Editing Kipsigis people (section)

===Politics===

==== Community politics ====
The Kipsigis community is a rich political arena. The Kipsigis present themselves in a united political front along with their kin, the Kalenjin mass. With the leadership of Daniel Moi, Kalenjin community took a leftist form and were in favour of divolved governance under the alias ''Majimboism''. When Moi became the president of Kenya, Kalenjins shifted to a right wing front with solemn support for Moi and his government. During Moi's regime, incidences of politically motivated violence took place and Kipsigis for the most part were touted as perpetrators. Under Mwai Kibaki, Kipsigis and Kalenjin in entirety took a passive political approach which then bounced back to a roller coaster of leftist and right wing support in alliagence to the rising star of Kalenjin Politics, Dr. William Samoei Ruto.

===== Prominent leadership =====

====== Presidency ======
[[File:William Ruto IAEA.png|thumb|[[William Ruto|William Kipchirchir Ruto]], the 5th [[President of Kenya]] ]]
Whilst the Kipsigis tribe consider [[Jomo Kenyatta]] as the spurious love child of the Kipsigis Orkoiyot, Chebochok Kiptonui Arap Boiso, they aspire to present Kenya with a president. Apparently. [[William Ruto|William Samoei Kipchirchir Ruto]], Kipsigis in origin and from Komosi clan has served in various ministerial positions, and as the [[Deputy President of Kenya]] under [[Uhuru Kenyatta]]'s presidency. As of August 2022, William Ruto was announced the winner of the Kenyan 2022 general elections and after a court appeal by the defeated candidate, [[Raila Odinga]], Ruto's win was upheld. [[William Ruto|William Samoei Ruto]] was inaugurated in September 2022 as the fifth president of the [[Kenya|Republic of Kenya]] and is currently the incumbent president.

====== Ambassadors ======

# [[Francis Sigey]] (Kibororek): distinguished civil servant and Ambassador of Kenya to Nigeria and currently serving as a Member of parliament Sotik constituency
# [[Joshua Terer]] (KipKesbaek): Ambassador of Kenya to India and

====== Speaker of Parliament ======

# [[Moses Kiprono arap Keino]]Kipkelesek clan''): Third Speaker of the Parliament of Kenya from 1988 until 1991
# [[Jonathan Kimetet arap Ng'eno|Professor Jonathan Kimetet arap Ng'eno]] (''Becherek clan''): Fourth Speaker of the Parliament of Kenya from 1991 until 1993
# [[Joyce Laboso|Joyce Cherono Laboso]]: Deputy Speaker of the [[National Assembly (Kenya)|National Assembly of Kenya]], between 2013 and 2017.

====== Cabinet Ministers and Cabinet Secretaries ======
There have been a number of cabinet ministers and cabinet secretaries from the Kipsigis ethnicity. A number of them include

# [[Taaita Toweett|Dr. Taaita Towett]] (Zoigoeek Clan): Labour and Housing (1961), Lands, Survey & Town Planning (1962), Education (1974) and Housing and Social Services (1974)
# [[Jonathan Kimetet Arap Ng'eno|Prof. Jonathan Kimetet Arap Ngeno]] (Bechereek Clan): Education (1974), Housing and Social Services
# [[John Koech]]: East Africa Community
# [[Franklin Bett]] (Moochoeek Clan): Roads and Transportation
# [[Davis Chirchir]]: (Bechereek Clan) Engineering and Petroleum (2013–207)
# Eng. John Mosonik(): Transport (2013–2017)
# [[Charles Keter]]: Energy (2017–2022)

===== MAU Settlement Programs and evictions =====
{{Main|Mau Forest}}
The Kipsigis initial settlement was at Tulwaap Kipsigis in Londiani; strategically, the hill makes up part of the Mau Forest reserve in Kenya. The Kipsigis believe they have a 'god-given' claim upon the forest which alludes to the adoption at some point in the Kipsigis history of the aboriginal hunter-gatherer tribe, the Okiek who are native to a region between Mount Kenya stretching up all the way to Mau Forest in Rift Valley. Mau crisis started when the trust land was allocated to group ranches between the 1980s and 1990s who were mainly ethnic Maasai elite during Daniel Moi's Kanu era. The problem exacerbated about when the group ranches went beyond the cutline and occupied forest land. Part of the Mau Forest was initially a trust land under the defunct Narok County Council. Traditionally, the forest has been inhabited by the Ogiek. However, due to immigration from other ethnic groups, large parts of the forest area were cleared for settlement. In 2004, the famous Ndungu Report listed these land allocations, terming them illegal and recommended their revocation of them. Some evictions were done between 2004 and 2006 without a resettlement option. In 2005, the government placed a caveat on all title deeds issued to claimants, saying they were irregularly issued.<ref name="Njeru">{{Cite web |last=Njeru |first=Betty |title=Explainer: What we know about the Mau Forest crisis |url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/rift-valley/article/2001340588/explainer-what-we-know-about-the-mau-forest-crisis |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=The Standard |language=en |archive-date=3 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403235411/https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/rift-valley/article/2001340588/explainer-what-we-know-about-the-mau-forest-crisis |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2008, the Kibaki regime through the then [[Prime Minister Raila Odinga]] ordered evictions to be effected by October 2008 in order to protect the forest from destruction. The order was opposed by several Rift Valley politicians led by [[Isaac Ruto]]. The then Agriculture Minister [[William Ruto]], proposed evictees be allocated land elsewhere. Later, Environment Minister John Michuki would reverse the order. Subsequently, in 2008, there was a political row over the resettlement of people in the Mau Forest who had been allocated land in the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="Njeru"/>

