The population of Kalenjins would have doubled were it not for the executions allegedly committed by the British colonialists, Kericho governor Paul Chepkwony has said.
He said that potential men who would have sired more children were killed during the resistance against the harsh administrators of the pre-independence era.
Prof Chepkwony, who was in London this week to prepare evidence in a case against the British for the atrocities, said some 1,900 men were executed at that time.
He told the Star on phone that he is confident that they will win the case, adding that their lawyers have come up with a watertight suit against Britain.
He said Queens Counsel Karim Khan and Nairobi lawyer Kimutai Bosek will file the case in three weeks.
"I can confirm that I have seen light at the end of the tunnel. We will finally get justice because of the new damning evidence that has been uncovered," he said.
Chepkwony said that the colonial settlers had taken Kenyans for fools by thinking that they would never find records of the abuses.
"They believed that Africans would never learn to read or write and so they saved most of their secrets in letters which we found at the British Museum in London," he said.
Chepkwony said that they unearthed records of how the Kipsigis men in question were murdered in cold blood by a firing squad.
"The men were lined up and shot dead using two machine guns. This was a genocide by all definitions. It happened under the watch of the British government," he added.
The county boss said that massive transfers and forceful evictions of residents were executed to create space for tea farms.
The governor claimed that the documents proved that the government of Queen Elizabeth II was aware of what was happening at that time.
He said upon arrival from the trip that the community will not stop its efforts to pursue justice and not less than Sh2 trillion compensation for the historical injustices against them.
The governor was received by Kalenjin and Talai elders at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport when he arrived from Britain to lay ground for the case.
He went to London with Kericho Speaker Japheth Mutai, Kimugul MCA Kiprono Chumo and Kipsigis-Myoot council of elders chairman Paul Leleito.
Talai elder Eli Sigilai said members of the community will rally behind the governor in his quest to seek justice for the lives lost as a result of the 1905 atrocities.
"Many wrongs were committed against our ancestors. Our wait for justice had been too long," he said.
Chumo, also the county assembly chief whip, also said he was hopeful that they will win the case after the county set aside Sh40 million for the matter.
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