It used to be that the only fractious things in Kenya were music groups, political parties and religious sects. Say, you could have Kayamba Africa today but in no time, Kayamba Fiesta would be spawned.

But now, it is elders and village councils that are splitting left, right and centre. And what circus, what a fiesta!

It was the Kaya elders who started the whole charade. With the exception of the Njuri Ncheke, there is probably no group of elders that were as revered, seeing as they came with a sacred groove, complete with naked torsos and the ancient abracadabra of old.

But the moment they began endorsing rotund politicians, their goose was cooked with talk that imposters were being bought by desperate politicians in a bid to secure the elders’ spit as a blessing for electoral wars.

Then the fractious disease infected the Njuri Ncheke, originally a group of fierce traditionalists whose curses were feared and whose knowledge of things related to Meru customary law were legendary.

But when this Ameru Supreme Court hitched onto the political bandwagon, they hit a brick wall and shattered into pieces. Even as they made forays into Libya, Kisumu and William Ntimama’s Narok, their elderly counsel was shrouded in controversy about imposters and fake elders.

What exactly are these elders up to? The shenanigans in Rift Valley, where the freshly minted Kalenjin Council of Elders — a nonentity in Kalenjin history — is embroiled in controversy barely days after its inauguration, suggests elders are all about pockets and tribal votes, not tradition and leadership.

NB: A little bird tells us that among the ‘elders’ who went to Kisumu recently hoping to meet Prime Minister Raila Odinga were a number of 30-year-olds!