How powerful Mt Kenya elders nearly lost face in decisive poll

ODM Leader Raila Odinga being crowned as Kikuyu Council of elder Kabiru-ini Grounds in Nyeri. [Kibata Kihu, Standard]

Now Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza was also not happy after the elders announced their support for Kiraitu's re-election. "We saw a situation where the elders openly endorsed their preferred candidates and were not happy. The elders' should have remained politically neutral, just as they have been admirably neutral when resolving land and other disputes," said Kirimi Njue, a Chuka trader.

The elders' roles in political endorsements drew anger from politicians and voters alike and threatened their credibility as the custodians of the community's cultural, traditional and other interests.But the elders defended their actions. Murangiri said they had only "blessed", not endorsed, Raila's quest for the presidency after the Azimio leader had requested the elders to do so.

Non-partisan

"If Ruto and others had also made the request to the elders they would have received their blessings. We are non-partisan. We only blessed those who came to us for blessings. It is Raila who came to us," Murangiri said.

But political analyst and former National Cohesion and Integration Commission member Prof Gitile Naituli said the elders acted within their rights to endorse Raila.

"The role of Njuri Ncheke is, first, to administer justice in Meru. They specifically address the question of the weaker members of society; widows and children. The primary role is maintaining law and order, basically," Prof Naituli, who is also a Njuri elder, said.

But in addition, he said elders also have a role in politics. "This engaging in politics and endorsing people that too is their role because they are (also) leaders and therefore are supposed to identify appropriate leaders of the society but they are not emotional about it. If they identify a leader and then society does not like it, they respect that," Naituli said.

He said it was right for Njuri Ncheke to endorse Raila, but not Kiraitu. "It was okay for them to endorse Raila as a national leader but at the same time prepared to respect the choice of Kenyans. Whoever Kenyans chose, the Njuri would have been happy with that one. Like any other members of the society, elders have an opinion and that is why they endorsed Raila," he said.

On endorsement of Kiraitu he said: "That was wrong. Locally we do not separate the people of Meru. That is separating Meru's children because all the Merus are equal. Njuri Ncheke cannot afford to come between them. You cannot endorse one Meru against another." In the Agikuyu traditional community, elders' groups clashed due to the politics of the day. The groups which are the Kiama Kia Ma and Kikuyu Council of Elders are known to guide the community and give wise counsel to the youth but during the last year's electioneering period, the groups not only clashed but sought to outshine each other.

Politics were so intense that Kiama Kia Ma was divided into two with one faction supporting the former President Uhuru Kenyatta's preferred Presidential candidate Raila while the other supported President William Ruto.

Kikuyu Council of Elders supported Raila's bid together with a faction of Kiama Kia Ma and several times met their Luo counterparts to cement their newfound relationship after the two groups' patrons, Raila and Uhuru entered a peace pact.

The two groups visited each other in Bondo and Nyeri counties and sealed a deal that the communities would unite politically claiming when the mountain and the lakes unite, great things happen.

This saw the rival factions in the Mt Kenya region criticise the eligibility of each other to speak on behalf of the community.

"We were so divided that at times, we could only speak to each other based on our political affiliation. We have never been this divided," recalled Mzee Njoroge Kamanu. But the rivalry of the highly respected Kikuyu cultural groups started taking shaping shape earlier even before the political fireworks between the President and Raila were shot in the mountain.

The controversial coronation of Muturi as the speaker of Mt Kenya region was the epitome of the clash between the cultural associations.

Muturi choice

While the elders could not agree on the eligibility of Muturi's coronation, they ended up being enemies when Muturi's ceremony was conducted at Mukurwe Wa Nyagathanga shrine. The choice of venue elicited mixed reactions not only from the elders but also politicians who criticized the idea of 'desecrating' the cradle of humankind which is considered sacred.

The Agikuyu high priests commonly referred to as Agongoni whose membership comprises elderly men mostly who lived a century and who conduct rare rituals were also dragged into the political divisions.

The matter later ignited a nasty altercation among elders' groups in central Kenya with one group accusing the other of being politically manipulated and vulnerable to political patronage with the other standing their ground and saying the gods (Ngomi) had approved their actions. The coronation ceremony that was conducted in May albeit with the heavy presence of police officers, after former governor Mwangi Wa Iria vowed to storm to disrupt the exercise, was later denounced by a rival lobby led by Mr Wachira Kiago (Kikuyu Council of Elders), and Ndung'u Gaithuma of Kiama Kia Ma.

The factions maintained that the group could not have legitimately represented the Kikuyu community in the event and that their actions could lead to catastrophe if they did not concentrate on the venue. After the cleansing of Mukurwe Wa Nyagathanga, a new battlefront was opened between Muturi and a section of elders when he decided to support Kenya Kwanza.

While he was left with the former President's cousin Kungu Muigai, other elders who facilitated his coronation led by Prof Peter Kagwanja severed links when they rescinded their decision to support Ruto. After the coronation, symbols of tribal authority such as leopard skins, three-legged stools, spears and fly whisks were conferred on Muturi, but questions abound on their political relevance or whether the elders are mere puppets propped up by politicians to do their bidding emerged.

Kagwaja now admits that although the divisions in cultural groups are the order of the day in every transition period, last year's left the elders in the ugliest scope.

"In 2013, the elders were divided between the third President the late Mwai Kibaki and the President with one being conservative while the other leaning toward Uhuru but last year's situation is regrettable," added Kagwanja.

According to him, the patron of the Kiama Kia Ma Muranga chapter, the political sloganeering hustler versus dynasty crept through the elders leading to splitting between the haves and have-nots.

Political leaning

"It did not matter whether one was in Kiama Kia Ma or Kikuyu Council of Elders, it is the slogans that shaped individual elder political inclination hence the division," said Kagwanja. The class lines, Kagwanja noted, also divided the Kenyatta family where the have's elders supported the Azimio One Kenya Alliance while others supported Kenya Kwanza.

"Politics leaves everyone engaged in it dirty and so are the elders, but those who coalesced themselves behind Muturi now feel closer to power," added Kagwanja

Kungu Muigai said it was not the only elders who had been hypnotized by the politics of the day saying other stakeholders like the churches, professionals had also been sucked into political wars.

"Politics are over. We are now in a new era where we are seeking peace to earn respect from our community. We are doing so through our initiation processes where we are overseeing the initiation of 14000 young men into adulthood," said Muigai.

Kikuyu Council of Elders Wachira Kiago said they are in the process of reaching out to other factions for dialogue.

But Isaac Thuita, the chairperson of Nyeri Young professionals said the elders' continued engagement in politics was eroding the trust and credibility that the masses have for elders advising them to keep off politics in future.

"They need to concentrate on giving the wise counsel of our cultural traditions and to the already elected leaders instead of actively engaging in politics," said Thuita.