Kakamega Senator Dr Boni Khalwale may be forced to present a black sheep and a red cockerel as fine for ‘misbehaving’ before visitors during the Batsotso Cultural Festival at Ematiha Primary School in Navakholo last week.
Shiroko Shilenje, the Secretary of the Batsotso Council of Elders accused Khalwale of disrespecting Deputy President William Ruto at the event.
“What he did,” said Shilenje, “is an abomination in regard to our clan beliefs and the sheep and cockerel will be used in cleansing rituals before he (Khalwale) can be free again to visit the clan.”
During the festival, Khalwale clashed with Deputy President Ruto and MPs from Western who are allegedly ‘friendly’ to the Jubilee government. He expressed his opposition to Ruto’s push to have parties affiliated to Jubilee disbanded to form a single party.
“I want to tell you that people from Western will not join Jubilee, and those leaders who have been given handouts to sell Jubilee party here should eat the money in silence,” Khalwale told the DP during the cultural function.
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Ruto took a swipe at Khalwale’s ‘tribal politics’ at the expense of national integration, saying the senator should instead encourage his clansmen to embrace dairy farming as opposed to keeping bulls for fighting.
“Let us have dairy cows that will give us milk and meat instead of focusing our energies on bulls that condemn you to poverty. Khalwale hii maneno ya kupea ng’ombe bangi na busaa ndio zipigane lazima ikome. Watu wanafaa wapate nyama na maziwa kila siku,” said Ruto who contributed Sh1.3million towards facilitating the annual cultural event and purchase of a piece of land where the Council of Elders will build a shrine.
Dr Khalwale claimed he had donated eight acres to the Batsotso clan for the shrine, but elders still banned him until he pays the fines.
