The resistance of the Nandi against the British has been explained by a number of factors among which included the superiority of the Nandi over other tribes like the Masai and Luo and they therefore didn’t want to be humiliated by being dominated by another race hence when the British entered Nandi land, there was no other alternative other than resistance.

The British being foreigners were regarded with suspicion because of the way they dressed and the noises of their guns when fired made them to be regarded as devils by the Nandi people for the noise of guns resembled the noise made by the Nandi women when they beat their skin-skirts during their dances which made the Nandi conclude that the whites were devils and therefore needed to be expelled which gave birth to the Nandi resistance.

The climax of the conflict came as a result of the famous Nandi prophecy, by an ex-orkoyot a ritual expert who worked as both religious and political leader being a trusted diviner he was able to make the Nandi believe in him; he had foretold that the time would come when the Nandi would be ruled by foreigners and also predicted that a “big snake” would come from the “Eastern lake” (Indian Ocean) pouring out fire and smoke passing through the Nandi land as its way to the western lake (Victoria) to satisfy its thirst. The actual fact, the big snake was the Uganda railway which preceded the British occupation of Nandi land.  It was therefore as a result of this prophecy that the Nandi resisted the British.

Subsequently, in 1895, the British sent an expedition against the Nandi consisting of Europeans and 700 Sudanese and Swahili soldiers as expedition that was crushed by the Nandi people which forced the British to send another expedition in 1905 which crushed the Nandi which helped the whites to settle, sent away the Nandi from their area and pushed them into reserves and thus the Nandi begun to associate with the Kipsigis in order to put  up a strong resistance against the British.  Indeed, in the year 1905, the Nandi chief Orkolyot Arap Koitatel died something the Nandi couldn’t tolerate and therefore put up a fierce resistance.

After a number of clashes the British offered peace terms to the Nandi in the area of Kipture in what came to be known as the Kipture peace treaty of 1905 which was signed between the British general manning and the Nandi elders and chiefs  under which; the date of evacuating the railway line areas by the Nandi was agreed as January 1906 in which way the British prevented the Nandi from joining the Kipsigis.

The areas occupied by the whites were also not to be interfered with by the Nandi people which gave more protection to the white farmers and settlers.

In all, the Nandi especially those who had lost their land couldn’t accept to shift into reserves and subsequently the British begun to use force, built posts in the Nandi land which marked the beginning of effective administration of the Nandi land hence the Nandi who had been demoralized and humiliated resorted to passive resistance for the rest of the colonial period.