Forgotten tale of the Isahakia community

The Story of the Isahakia begins in the late 19th century when Lord Delemare, a British aristocrat traveled to the territory known as Somaliland today on his way to Kenya.

Somali guides belonging to the Isaaq and Harti clans accompanied him on his trip to Kenya. After they arrived, they couldn't return back to their homeland so settled in Isiolo and Naivasha and married Kenyan wives.

They were later joined by a second wave of Somalilanders mainly traders who settled in the Nairobi neighbourhoods of Eastleigh and South B and C, Mombasa and even outside Kenya, in the Tanzanian towns of Namanga, Arusha, Moshi, Musoma and more.

These second wave immigrants brought over their wives from Somaliland and constitute the majority of the Sijuui population.

They were more politically active than the first generation, campaigning for Asiatic status to gain better chances in the colony.

1952 marks the beginning of the tragedy, when the British arrested many members of the community for supporting the Mau Mau movement and breaking out of Naivasha prison.

As punishment, the colonial authorities sold their livestock and confiscated their lands, bringing destitution to the community.

Their plight got worse after independence with the brutal crackdown on the Shifta war.

Throughout the 1960s, the Isahakia community were subjected to a near genocidal campaign by the Kenyan government.

These abuses were particularly harsh In the town of Isiolo where almost 2,700 people died, a significant part of the community.

Those who were alive at the time still pass on the chilling story of the 1967 Isiolo mosque massacre when Government troops enters the Isiolo central mosque during the Dhuhr Prayers and massacred the worshippers they found.

Things turned from bad to worse, when in 1972, Jomo Keynatta accused the Isahakia of Naivasha of being Shifta and destroyed all their houses, leaving them homeless.

Many were forced to construct the Naivasha Prison and Boarding school, which insultingly was built on their former lands.

From then on, they were shut out by successive Kenyan governments, year after year, their pleas were ignored. They were lead on a chain of corrupt bureaucracy that never seemed to start or end.

They suffered and forced to toil lands that were once their own. The government didn't even apologise until recently.

In the 2010s, president Jomo kenyatta finally acknowledged the suffering of the Isahakia community and promised change

However the restitution of land rights is yet to be fulfilled causing outrage among the community, bubbling over until the 'invasion' of their lands by the community in an act of protest to the NLC and the Government

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