Natembeya in trouble for his ‘Sabaots are greedy’ claim

By Peter Ochieng

Trans Nzoia governor George Natembeya is in trouble for claiming that members of the Sabaot ethnic community are greedy. Sabaot is among the minority groups in Trans Nzoia.

The first term county boss in August, 2023, reportedly claimed that members of the community are greedy, due to their push to have own county hived off from Trans Nzoia. Natembeya’s deputy, Philomena Kapchory is a member of the community.

She filed a complaint to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), stating that she started getting backlash especially on social media, after Natembeya’s sentiments over her ‘communities greediness.’

“In her statement, she claimed that her trouble began when the Sabaot community began the petitioning for a county of their own. The meeting by leaders and elders from Sabaot was to discuss the matter touching on the proposed creation of a county for members of the Sabaot community,” the Commission stated.

On Monday, Commission officials led by chairman Samuel Kobia appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relation, on what NCIC has done regarding a complaint by Kapchory, on ethnic discrimination of members of the Sabaot Community in Trans Nzoia.

Kobia and his team told the Senators that NCIC investigators traveled to Trans Nzoia County to probe the deputy governor’s complaints, besides sending a request letter to the Communications Authority (CA), seeking the retrieval of Natembeya’s recorded utterances. Additionally, governor Natembeya has been ordered to appear before the commission on November 28th, 2023, at 10am.

Kapkory alleged that Natembeya is opposed to the creation of Sabaot county, and that the county chief is on record stating that the “Sabaots were dreaming and that they will not get any county despite their petition to the National Dialogue Committee, requesting for the creation of county for Sabaots.”

Kapchory added that on the August 23rd, 2023, the governor stated that the Sabaot should be satisfied with the positions they have in the county of Trans Nzoia, and they should stop petitioning for their own county.

“He further went on to state that not even an inch of Trans Nzoia would be hived off to form another county, insinuating that the Sabaot are greedy,” stated NCIC. The former Rift Valley Regional Commissioner (RC) was elected on the DAP Party ticket.