The
Ilchamus (sometimes spelled Ilchamus or Iltiamus, also known as Njemps), are a Maa people living south and southeast of
Lake Baringo,
Kenya. They number about 35,000 and are closely related to the
Samburu living more to the north-east in the
Rift Valley Province. Their language is one of the
Eastern Nilotic Maa languages, closely related to the
Samburu language (between 89
nd 94% lexical similarity), to the point of it being considered a Samburu dialect by some. Together, Samburu and Ilchamus form the northern division of the Maa languages. [Heine 1980; Vossen 1982]