King's Kenya visit sparks fresh call for skull return

Elders of the Nandi community in Kenya have renewed demands for the UK to return the skull of Koitalel arap Samoei, a chief as well as a spiritual and military leader killed by the British in 1905.

The fresh demand came days before King Charles III's visit to Kenya on 31 October.

Samoei, who waged a fierce resistance against the colonialists, was killed by British soldier Colonel Richard Meinertzehagen, after tricking Samoei and other Nandi leaders into attending a truce meeting.

According to Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper, the elders are also seeking the return of their stolen cultural artifacts and compensation for the atrocities committed against the community during colonial rule, including murder, detention, and forcible displacement of the Nandi.

Samoei’s skull is believed to be in a museum collection somewhere in the UK.

Nandi elders have repeatedly asked Britain to return his remains.

"We are appealing to King Charles, we need to get that skull to be brought back to Nandi for honourable burial," descendant David Samoei told Kenya’s KTN News TV channel earlier this year.