Within the circles of the Kalenjin political elite, Kipchumba Murkomen, the Elgeyo-Marakwet senator, is usually referred to as the “deputy doyen”.

If you consider that the title of doyen is reserved for Deputy President William Ruto, the region’s political kingpin, you get an idea of the senator’s place in the politically restive region of the Rift Valley.

Even to the most apolitical, the deputy doyen’s ejection from the majority leader’s seat was all coming on the account of Murkomen’s razor-sharp tongue, which has become more animated since the March 9, 2018 Handshake between President Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga.

It took the elevation of Charles Keter, then-Kericho senator, to the Cabinet for Murkomen’s political career to start rising.

In 2017, during the first presidential petition in the Supreme Court, Murkomen routinely donned his gown and found his way into the courtroom, where he maintained a studious silence, occasionally pulling out his phone to tweet and take selfies as his colleagues engaged in legal arguments.