| | 'North-Eastern Province Members of Parliament have Moi on the ropes' was the curious headline that appeared in the weekly The People (Nairobi, 17-23 April 1998). Even more curious was the fact disclosed in the article that most of the parliamentarians involved were members of the ruling party, KANU. The rift between them and President Moi appeared when MPs from the Somali-inhabited North-Eastern province proposed to form a parliamentary caucus bringing together members of parliament representing all pastoralist areas in Kenya across party and ethnic lines. The avowed aim was to defend the interests of Kenya's pastoralist population by forging a united front transcending political and tribal divisions. This unprecedented attempt to bring pastoralism into the mainstream of national politics seemed to worry the government leadership, which tried but failed to obstruct it. |
