Rift Valley elders accuse Central counterparts of playing tribal politics
Rift Valley Council of Elders patron Gilbert Kabage, who has dismissed the Kikuyu Council of Elders as a tribal outfit that should not be allowed to conduct its activities in the region. PHOTO | FRANCIS MUREITHI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Kabage told the elders council to concentrate their activities in central Kenya as they are a security threat to Rift Valley residents.
- The elders said Mr Kiago is being used by the “central Kenya mafia” to cause disunity among residents ahead of the elections.
- The council called on the Kikuyu elders to stop playing the tribal card and join them in preaching peace.
The Rift Valley Council of Elders has dismissed the Kikuyu Council of Elders as a tribal outfit that should not be allowed to conduct its activities in the region.
The council’s patron, Gilbert Kabage, and secretary Peter Charagu have further warned the leaders of the Kikuyu Elders Council to concentrate their activities in central Kenya as they are a security threat to Rift Valley residents.
The council said the Kikuyu elders, led by their chairman Wachira Kiago, visited Nakuru Town last week and appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to drop his deputy William Ruto as his running mate in the August elections.
President Kenyatta has firmly maintained that Mr Ruto will be his running mate in the coming elections.
“We are now telling Mr Wachira and his elders to stop meddling [in] the affairs of Rift Valley ahead of the general elections because we are solidly behind the president and his deputy,” said Mr Kabage.
CAUSING DISUNITY
Speaking in Nakuru on Tuesday, the elders said Mr Kiago is being used by the “central Kenya mafia” to cause disunity among the residents ahead of the elections.
“We are very much aware that the Kikuyu Council of Elders is nothing but a bunch of hungry tribal despots from central Kenya who are working under the instructions of their paymasters to divide the residents of Rift Valley,” said Mr Kabage.
He added that the Kikuyu Council of Elders is now installing their local elders and cited a ceremony held in Uasin Gishu last month where the elders installed their representative without consulting locals.
“They should keep off Rift Valley because their activities are dividing the locals along tribal lines and as Rift Valley Council of Elders we shall not accept this to happen,” said Mr Kabage.
The council said that the Kikuyu elders’ council is not happy with the peace and unity prevailing among the 42 communities residing in the Rift Valley.
“When the region was hit by post-election violence in 2007, the so-called Kikuyu elders never assisted us and we wonder why they are now interested in the regional politics [whose dynamics] they are not aware of,” said Mr Kabage.
The council called on the Kikuyu elders to stop playing the tribal card and join them in preaching peace in the rest of the country ahead of the elections.
