A journey of a thousand miles that ended in Nakuru: How Karimbux helped shape Nakuru's history

It all began in 1901 when Seth Ibrahim, a man of Asian descent, arrived on the Kenyan coast with nothing but the hope of a better life for his family.

In her book "The House that stood still," Shailla Matlock-Karimbux, a fourth-generation descendant, recounts the story of their great patriarch, a story of tenacity, courage and resilience.

From the Kenyan coast, where they had arrived by ship, they crossed the country by oxcart all the way to Nairobi, arriving in Nakuru, which was then an engine changing station. By 1902 it was a customs post for goods coming from Uganda, and in 1904 Nakuru was officially declared a township.

According to Sheilla Matlock-Karimbux, on arriving in Nakuru, Mr Ibrahim decided that this was where he would settle.

"Having reached his destination, an excitement filled his soul and a sudden surge of energy flowed through his body, he was ready to fulfil his life's dream. Nakuru was a repository in the centre of the Rift Valley. It was a pristine, windswept and arid plain with no villages or bomas, not a soul in sight," she said.

By this time, Mr Ibrahim had familiarised himself with the township and would go on short expeditions whenever the opportunity arose. He was also able to set up an oxcart transport business.

It was through this business that he met Lord Delamere, who became a regular customer and in time they became friends.

In time they ventured into other businesses such as an oat industry, a provision store and many others.

Over the years the Karimbux family helped to shape Nakuru into an urban centre and some of the footprints of what the great family achieved can still be seen today, the most obvious being the first ever cinema hall (Odeon), a mosque and a Muslim community centre.  

In 1951, Ibrahim Karimbux died, and sadly, from the story, it is a story that describes something of a "curse" that has ravenously claimed the male heirs to the Karimbux empire, as journalist Steven Omondi rightly puts it in his review of the book in the Nation. Africa.

Family disputes over control of the vast estate also played a major role in the fall of the Karimbux empire.

In Nakuru, the Karimbux name still lives on, with the stretch from St Xaviers to Bargain Cereal being christened Baringo-Karimbux Lane.