===== Redress for violations by British colonial government =====
In 2017, a consortium from the Kipsigis community organised by [[Paul Chepkwony|Professor Paul Kiprono Chepkwony]] and led by [[Karim Ahmad Khan]] sought redress for human rights violations committed by the British government during the colonial period. The plaintiffs were more than 100,000 ethnic Kipsigis victims and the members of [[Oretab Talai|Talai Clan]].

===== Provisions for Oorgoiik =====
The [[Oretab Talai|Talai]] clansmen returned or continued to peacefully live with Kipsigis people after independence. After the campaign of AIM and Catholic church the Talai clansmen were sidelined and hated but today, they exist peacefully with the Kipsigis and take upon the identity of the Kipsigis equally like any other clansmen. Notably, the residents of Chepalungu constituency (today's [[Sotik Constituency|Sotik]] and [[Chepalungu Constituency|Chepalungu]] constituencies) voted in [[Tamason Barmalel]], the grandson of [[Koitalel Arap Samoei]], as their [[Member of Parliament|MP]] between 1969 and 1974.

Allocations of land made by the [[Government of Kenya|Kenyan Government]] under [[Taaitta Toweett|Taaita Towet]] and [[Daniel arap Moi]] to the Talai clansmen has been reported to be grabbed and commercialised by corrupt agents and thus, those living in Kericho live in wanting situations and poverty.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

==== Conflicts and violence ====
While fairly known for a disposition to be welcoming and hospitable, the Kipsigis are also infamous in Kenya for having participated or led offensive stance during some of Kenya's ethnic violence where in some, ethnic cleansing was a characteristic. The overarching cause for this violence has primarily been discriminatory politics, land contentions and incitement. The Kipsigis amass into the Kalenjin group which in totality portray a united political alliance thus making them subject to discrimination and incitement. Secondary intrinsic factors for violence machinate through a condition of sinuosity jumbled up between historical injustices, conceitedness from historical precolonial war efforts and demographics where unemployment is rife among the youth and a majority of the population is disadvantaged and disenfranchised economically.

After a comprehensive risk assessment of social, economic and political factors that increase the likelihood of genocide in Kenya, the [[Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention]]'s May 2011 report identified several risk factors including; a low degree of democracy, isolation from the international community, high levels of military expenditure, severe government discrimination or active repression of native groups, socioeconomic deprivation combined with group-based [[Social inequality|inequality]] and a legacy of intergroup [[hatred]] among other risk factors.<ref>{{cite web |title=Risk Assessment: The Risk of Genocide in Kenya 2011 |url=http://thesentinelproject.org/wp-content/uploads/Risk-Assessment-Kenya-2011.pdf |access-date=26 June 2011 |publisher=The Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention |archive-date=1 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110601064243/http://thesentinelproject.org/wp-content/uploads/Risk-Assessment-Kenya-2011.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Risk Assessment: The Risk of Genocide in Kenya 2012 |url=http://thesentinelproject.org/wp-content/uploads/Kenya-Risk-Assessment-2012-Final.pdf |access-date=7 July 2013 |publisher=The Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention |archive-date=6 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406114437/http://thesentinelproject.org/wp-content/uploads/Kenya-Risk-Assessment-2012-Final.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===== 1992 skirmishes =====
In 1992, a series of events contributed to a feeling of uncertainty in Kenya, these events included widespread charges of government corruption that had brought halts or cuts in the flow of foreign aid upon which Kenya's economy depended on, and protests against the government of President [[Daniel arap Moi]] that resulted in police attacks on demonstrators.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Perlez |first=Jane |date=1992-03-29 |title=ETHNIC VIOLENCE IS SHAKING KENYA |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/29/world/ethnic-violence-is-shaking-kenya.html |access-date=2022-08-30 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=30 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830090128/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/29/world/ethnic-violence-is-shaking-kenya.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Forby, under diplomatic pressure, the [[Kenya African National Union|KANU]] regime under Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi caved to the political demand and need for multi-party democracy. Prior to 1992 elections, because of their support for the nascent opposition, KANU affiliates incited Kalenjin against Kikuyu around the idea that Kikuyu were non-indigenous and had appropriated Kalenjin land.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Muriithi |first=Judy Wangari |title=the 1992- 1993 Post election violence in Kenya |url=https://www.academia.edu/9720330 |access-date=30 August 2022 |archive-date=3 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403235410/https://www.academia.edu/9720330 |url-status=live }}</ref>  As a result, ethnic cleaning campaigns before during and after the 1992 general elections erupted in a bid out of spite for the out-group and phobia for the tribal claim on land.<ref name=":2" />  According to some accounts 779 people were killed and about 56,000 displaced.<ref name=":2" />

