This archive report was first published on 9 September 2019.
On September 9, 2019, Baringo Senator Gideon Moi was installed as a Sabaot elder in a ceremony that has sparked controversy over the regalia he wore.
According to Peter Chemaswet, a Sabaot historian and preacher, Senator Moi was handed the correct regalia, but the palm branch given to him is reserved for women.
Chemaswet explained that women are given the palm branch and a belt adorned with beads to signify their role in cooking food for the family and making sweet and sour milk.
He also noted that the procedures for installing elders and leaders within Kalenjin sub-tribes are the same and hardly vary.
However, some Kalenjins on social media raised eyebrows, terming the regalia Senator Moi wore as degrading.
Jonah Tanui, Soy South MCA, said, 'The palm is usually for the women, they have turned this man upside down.'
Shadrack Kiptoo added, 'Hata kama ni kumaliza mtu, si hivyo.'
Caleb Kibet asked, 'Kwani do you people want to mean in Sabaot, there is no elder who could have told the senator that this was not the right regalia for the occasion?'
This is not the first time a high-profile individual has been involved in a similar controversy. In 2016, ODM leader Raila Odinga was installed as a Kalenjin elder, but many said it was a sham.
Samuel Chepkonga, Ainabkoi MP, said the ritual was not done according to Kalenjin culture because Raila was adorned with a baboon skin instead of the custom Colobus Monkey skin.
