Thursday, October 19 1905, Koitalel Arap Samoei, a great Nandi Leader, an Orkoiyot, spiritual leader and a warrior went to meet with Richard Meinertzhagen a British soldier, intelligence officer and an ornithologist who had a millitary career spanning Africa and Middle East. The peace treaty meeting took place at Ketbarak, presently Nandi Bears Club. Samoei had instructed Meinertzhagen to attend the meeting with 5 companions and he also went with 5 companions. While Samoei marched with 5 companions as agreed, Meinertzhagen marched with 80 armed men and hid 75 near the venue. Upon shaking hands for the peace treaty, Meinertzhagen killed Samoei with a shot at point-blank range[1-3].
Carl Jacobi, born December 10th 1804 became a great Mathematician and was referred as the great algorist, second in his field only to Euler. An algorist is someone who develops a novel way to solve a specific type of problem. His favorite strategy is called inversion, the art of thinking backwards in order to think better[4, 5]. According to the inversion model, one should turn a situation or problem upside down or look at it backward. What would happen if the plan goes south, what if the information at hand is not true? What if we are plagued with ignorance? Ask what can go wrong in the journey to the goal and not only what needs to be done right.
Proceed with moderation, have a balance of forward and backward thinking. Look at the possible pitfalls and the possible successes at the same time. Think of how to achieve a goal while thinking of reasons you might not achieve a goal. Proceed with moderation. In nursing field, there is a common saying that “Whatever you do, don’t kill the patient”. Think of ways to ensure the patient stays alive and thrives while also thinking of ways to make sure the opposite does not become true.
It is sad that Koitalel Arap Samoei died in a gruesome way. Had he known the character of Meinertzhagen, or applied the inversion thinking model, maybe he would have decided and acted differently. But maybe he knew the danger but decided to go anyway.
1. Murei, M., S. Nyanchoga, and L. Melvine, ISSN (online): 2312-0134| Website: www. arjess. org Impact of Colonialism on the Indigenous Farming Practises of the Nandi People in Kenya, 1895-1963.
2. Chelimo, F.J. and K. Chelelgo, Pre-Colonial Political Organization of the Kalenjin of Kenya: An Overview. 2016.
3. Anderson, D.M.J.T.H.J., Black mischief: crime, protest and resistance in colonial Kenya. 1993. 36(4): p. 851-877.
4. Cole, S.A., The Jacobian matrix. 2013.
5. Zhao, X., Topological Abel-Jacobi Mapping and Jacobi Inversion. 2015.