There is a question someone asked,the reason why the kipsigis who are a sub tribe to the kalenjin tribe are more light skinned than the other kalenjin tribes including the nandi,tugen an marakwet just to mention a few.
Many people who dont understand our history replied that,THE REASON IS,THE ABAGUSII SIRED MOST OF THE KIPSIGIS AFTER THEIR MEN WERE WIPED OUT DURING THE BATTLE OF MOGORI.
First its not true that their men were wiped out,most of them returned.Remember the battalions were led by three men,CHESENG'ENY ARAP KABOROK,MALOBUN ARAP MAKICHE and ARAP CHEMWAA.
After the raid in mogori was successful,the warriors led by ARAP CHEMWAA and CHEPSENGENY returned while the warriors of MALOBUN took part in the battle were nearly wiped out by the Abagusii and the Luos.During the batte,ARAP CHOPOOT escaped with over 100 warriors.Others escaped too with spears clinging on their waists.
If you remember the story,MALABUN refused returned to return home with his warriors claiming that he was a brave warrior and would'nt return home in the middle of the night.He went on to say that he must first greet the KAMAM kith before leaving at day break..That tells us that the relationship between the kisii people and the kalenjins existed before the infamous mogori battle.
Also, the warriors that took part in the war mainly came from Bureti and Sot..Those from other regions didnt take part.Precisely it was a failed cattle raid and not a battle.
Those warriors that took part in the raid and battle were of KAPLELACH and KORONGORO age sets KAPLELACH being the majority so throw away that the KIPKOIMET age set was wiped out in the battle.
If you compare the kipsigis and the abagusii,the kipsigis are lighter than the abagusii.This could be due to the ancestry with the somalis ,oromo and ogiek.
Also remember that the kipsigis sold many boys to the Abagusii during the famine in exchange for millet..You would give out your young son and the abagusii would give you millet that could feed yu for a long time..It was a coincidence since food was in plently.
Compiled by Ibrahim Walker Kipkirui.