Former Laikipia MP Mathew Lempurkel dies at KNH’s ICU following accident injuries
Despite efforts by medical professionals to stabilise his condition, he succumbed to his injuries today
Former Laikipia North Member of Parliament Mathew Lempurkel Lekidime has died while undergoing treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from injuries he sustained following a tragic road accident that occurred earlier this week in Rongai .
Despite efforts by medical professionals to stabilise his condition, he succumbed to his injuries today.
Known for his vocal advocacy for the rights of the Maa community, Lempurkel served as Laikipia North MP from 2013 to 2017. During his time in office, he was a fearless and passionate defender of indigenous land rights and a staunch advocate for marginalized communities in northern Kenya.
His passing has drawn widespread mourning, with community leaders and former colleagues describing him as a bold, selfless leader who dedicated his life to public service.
The late legislator is not new to controversy. He has severally been charged with making incitement to violence remarks.
The former Laikipia North MP brought himself to national attention was in 2014.
That was when he was thrown out of a Europe-bound Emirates Airline plane. The then little known MP had demanded to be served his beer of choice even before the plane lifted off.
“Other passengers had boarded but we had to wait for him to board. He came in drunk and demanded to be served with a local beer,” one newspaper reported.
The airline crews insistence that they could only serve alcohol when the plane was airborne fell on deaf ears.
“The pilot declared he would not fly a rogue passenger and the MP was thrown out.”
The news would thrust the previously unknown MP into the national limelight, 2nd, thereafter, his life has been characterized by one controversy after another.
He emerged as a fighter for the rights of the groups that feel that they are disregarded by a reportedly powerful clique of ranchers who own large tracts of land in the larger Laikipia county.
Those close to the late MP said he was keen to emerge as the undisputed king of the Samburu people, especially in Laikipia.
He thus has put into motion schemes that would see him emerge as the preeminent defender of the rights of indigenous communities, the same way the late William Ntimama rose to prominence as the defender of Maasai land rights.
In 2003, Lempurkel, led members of his Samburu community in invading the larger ranches in the county.
In 2021, Lempurkel was sentenced to one year in prison over assault.
Lempurkel was accused of assaulting the current Laikipia North MP Sarah Korere on November 21, 2016 at Harambee House in Nairobi.
According to court papers, Lempurkel “willfully and unlawfully assaulted Sarah Korere by slapping her on the left cheek and kicked her on the lower abdomen thereby occasioning her actual bodily harm.”
Senior Principal Magistrate Hellen Onkwani, in her ruling, sentenced the ex-legislator without the option of a fine.
Lempurkel was in 2016 said to have assaulted Korere at the office of the late former Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery.
