Via The Star
The Talai elders on Friday performed sacrifices and cleansed Deputy President William Ruto to protect him from harm and political miseries.
The ceremony was organised by the Nandi Laibons Council of Elders and was conducted in Kipsirwo village from 5am to 7am meant to protect the DP from bad omens.
Dressed in a blue blazer and khaki trousers, the DP and his political allies arrived early morning for the ceremony at the home of retired Anglican priest Canon James Baasi.
Before anything, he was first doused with milk and honey from a special traditional gourd by elders dressed in wild animal skins.
The elders, popularly known as Orkoik then held prayers and offered sacrifices on a nearby hill.
Ruto was then handed leadership instruments, including a baton (nogirwet) and a traditional stick (Siarit) said to have been used by legendary Nandi chief medicine man Orgoiyot-Kipnyolei arap Turgat.
According to one of the elders told The Star it took them almost six months to convince the DP that he needed to be “protected from political upheavals”.
“This is not a petty ceremony but a serious one. Those who accept it get divine protection from evil spell and physical harm,” he said.
The Talai, descendants of legendary Nandi leader Koitalel Samoei, are highly respected and are known to offer blessings and guidance to people, including politicians, seeking or holding top positions.
Former President Daniel Toroitich arap Moi and powerful minister Nicholas Biwott (both deceased) were conferred the coveted traditional regalia, called ‘Sambut’, by the group.
The same elders gave Moi the famous rungu that highlighted his 24-year rule.
The rungu was passed to Moi’s eldest (after Jonathan passed on) son Raymond Moi, who subsequently handed it to Kanu chairman Gideon Moi during their father’s burial in what symbolised the handover of the reins of power.
And when the Supreme Court nullified the presidential election results in 2017, President Kenyatta and DP Ruto visited Nandi Hills Museum, where the Talai performed rituals and blessed them to run again.
Freedom fighter Koitalel Samoei, who is reported to have predicted the coming of the whites and the construction of the colonial railway, was from the Talai clan.
After the cultural rite, Ruto left the venue at 7am without addressing curious neighbours who had gathered after getting wind of his presence.
This came at a time when the DP is facing numerous hurdles within Jubilee in his quest to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Ruto’s falling-out with the President has been worsened by Uhuru’s purge of his close allies from key positions in the Senate and the National Assembly.
The DP’s entourage included Uasin Gishu governor Jackson Mandago and his Nandi counterpart Stephen Sang and MPs Caleb Kositany (Soy), Julius Meli (Tinderet) and Samson Cherargei (Nandi senator).
Others were Cornely Serem (Aldai), Wilson Kogo (Chesumei), area MCA Pius Sing’oei and Amos Korir, a grassroots mobiliser from the area.
They later trooped to the DP’s Sugoi home for a meeting.
There was no state official during the visit and the regional administration officers were not informed.
