The chairman of the National Council of Elders and long serving Njuri Ncheke secretary general Phares Rutere has died days after his council organized the controversial coronation of National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi.
His death at Nairobi hospital brings the curtain down on a long chapter of leading the respected and influential Njuri Ncheke elders from the larger Meru region.
The death further cast an eerie shadow over the coronation of Muturi since the ceremony was led by council’s patron Capt Kungu Muigai leading to fears that speculators would be quick to connect the two events.
Elders opposed to the event pointed out that the last time such a disputed crowning of such political magnitude was conducted on the holy grounds against their wishes it resulted in a similar tragedy occurring.
Kikuyu Council of Elders and Kiama Kia Ma from the onset disowned the coronation saying it should not be carried out on the holy Agikuyu shrine of Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga in Muranga county because it was a political event.
They instead advised the organisers led by Kungu and the patron of Muranga elders Prof Peter Kagwanja to hold it at another location like Ihuura Stadium in Muranga town.
A day before his death Kikuyu Council of Elders and their Kiama Kia Ma counterparts united in condemning the coronation and selected some special elders to conduct the cleansing of the grounds on June 4.
On Wednesday, the National Deputy Chairman of Kiama Kia Ma Dr Michael Mugo sent his condolences to Njuri Ncheke and the family during this difficult time s through their deputy secretary general Benjamin Mugambi.
