{UAH} Ocen/Pojim/MzeeOcaya/Allan/Gwokto: Kikuuy elders dismiss installation spokesperson in the Rift Valley

Kikuyu elders dismiss installation spokesperson in the Rift Valley

Posted: 22 Jul 2018 06:12 AM PDT

The elders dismissed claims that the famous handshake between Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was meant to divide Kikuyu and Kalenjin as malicious/CFM NEWS

NAKURU, Kenya, July 22 – Gikuyu elders drawn from various regions have dismissed the installation of an MP in Rift Valley as the community spokesman in the region.

The leaders from Gikuyu Council of Elders – Kiama Kiama – maintained that the only recognized community spokesman was President Uhuru Kenyatta.

"We remind them that the Agikuyu conferred upon Kenyatta their leadership mantle on November 30, 2012 at the Bomas of Kenya and he still bears the mace of the office and responsibilities given to him," read a joint statement they issued in Nakuru on Sunday.

Reading the statement, Kiama Kiama Organizing Secretary, Ng'ang'a Nene said the Agikuyu would not rob Kenyatta the honour.

On Friday, more than 500 elders claiming to be members of Gikuyu Council of Elders and Kiama installed Bahati MP, Kimani Ngunjiri as the community spokesperson in Rift Valley.

The installation ceremony was held at his home in Nakuru.

"The Kikuyu community has always and effortlessly made collective political decisions even when their candidates were many and it is wrong to imply that a section of it faced political coercion from their own," Nene said.

In the statement, the leaders opposed the creation of county spokespersons saying that they feared that holders of those positions might make similar propositions.

The elders dismissed claims that the famous handshake between Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was meant to divide Kikuyu and Kalenjin as malicious.

The leaders urged their colleagues not to drive divisive political agenda.