===== 2008 post-election violence =====
In January and February 2008, following the [[2007 Kenyan general election]]s, post-election violence spontaneously erupted throughout the country but in the [[Rift Valley Province|Rift Valley province]]; the violence span out and evolved from acts of riots and protests to all out violence against the [[Kisii people|Kisii]] and [[Kikuyu people|Kikuyu]] communities who were affiliated to the [[Mwai Kibaki|President Mwai Kibaki]]'s PNU party. A characteristic of the violence it seemed was to expel the out-groups but not necessarily to kill. There was also looting of businesses and firms run by the out-groups as well as on some government properties. The pattern of violence subsequently showed planning and organization by politicians, businessmen, village leaders and local leaders, who enlisted criminal gangs to execute the violence. This was particularly the case in Rift Valley and Nairobi. In Naivasha, Nakuru and the slum areas of Nairobi, Kikuyu gangs were mobilized and used to unleash violence against [[Luo people|Luos]], [[Luhya people|Luhyas]] and [[Kalenjin people|Kalenjins]], and to expel them from their rented residences. In many instances the police action added to the violence, with considerable evidence that officers took sides and used terror tactics against slum dwellers. In some instances, sexual violence took the form of individual and gang rapes and female and male genital mutilation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Post-election Violence in Kenya and its Aftermath |url=https://www.csis.org/blogs/smart-global-health/post-election-violence-kenya-and-its-aftermath |access-date=2022-08-30 |website=www.csis.org |language=en |archive-date=30 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830093609/https://www.csis.org/blogs/smart-global-health/post-election-violence-kenya-and-its-aftermath |url-status=live }}</ref>

===== 2018 Maa-Kipsigis skirmishes =====
The Maasai and the Kipsigis have historically and traditionally antagonised each other right from and a period earlier than the Maasai era. This usually manifested as cattle raids, eventual battles and the subsequent southward thwarting and ejection of the Maasai. After Kenya's independence, there have been periodic tensions between the Maasai and the Kipsigis which have backgrounds in history and traditions and fuelled by political incitement especially during the elections period. Politicians have been said to fuel the clashes with their remarks, both in public forums and on social media. In 2018 for instance, Narok County Senator [[Olekina Ledama|Ledama Olekina]], part of the Maasai community, has been criticised for remarks about the evictions.<ref name="landportal.org">{{Cite web|url=https://landportal.org/news/2018/09/kenya%E2%80%99s-mau-forest-evictions-balancing-conservation-human-rights-and-ethnic-clashes|title=Kenya's Mau Forest Evictions: Balancing Conservation, Human Rights, and Ethnic Clashes|date=18 September 2018|website=Land Portal|language=fr|access-date=19 March 2020|archive-date=3 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403235413/https://landportal.org/news/2018/09/kenya%E2%80%99s-mau-forest-evictions-balancing-conservation-human-rights-and-ethnic-clashes|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018 particularly, the Uhuru government under the Minister of Lands evicted a section of the [[Mau Complex Settlement|Mau Complex]] settlers who are mainly of Kipsigis ethnicity. The evictions were particularly forceful, inconsiderate, inhuman and without compensation. A major section of the Maasai leaders supported the evictions and are said or known to have committed hate speech. In the wake of the polarisation, the Maasai are reported to have attacked Kipsigis evictees and in retaliation, Kipsigis men in Narok and Bomet counties retaliated. The battles implored the use of crude or/and traditional weaponry including nuts (a nut used to fit to a screw fitted onto a wooden handle about a foot and a half long), spears, bows and arrows, swords and torches (or at least, petrol/gasoline and lighters).

Following the 2018 evictions and Maasai-Kipsigis clashes, several human-rights defenders came together to file a paper in protest of the human-rights violations committed by the Kenyan government in evicting people from the forests; it said in part, "The actions of the Government of Kenya in forcibly evicting tens of thousands of people from forests violates a range of human rights, which are contained in international instruments to which Kenya is a State Party." Kenyan lawyer [[Leonard Sigey Bett]] filed a petition with the [[International Criminal Court]] at [[The Hague]] in the [[Netherlands]] challenging the evictions. Environmental conservation groups generally support the eviction of people from the forest, but only if the exercise is done amicably and humanely.<ref name="landportal.org"/>