Ainabkoi lawmaker Samuel Chepkonga has laughed off the recent installation of Cord leader Raila Odinga as a Kalenjin elder and said that the ceremony as derogatory and futile.
Speaking at a weekend fundraiser in Keiyo South, Chepkonga said that the Tuesday installation done in William Ruto’s backyard at Moiben has no political significance especially towards the 2017 presidential elections.
The MP added that the ceremony had contravened the Kalenjin culture by using a baboon skin instead of the community’s sacred colobus monkey skin.
"Installation of any leader as Kalenjin elder is a sacred affair. It is done after meticulous preparations by selected elders. We were surprised to watch Raila being dressed with a baboon skin instead of the tradition colobus monkey skin. It was derogatory," he said.
He added that the Kalenjin kootab myoot council of elders were not involved in the event and that this therefore rendered the whole exercise null and void.
"When I heard the former PM was being installed as an elder, I called Kalenjin council of elders official John Seii who told me he was not aware of such a ceremony," Chepkonga said.
In his part, Seii has steered clear of the issue and urged professionals in high profile positions not to resign in order to join to politics.