Ntimama won’t quit despite pressure

Detractors want Ntimama to take a bow from the political scene due to his advanced years.

By Protus Onyango

His critics want him to retire from active politics because of his advanced age. They have in the past branded him an inciter because of his sharp tongue that cuts like a sword.

Before the hate speech Act came into force,  he attacked everyone perceived to be trampling on the rights of the Maasai and once told ‘outsiders’ living among the Maasai’s to lie low like an envelope.

But the Narok North MP and Minister for Culture and Heritage William Ole Ntimama is as defiant as ever.

He says he is still the King of the Maasai, contrary to claims that his wings had been clipped by new political players.

He is also not about to exit the political scene, saying the earliest he can do so, and which is not guaranteed, could be in 2017.

In an exclusive interview with The County Weekly, the minister said he is not quitting politics now because he has some unfinished business.

Mr Ntimama, 82, has represented the agricultural and tourism endowed Narok North constituency in the Rift Valley for 25 years. He has been a fierce fighter for land rights for the marginalised and pastoralists, especially his Maasai community.

Retirement

The minister has had a tight grip of Maasai politics and has been the community’s undisputed leader whose word was never to be disobeyed by his people.

Political commentators have been calling on him to retire from politics due to his age so that he can leave the mantle to emerging Maasai leaders. Some of the young leaders have even accused him of trying to impose leaders on the community.

Recently he has come under fire from some Maasai leaders for allegedly trying to impose certain aspirants on voters. But he says he is not bothered by their sentiments. “I thank my constituents for electing me for 25 years and request them to vote me in as their MP on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party ticket, during the March 4, General Election so that I can accomplish what I set out to do: to emancipate my community,” Mr Ntimama said.

Implementation

He added, “I feel as young as a teenager and my health and intelligence are still intact. I am a servant of the people. I will be bothered if my people said they don’t want me but comments from a few individuals don’t bother me. They are entitled to their views.”

The minister noted that the remaining task is to see the full implementation of the constitution, which, he says, risks being kept in the shelves if patriotic people like him and others need don’t push for its full implementation.

“The red brigade and the watermelons who opposed the passing of the Constitution are bent on stifling its implementation. That is why you see their agents moving motions in parliament to mutilate it daily. We have to stop them because they want to take us back to the dark days,” Mr Ntimama said.

He added, “Those mutilating the Constitution are worried of the consequences of the new laws. The Constitution is meant to address the ills of the marginalised and those who have been historically neglected. But those opposed to it are the ones who stole our land”.

Rights of the Maasai

“I have been fighting for the land rights of the Maasai and other Kenyans who lost land to the colonialists and later to a few privileged Kenyans. The Constitution is our only hope to address those injustices. I want to push for its full implementation and then retire from active politics,” Mr Ntimama said.

He wants to serve for the next five years to be able to witness his dreams come true.

 He regretted that the country still witnesses many cases of corruption and it is only the full implementation and adherence to the Constitution that will save Kenyans from the ills.

 Mr Ntimama also decried tribalism, terming it a cancer that will decimate the nation if leaders who are propagating it are not brought to book.