Political leaders seeking various elective seats in the next year’s General Election have started looking for 2022 blessings from elders to bolster their bids.
The politics around the upcoming polls has presented a golden opportunity for the senior citizens to harvest from the deep pockets of politicians.
The Luo, Kikuyu, Luhya, and Talai council of elders have been the most active and visible power brokers since the 2022 discourse began.
As custodians of culture and community traditions, the elders wield power and great influence over the people they lead. Politicians appreciate this fact and are often cautious when dealing with them.
Although it’s not clear how much they receive these ‘clients’ who troop to their shrines or ferry them from one point to the other to seek blessings, Kivumbi.co.ke understands the senior citizens are often treated well and pocket good money.
Deputy President William Ruto is believed to be the most generous of all politicians seeking elective seats in 2022.
In January 2021, some 4000 Kikuyu elders who visited the DP at his Sugoi home in Uasin Gishu reportedly pocketed KSh 8 million.
This came to the fore after they failed to agree on how to share the money and accused some politicians from Ruto’s inner circle of attempting to short-change them.
Gema organising secretary Paul Kinyanjui claimed their allowance was slashed by “cartels” before it landed in their hands.
“The fact that the trusted leaders did such a thing is shameful and annoying and most embarrassing since these are the people who have put themselves around the deputy president for one reason or another,” said Kinyanjui.
Such cases have been reported among the Luhya and Talai council of elders and resulted in serious divisions. Currently, at least every community has a splinter group of elders fighting for recognition from politicians.
In Mt Kenya, for instance, a group led by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s cousin Kang’u Muigai has been pushing for a Ruto presidency, while Wachira Kiago’s team is vouching for Raila Odinga’s bid.
Ruto has met Mugai’s group at least four times in the past one year while Raila has held talks with Wachira’s faction thrice.
In October 2020, a group of elders from Mt Kenya visited Raila at his rural home in Bondo where they stayed for a day.
The more than 500 elders made the historic trip, popularly known as Kango Kajaramogi, to end the long-standing feud with the Luo community, and declare their support for Raila’s presidential bid.
Barely weeks after the Bondo meeting, was the Luo council of elders ferried to Nyeri to engage their Mt Kenya counterparts further and solemnise their newfound union.
The expenses of these meetings, according to sources privy to the arrangements, were met by the ODM leader and a section of Mt Kenya businessmen vouching for his presidential bid.
In May 2021, the former premier hosted the Kikuyu council of elders again, this time at his Karen residence in Nairobi. The elders were led by their chairman Wachira Kiago.
“I enjoyed a thoughtful discussion at my home over a meal with members of the Kikuyu Council of Elders,” Raila posted on his social handles after the meeting.
The Luhya council of elders has also been actively hawking political blessings from one aspirant to the other.
In February 2021, the group led by their chairman Philip Masinde, a former Labour Minister, trooped to Mudavadi’s Mululu home and endorsed him to run for the top seat.
They promised to engage elders from other communities to back the former vice president’s bid.
“We have also been in constant consultations with elders from Somali and Kikuyu communities living in this region to ensure Mudavadi receives deserved backing from all the residents of the larger Western,” said Masinde.
However, two months later, another group led by the former Kenyan ambassador to the USA and the permanent representative at the United Nations, Burudi Nabwera, visited Raila and held talks with him regarding the 2022 presidential elections. Sources indicate another splinter group has been meeting Ruto in covert.
The Talai elders have equally been harvesting from top politicians from Rift Valley region. Ruto and KANU chairman Gideon Moi have been fighting for their blessings as they prepare to take a stab at the presidency.
Although Ruto was the first one to be coronated to vie for the presidency, another faction opposed the move and lobbied for Gideon’s bid.
Although the council is supposed to only endorse one community leader to vie for the top seat, the financial mighty of Ruto and Gideon swept them off their feet and ended up endorsing all of them.
They later accused each other of receiving bribes from politicians to carry out “fake coronations”.
In January 2020, the Talai council of elders chairman James Baasi and Secretary-General Moses Saina expelled Clan Elder Christopher Koyogi for using his position to seek money from politicians and undermine other elders.
“With immediate effect, Koyogi is prohibited from using the powers of the Talai to bless any leader seeking political leadership,” Said Saina during a press conference held in Nandi.
With 11 months remaining to the 2022 General Elections, the council of elders is about to get busier and more active in harvesting from the politicians who are becoming more desperate for their blessings.
