Several legislators walked out of a meeting in Narok on Friday, February 21 ahead of the Building Bridges Initiative rally slated for Saturday, February 22, the county and which will be lead by AU envoy Raila Odinga.
A correspondent who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke stated that the meeting ended abruptly after Narok Deputy Governor Evalyn Aruasa and Emurua Dikirr MP, Johana Ngeno led a brigade of leaders out of the meeting over what they termed as ethnic profiling.
"The leaders were not given room to air their views and they decided to walk out," the correspondent stated.
Another source stated that leaders allied to Deputy President William Ruto claimed the organisers of the meeting discriminated and sidelined them.
The other leaders who stormed out included MCAs Jefferson Lang'at (Ololung'a), Wesley Koech (Sagamian), Sammy Kositany (Ailmootiok), Philemon Aruasa (Melelo) and Gabriel Mibei (Angata Barikoi).
"The leaders decried profiling of their community by the speakers at the meeting where the native Maasai language was used thus limiting them. They lamented that they cannot continue being part of a setting where they were not needed," the source added.
While speaking with Kenyans.co.ke MP Ngeno argued that they were chased out of the meeting and did not walk out of it.
"We were chased after being told that we are not from the Maa community. We were also not allowed to present our issues as they stated that we were part of the cause of the historical injustices suffered by the Maasai's.
"We will not attend the BBI rally (led by Odinga) as the meeting will be exclusive rather than inclusive, that means the proposals made would be lopsided," Ngeno lamented.
On Wednesday, February 20, while on Citizen TV, Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina and his Kericho counterpart, Aaron Cheruiyot ignited a debate among the political class, who argued that the two leaders' sentiments ahead of the BBI rally were divisive.
The Narok senator and Cheruiyot had differed on issues that would be presented at the rally, with Kina arguing that the proposals would be based on Maasai issues, as Cheruiyot lamented that Odinga chased away non-Maa leaders from a meeting held on Monday, February 17 at Maasai Lodge, Narok County.
AU envoy Raila Odinga later appealed to the leaders of various communities living in Maa counties to work together and exercise tolerance in order to make the BBI process a success.
"Given the cosmopolitan nature of the seven counties to be represented at this meeting, Odinga urges the coordinators of the two-day event to ensure participants reflect particularly the ethnic and occupational diversities of the counties to include ethnic minorities, herdsmen, farmers, women and the youth. Odinga assures the residents of the seven counties and their representatives that all efforts are being made to create room for all viewpoints, concerns and interests to be discussed openly and constructively in a way that leaves the regions feeling united and involved in the making of a new Kenya.
"He appeals to the counties to take full advantage of the opportunity presented by this meeting and the BBI process to soberly and jointly tackle the challenges that have been unique to them from the colonial era to date," a statement by ODM Party via Facebook, on Thursday, February 20, read.
