HECKLING OF MINISTER BETT BY NANDI YOUTHS IN ELDORET HAS ANGERED MEMBERS OF THE KIPSIGIS COMMUNITY IN THE SOUTH RIFT

Writes Leo Odera Omolo In KerichoTown

The last week’s incident, in which the Road Minister Franklin Bett was heckled and shouted down by a mob of youth suspected to have been mobilized from the Nandi Community, has angered several leaders and political personalities in the South Rift.

Bett was heckled and prevented from making his speech during the high profile public rally dabbed ‘peace and reconciliation meeting‘ addressed by President Mwai Kibaki and attended by several cabinet Ministe4s as well as dozen of local Kalenjin ODM rebel MPs.

The meeting was held at the 64 Stadium in Eldoret Town. When it was the turn for the Minister to address the meeting a group of youths, mainly from the Nandi community, in a section of the mammoth crowd, heckled him and called on the Minister to resign his cabinet job over the Ministry’s decision to demolish buildings on Mombasa road in Nairobi.

The Kipsigis leaders have read mischief on the part of the organizer of the meeting, the suspended Minister for Higher Education William Ruto, and vowed to severe the link with their North Rift cousins, the Nandi.

One such political personality is Mr. David Koech, an ODM leader in Litein, Bureti district in Kericho County, who termed the incident as part of the introduction of political thuggery in the Rift Valley.

He further termed the recent public utterances of some of the Kalenjin as “primitive and full of naivety and mediocrity”. He said the Kalenniu MPs are free to leave the ODM as individuals, but they must stop the bad habit of trying to use the community for power bargain.

Moreover, he said, only the retired President Daniel Arap Moi is the only Kalenjin leader who is mandated to speak on behalf of the entire community. Moi has yet to pass the mantle of power to anyone, and he is the only person who could call the short in the region. Others are pretenders.

Leaders from the Kipsigis community have also faulted the Kalenjin MPs for dragging the community into amorphous alliance called KKK outfit, saying such an alliance could be the recipe of chaos and political upheaval in the country.

Any Kenyan leader who cannot stand and compete with his fellow Kenyans for the top job is unfit and as such cannot be trusted with the presidency of the Republic of Kenya. It is self-defeatist kind of politics, which all Kenyan with sound minds must oppose vehemently. It is time for all level minded Kenyans to stand up to be accounted on their opposition to such primitive and backward politics of vulcanizing tribes together,

At the same time civic leaders in Kericho and Bomet Counties have also registered their anger at the incident of Bett heckling by the Nandi youths.

Their spokesman Councilor Zablon Cheruiyot, the chairman of Kipkellion Town Council said some ODM politician had hatched the plot of Bett’s heckling at 64 Stadium in Eldoret.

Other who supported Cheruiyot during Bett’s cousin’s burial includes Donald Ng’eny, Daniel Rono. Samuel Kurgat, Andrew Soi, Julius Tanui, Julius Korir, David Koirir, David Koech and Emmy Cheruyot.

Meanwhile the KKK alliance suffered heavy set-back at the weekend when the retired President Daniel Arap Moi visited Bureti at the weekend and denounced it as a dangerous tribal grouping. Moi visited Litein African Inland Church during thanks giving prayers.

The retired President warned that the formation of a political tribal alliance was dangerous and could fragment the country and cause disunity.

He was accompanied by the Roads Minister Franklin Bett, KANU Secretary General Nick Salaat, immediate former MPs Paul Sang his,Noah Too,John Koech, and south rift Bishop Edwin

Koech, has two private secretaries – – John Lokorio and press secretary Lee Njiru. He said the formation of Kalenjin, Kikuyu and Kamba “KKK” alliance has no place in the country, adding that there was the need for the national leaders who can unite the people and create a strong and united Kenya nation.

Moi told a large crowd which had gathered at the Litein School’s sports ground that the country risk disintegrating along tribal lines due to formation of several political parties and tribal alliances.

“The unity of the country will not be achieved if leaders push for the formation of many political alliances that are tribal in nature. Kenyans should be wary of such tribal chiefs who are working for their own selfish interests.”

“I wonder what these leaders are up to. It is wrong to push for the formation of tribal political alliance bringing together larger communities. Where will you put the Maasais, Turkana, Kisiis, and other smaller tribes across the country,” the professor of Kenyan politics wondered.

On the controversial issue of pegging presidency on youth, Moi urged the younger generation not to overlook the role played by elders, politically and economically.

Minister Bett told the Litein’s prayers crowd that he had forgiven those who planned to have him heckled for not being a party to KKK alliance,

Bett and Salaat called on Kalenjin to be cautious about the formation of a political party to be of their own, saying the community risked being alienated from the rest of the country.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com