who numbered about 50, then decided to make their work easier by pulling the rocks using tsikhoba or straps made from hides.

“They began pulling. Unfortunately, the straps snapped and all the warriors died when they fell at the bottom of the hill,” Mr Nabono adds.

Word of kinsmen having died in an attempt to roll rocks downhill soon reached Uasin Gishu.

“More than 100 men arrived days later and tied tsikhoba around. Like the first group, the straps snapped and the men died,” he says.

News spread like a bushfire that was killing the foreign warriors, adding that another group of around 300 men arrived and suffered the same fate, though in this case, some got injured.

The injured pleaded for help but locals left them in the bush to be eaten by hyenas.

“Some were heard pleading to be rescued from the hyenas, but nobody bothered as they had terrorised the area,” Nabono says.

He adds that the last group that came and saw the decomposing body parts of their fellow warriors and kinsmen got so afraid that they disappeared never to be seen again.

“These rocks have powers,” he concludes.