The Mlolongo (queueing) voting system, may be despised and viewed as being undemocratic and prone to rigging, but not to the pastoralist community of Laikipia North Sub- county.
Mlolongo system of choosing leaders is synonymous with the Nyayo Era and which has now been considered obsolete, having been replaced with the secret ballot.
But for the pastoralist community, it is their favourite method of electing office bearers, with the locals terming the method as quick, efficient and free of rigging.
On Thursday, more than 1,000 members of Tiamamut Community Land, trooped to an open ground to pick members that would represent them in the Community Land Management Committee.
And true to their norm, Mlolongo system was employed to decide who between William Sadera and Peter Mishemi, would be their Chairman.
Mlolongo voting exercise conducted by the Tiamamut community on Thursday, March 8,2024, to choose the next Community Land Chairman
In less than 30 minutes the exercise which involved physical headcount of the voters and presided over by Laikipia Land Registrar, Pamela Makena Mutegi had been concluded with Mishemi beating his opponent with a small margin of 63 votes.
“The results for the Tiamamut elections held today, William Sadera has garnered 531 votes and Peter Mishemi with 594,” said the Land Registrar, amid cheers from the crowd following the announcement.
Soon after the results were announced, everyone was convinced that the outcome was a true reflection of democracy, with leaders of the two opposing sides shaking hands and congratulating one another.
Mishemi after defeating his opponent, he assured Tiamamut residents of good leadership and at the same time noted that, he would work closely with the former Chairman, Sadera for the benefit of the community.
The conclusion of the tightly fought contest now paves way for the constitution of the Naibungá Lower Conservancy Management Board, which has three group ranches of Koija, Il motiok and Tiamamut.
“The purpose of holding this election is to elect the management of this community land and of which the executive form up the Conservancy Board. And this exercise has triggered the board elections,” said Naiptari Mathew, a member of Naibunga Lower Conservancy.
The Conservancy engages in rangeland conservation and eco-tourism of wildlife. Last year, they received about Sh12 million in carbon credit from Northern Rangeland Trust (NRT)