Don’t count me out yet, says Ntimama

Upbeat after successfully agitating for the appointment of Keriako Tobiko as Director of Public Prosecutions, Heritage minister William ole Ntimama says he will defend his Narok North parliamentary seat in the next General Election.

The announcement by the fiery legislator puts to an end speculation that he might be retiring from active politics due to advanced age, failing health and dwindling political fortunes.

Making the announcement at Nkareta Secondary School in his constituency last week, Mr Ntimama said: “I am still needed to fight for Maasai rights.

Those youthful people moving around saying I am retiring had better hold their horses as I will be there for some time,” said the 83-year-old MP.

Political analysts say the decision to go for a national assembly seat rather than the senate, which he had been toying with for some time, was informed by the demography of Narok County.

“Mr Ntimama is a realist. If he were to go for the position of senator, which befits him as a senior politician, he would have needed the support of those constituencies in the county which may not be friendly to him due to such areas of conflict as the land question and the Mau Forest

conservation,” said Pacha ole Maloi, a political analyst in Narok.

The indigenous Maasai and the immigrant Kipsigis are the two most populous communities in the county, and anybody hoping to capture any county seat must win reasonable support from the two voting blocs.

Most settlers in Mau are Kipsigis, and Mr Ntimama’s push to restore the forest has not endeared him to them.

His constituency has also been split in two, according to the proposed Bill on boundaries review. “This removes the Nairagie Enkare area and the

lower zone where some of his opponents like United Democratic Movement secretary general Martin ole Kamwaro come from,” says David ole

Sankok, another political pundit.

But the octogenarian will still have to contend with other politicians including Meitamei olol Dapash, who has lately used the Mau Narok land

dispute to distinguish himself as a fierce defender of Maasai land rights, and lawyer Moitalel ole Kenta who came a close second in 2007.

For close to a quarter of a century, Mr Ntimama bestrode the Maasai political arena, and his word was law in the length and breadth of the region.

A long-time chairman of Narok County Council, Mr Ntimama made his grand entry to parliamentary politics by ousting the then powerful minister

in the Office of the President Justus Kantet ole Tipis in 1988 and became President Moi’s loyal supporter.

Then in 2002, he joined Narc and successfully defended his seat. In 2005 he mobilised his community to reject the Wako draft of the constitution

under the famous Suswa Declaration.

But his political fortunes have lately been in decline. Early this year, he was twice hounded out of a meeting in Olkaria, Naivasha, by weapon

wielding Maasai youth who were protesting what they termed the minister’s interference with the affairs of their district.

His humiliation, hitherto unwitnessed, was seen by local political commentators as an indication his political clout was waning, and it fuelled

succession wars by leaders who hope to inherit the mantle from the Queen’s English-speaking former school teacher.

Some pundits think the minister should have retired from politics while still at the top rather than face possible humiliation in next year’s elections.

But the minister’s daughter, Councillor Lydia Masikonde, who has declared interest in the position of women’s representative in the Senate, has

appealed to the electorate to accord her father respect, saying he has done a lot for the community.

“Whatever the case, my bid as the women’s representative should be judged on its own merit. I am not riding on my father’s wave,” she said.