Baringo Senator Gideon Moi has finally joined his longtime political rival Deputy President William Ruto in the leadership of the revered Talai clan of the Kalenjin community.
In a break of tradition, the elders travelled to Senator Moi's family home in Kabarak where the ceremony, historically conducted in Nandi, was carried out on Friday morning, January 22.
The elders handed him the community's instruments of power and gave him the mandate to look for the country's leadership.
The elaborate ceremony which involved traditional rituals took three hours.
The instruments include Sambut (a shield with a leopard skin), Rungut (a club), Nogirwet (a leadership staff), Sharit (an ordinary stick), Ngecheret (a three-legged stool), Kipkaliangit (a fly whisk) and Kutwet (a monkey-skin hat).
Senator Moi had been blocked from attending a similar ceremony in Nandi on January 2 by irate supporters of the DP.
Ruto's supporters blocked a section of the road obstructing the senator's convoy when it arrived.
This made Moi move the ceremony’s venue to his Kabarak home. According to reports, the Senator is eyeing to be installed as the official Kalenjin leader, a position said to be occupied by Ruto.
The DP received the blessings from the clan in June 2020, in a ceremony that split the Talai elders.
A section of the elders poked holes into the ritual that was conducted on Ruto.
Led by Talai clan vice-chair Christopher Koyogi, the elders stated that the right procedure was not followed.
“The ceremony was conducted by young men who did not know what they were doing. When you promise money, they can do whatever you want them to do,” he criticised.
