Former MP Dies After Road Accident
Former Laikipia North MP Mathew Lempurkel Lekidime has passed on weeks after being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
He had been hospitalised following a road accident at the Exciting area in Ong’ata Rongai while heading home.
Lempurkel, who once represented Laikipia North in the National Assembly, had been battling for his life since the crash, which left him with critical injuries, six days ago.
In 2021, the former legislator was sentenced to one year in prison for assault in a case that drew widespread public attention.
The matter stemmed from a 2016 incident in whichhe was accused of assaultingthe current Laikipia North MP, Sarah Korere, at Harambee House in Nairobi.
According to court papers presented then, Lempurkel “willfully and unlawfully assaulted Sarah Korere by slapping her on theleft cheek and kicking her on the lower abdomen, thereby occasioning her actual bodily harm.”
Lempurkel, a staunch defender of Maa rights, was widely known for his bold advocacy on land rights, cultural preservation, and the protection of the community’s way of life.
He contested the Laikipia North parliamentary seat in 2013 and won on an ODM party ticket after defeating at least four other candidates, according to results announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
In November 2023, he ditched the Orange Democratic Movement party for the United Democratic Alliance.
Before his election as MP, the former legislator was a renowned philanthropist serving his community as the executive director of Ndugu Zangu Christian Community Charitable Trust.
The Catholic Church-based organisation was key in changing the lives of thousands of children with heart problems, who it sponsored for surgeries in leading cardiac hospitals in Italy, among other parts of the world.
The organisation helped pipe water from the Ewaso Nyiro River to far-flung areas of Ol Donyiro and Kipsing in Isiolo county, among other multi-million shilling development projects.
