• The DP, already blessed by Talai elders, is likely to be crowned the Kalenjin spokesman
• Elders dismissed the handover terming it as a well choreographed and stage-managed event that would backfire.
Image: BY MATHEWS NDANYI
Baringo Senator Gideon Moi's allies and some of elders in Rift Valley have dismissed claims that former President Moi's traditional power instruments had been surrendered by his Tugen community elders.
They say the Moi family is in custody of the instruments which cannot be handed over without authority or involvement of the family.
The elders led by David Chepsiror and Yussuf Keitany said at no time had the community discussed the surrender of the instruments.
Two days ago, some elders from the community claimed that they had surrendered Moi's traditional leadership instruments which he was given 65 years ago.
The instruments are widely expected to be passed on to Deputy President William Ruto during a ceremony to crown him as Kalenjin community spokesman and leader.
“Its absurd that a few confused people can go out to buy some paraphernalia and purport that they are instruments given to Moi by elders. That can never be true and we as elders from this region are not part to such cornish schemes,” Chepsiror said.
They have dismissed the alleged handover as 'yet another desperate move by the DP to instal himself as Kalenjin leader'.
“Mzee Moi’s family was not consulted at all and the instruments he was given 65 years ago are intact with the family. We wonder how they can purport to hand over what they do not have,” Kanu Elgeyo Marakwet chairman Paul Kibet said.
Chepsiror and Keitany dismissed the handover terming it as a well choreographed and stage-managed event that would backfire.
“We know very well that it was a commercial fully paid up event and has nothing to do with the community but interests of an individual," Keitany said.
He accused the Kalenjin Elders Council (Myot) of embarrassing itself and reducing itself to be a political tool for use by some individuals.
“These so called elders are embarrassing us as a community. They were supposed to act for the good interest of the Kalenjins but they have turned selfish and commercial," Chepsiror said.
He said the Kalenjin community and Kenyans still respect the family of Moi and warned elders to stop engaging in politics in a manner that embarrasses all the elders from the region.
Keittany and Chepsiror spoke in Eldoret after a meeting that was also attended by local politicians including David Songok and Kipkorir Menjo among others.
The DP, already blessed by Talai elders, is likely to be crowned the Kalenjin spokesman, the Star has been told, though the elders supporting the move will first deliberate and make an announcement.
Such a coronation will intensify his rivalry with Gideon to control Rift Valley.
Songok accused Ruto and his allies of being so desperate for power "to the extent that they were uttering what amounted to threats to Kenyans".
"With the kind behaviour being displayed by the of Oscar Sudi, Kenyans will not risk by electing such people to power," Songok said.
He apologised to Uhuru and former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta over recent remarks by Kapseret MP oscar Sudi against them.
The ceremony to crown Ruto is said to be set for either in November or early next year.
Moi died on February 4.
Last Thursday, some Tugen elders reportedly traveled to Sochoi in Nandi where they performed a secret ceremony without Moi's family and handed over the instruments known as Samburto to Nandi community elders.
The Nandi elders had bestowed the same instruments on Moi in a ceremony in Kabiyet in 1955.
Sochoi is a sacred place to the Kalenjin where key cultural and traditional events take place. Within the Kalenjin sub-tribes, blessings for leaders are usually performed by the Nandis.
Mzee Benjamin Kitur, the Nandi Kaburwo chairman, led the Myot from Rift Valley to receive the instruments from the Tugen elders. They were led by their chairman Rev Kibet Sambu.
The instruments of power included the Sambut, Nogirwet, Korokto-stick, Rungut, Samburto and Kutwet, among others.
Rungut is the popular Rungu ya Nyayo that Moi carried everywhere during his presidency. He had one made of ivory.
The elders in Nandi, however, admitted that the instruments handed over were not the original ones given to Moi — "those were left with the family".
“This is a highly significant and historical event in the entire Kalenjin land and it's exclusively done by elders," Kutur said after receiving the instruments.
The instruments will be displayed on October 9 to the Kalenjin community at yet another major event. At that time, the entire Kalenjin community will be informed about the return of the instruments.
A few months ago, Ruto sparked a wide debate when he traveled to Nandi to receive almost similar instruments from the revered Talai clan elders. They blessed Ruto and endorsed him for the presidency, declaring that no one else would be given similar instruments.
The main reason is that Ruto is already ahead of others leaders from the region, though he is battling with Gideon, the Kanu leader, for political dominance in Rift Valley.
The elders explained the instruments were bestowed upon Moi as the son of Kalenjin but the instruments were to be returned to Nandi upon his retirement, hence, the Sochoi event.
“We therefore receive the instruments of power from the Tugen Council of Elders here at the Sochoi cultural center in Nandi. This makes it 65 years since the same were given to Moi in September 1955," Mzee Kitur said.
At the ceremony, it was decided Kitur will call a meeting of the Kalenjin Council of Elders to deliberate on handing over the instruments to the next Kalenjin leader.
Just before Moi’s burial, Gideon was handed over a leadership baton by Tugen elders who said it was a family affair and not a community leadership baton.
Gideon has begun revamping his Kanu party after signing a coalition agreement with Jubilee. He is expected to step up his political activities and later officially declare his run for the presidency.
Edited by R.Wamochie