Kaya elders warn against impostors

By Joseph Masha

They say a group of elderly men is posing as elders to con political aspirants of their money

Kilifi County Kaya elders’ council has cautioned politicians against people pretending to be Kaya elders.

The council said yesterday that bogus elders intend to mislead politicians by pretending to enable them sway the ethnic Mijikenda votes in their favour.

Council chairman Hussein Matsila said yesterday self-serving elders emerge during electioneering time to fleece politicians.

Mr Matsila said the fake elders, who are well connected, lure the influential politicians to the sacred Kaya forests to administer some blessing, which they claim can enable them get votes.

“The work of genuine Kaya elders in Coast has been hijacked by bogus groups of elderly persons who lure influential politicians including presidential candidates to administer fake blessings and fleece them of their money,” he said.

Matsila, who was accompanied by the council adviser Mr Daniel Mwawara from Kaya Mudzi Muvya in Rabai, said their newly instituted council would stand firm to protect the image of the Kaya elders by dishonouring the fake ones.

“Kaya elders and their work is well respected among the Mijikenda community and we will not sit back and watch our image being portrayed badly by few greedy elderly people,” said Mwawara.

Capitalised on positions

He also said it was wrong for these people to enter into the Kaya forests and said the council would ensure the importance of the sacred forest is protected.

Matsila said his council, which was working closely with the Ministry of National Heritage, would expose the impostors.

The council chairman said such people would be reported to the police and later prosecuted in a court of law for flouting the guidelines of one being endorsed as a Kaya elder.

The project executive director of World Wildlife Fund in charge of Kwale forest landscape restoration, Elias Kimaru, admitted that the value of Kaya elders in the Coast Province was going down.

Mr Kimaru said elderly people have capitalised on the positions of Kaya elders to con people of their money, especially the politicians.

The officer said they facilitated the elders to form the Kilifi County Kaya Elders Council so that they can have legal powers to look into the issues of the sacred forests.

“Kaya elders have not been having a say when it comes to issue of managing the scared forests because they had no council,” said Mr Kimaru.