Originally posted by Ngii Ndune!!:
Committee to make Raila elder formedPublished on July 2, 2008, 12:00 am
By Joseph Murimi
A committee of five elders has been formed to plan and prepare for the proposed installation of Prime Minister Raila Odinga as a Kikuyu elder.
Mr Thuo Mathenge of Taifa Tekelezi lobby group said they were going to pursue their goal no matter how long it took.
He said apart from the team of five elders, every district would provide 20 delegates to attend the occasion that was initially slated for July 20 at Ruring’u Stadium in Nyeri.
Mathenge said the ceremony would be a big step in reconciling communities that rose up against each other after the disputed presidential election.
He said former President Moi, the late Oginga Odinga, Masinde Muliro, Tom Mboya, and the founders of Christianity in Kenya, Lebman and Krapf, were all installed as Kikuyu elders by the community’s forefathers.
"Raila has done a lot more. He accepted to back a Kikuyu for the presidency in 2002 by declaring President Kibaki to be fit for the job and agreed to work with him this year," Mathenge said.
He said by virtue of marriage, Raila was already a Kikuyu elder and that there was nothing wrong in making it official.
Mathenge asked the movers of the plan, politician-cum-businessman, Mr Peter Kuguru, and former Attorney-General, Mr Charles Njonjo, to involve other prominent people.
He said the installation of Raila as an elder had nothing to do with the Kibaki succession wars currently going on in the Mt Kenya region.
The issue of making Raila a Kikuyu elder has kicked off a storm in Central Province with some supporting it while others oppose it.
Among those who have opposed the move is Cooperatives Development Minister and ODM Pentagon Member Joseph Nyaga, who says he has advised Raila to keep off, warning that he may be playing into the hands of those involved in the Kibaki succession wars.
SURELY THIS MATHENGE IS AN IDIOT!