Chaos erupt in Narok as two groups fight over Mara Riyapo Conservancy leadership

The leadership dispute at Mara Ripoi Conservancy in Narok County turned ugly when two rival factions clashed during the annual general meeting. 

The standoff was prompted by claims by the interim officials that they had received an endorsement to be substantive officials, a decision that the rival group rejected. 

The opposing group demanded a democratic voting process to elect the leaders. 

Siana Ward MCA Moses Sikona who previously served as the chairman insisted on a formal vote, claiming that the appointed committee had ulterior motives of seizing power through backdoor methods, a claim denied by the alleged chairman of the interim committee Kinanta Ole Sururu.

“Tulipiga kura, mmoja alipata kura kumi mwengine alipata kura nane yule alipata kura nane ndio sai tunaambiwa atakuja kukaa kwa hio committee and I also support elections let people vote whoever they want,” Sikona lamented.

Ole Sururu blamed Sikona for what he termed as incitement as he requested respect for his leadership, which was officially endorsed by the special board of MMWCA, with the remaining members as supporters.

In the tense atmosphere, some Moran warriors were seen intimidating a police officer who was believed to have fired the gunshots, warning him not to attempt it again. 

Mara sub-county Deputy Commissioner Boru Dida with help from the police managed to separate the factions and restore order. 

“So, for now, I don’t have anything to say about it, if they disagree there is a way to solve everything, the land owners have representatives from all the clusters, we have the other leaders who are in the communities and we’ll organize and plan with them and schedule for a day then we see the way forward,” Dida said.

The planned election of the conservancy officials has been deffered to a later date to allow the warring groups to resolve the underlying issues.