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Residents of Ol Kalou town receive goodies donated by the government ahead of the July 16 by-election in Ol Kalou constituency. [James Munyeki, Standard]
Ol Kalou constituency shares the name with the headquarters of Nyandarua County. The name has Maasai origin, just like Ol Joro Orok, Shamata, Kipipiri, and Kinangop, among others. Like the US states that bear the names of the Native Americans, this county has names of its original owners: the Maasai.
The agreements of 1904 and 1911 turned their once-grazing land into white highlands. For curious reasons, Ol Kalou was popular with Boers - Van Staaten, Van Odendall, Joubert, Botha, Van Blerk and Kruger once made Ol Kalou and its neighbourhoods their home.
Next time you are in the Western Cape, South Africa, just drive over Lowry Pass to Hermanus or Hauston, and see the uncanny semblance to the Ol Kalou area. The Boers must have felt at home except for the wineries.
