Could Aden Duale’s stand to ‘defend his people’ cost him politically?

Aden Duale vowed to defend “my people”. [PHOTOS: FILE/STANDARD]

By OSCAR OBONYO

NAIROBI, KENYA: Aden Bare Duale, the self-confessed loyal servant to President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, has previously confessed to stepping on toes of fellow politicians, mostly from the Opposition. But few anticipated he would leave the toes of Uhuru-Ruto sorely bruised, this early.

The holder of the influential office of Leader of Majority in the National Assembly has put the President and DP in an awkward position after appearing to come in the way of the Government’s crackdown on terror suspects in Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate. Curiously the onslaught against Duale, a member of Ruto’s United Republican Party (URP), is spearheaded by MPs allied to the President’s The National Alliance (TNA).

Even more surprising is that legislators from Ruto’s wing of Government have opted to keep mum on the matter.

A politician from northern Kenya, who did not want to be named, confided in The Standard On Sunday that Duale’s actions are persuaded by two key factors – business and political interests. According to the legislator, Duale’s larger family has one of the biggest chain of hotels in Nairobi’s Eastleigh, hence the effort to secure the area and rid it of elements bound to scare away customers and investors alike.

In fact, in his controversial speech in Somali language to the residents of Eastleigh, the Garissa Township MP reportedly warned terror gangs against throwing grenade bombs in the region as it directly “affects our business operations here”. On the political front, our source confined to us that Duale considered himself the third highest ranked politician in Government after President Uhuru, DP Ruto, and had accordingly embarked on a scheme to bring the Somali community and the Muslim faithful under his wing.

During this Eastleigh rally, Duale vowed to defend “my people”, noting that the President and DP would similarly not allow the rights of “their people” to be trampled upon. By drawing a parallel between him and the Uhuru-Ruto duo, Duale seems to be suggesting the need for expanding his political constituency beyond Garissa Township.

Some pundits view Duale as a smart political operative who has realised the strategic position of the Somali community and the wider Muslim faithful. In a surprise move, Duale has succeeded to bring together a 34-strong caucus of MPs (National Assembly and Senate) from the Somali community across the political divide.

EXPANSIONIST NOTIONS

Coupled with Duale’s expansionist notions, if his recent speech in Eastleigh has to be believed, then the political manoeuvres of the Garissa Township MP are enough to cause the Government enough reason to be on the alert.

“Every smart political leader, including the President, would dread any such grouping that involves over 30 members – and more so one that enjoys support from both Government and the Opposition,” observes political scientist, Dr Richard Bosire. “Like every politician, Duale’s primary interest is to ensure he has an electoral base, which is large enough and then move on to secure the same by addressing interests of its members, such that he can get re-elected come 2017,” says Bosire. According to Bosire, who teaches at the University of Nairobi, the interests of Duale’s core political constituency override those of the National Government. This position, argues Bosire, is further strengthened by his realisation that the same Government he is supporting vigorously is the same one allegedly profiling members of his community.

Duale’s parliamentary opposite, Leader of Minority Francis Nyenze is particularly shocked by comments attributed to him, to the effect that terror gangs should detonate grenades and bombs in Machakos and not Eastleigh.

“If this is true, then he must apologise – first to the people of Machakos County and then the rest of Kenyans, before resigning from public office because such actions do not befit a leader of his calibre,” Nyenze told The Standard On Sunday.

Since the latest drama, Duale has proved elusive by declining to respond to our questions, yet at the same time promising to revert.

Three days ago, this writer traced him in Istanbul, Turkey. He listened attentively to our enquiries via phone without a response. Duale, however, responded later via phone text message to the effect that he would respond to all accusations levelled against him by parliamentary colleagues with regard to his stand on the fight against terror attacks. “When?” this writer inquired. “When I return,” he answered. By the time of going to the press, it remained unclear as to whether the Majority Leader had returned to the country. But judging from the reception tone of his phone, it seemed he was still outside the Kenyan borders.

Except for what he describes as his abrasive nature of confronting issues and “sheer lack of diplomacy,” Rarieda MP, Nicholas Gumbo, observes that Duale is not a particularly bad politician. He is full of energy and quite effective, opines the MP. The only problem is that this time around the said energies are directed at his employers in Jubilee.

POWER AND LATITUDE

“Their (Jubilee) biggest undoing is that they gave him (Duale) too much power and latitude and this is coming back to haunt the very Jubilee’s top leadership,” observes Gumbo. Kigumo MP, Jamleck Kamau claims to be one such victim of Duale’s “misdirected energies.” The former Nairobi Metropolitan Cabinet minister told The Standard on Sunday that he had nothing personal against Duale, “with whom I have worked closely for over five years,” except that the Leader of Majority has personally attacked him.

Kamau said he was shocked by Duale’s action of allegedly wiring to him an abusive text message, over his personal views aired on a live television programme. The move, says Kamau, made him sense that the Majority Leader was allegedly a troubled man “who is not peace at with himself.”

“To advise, for instance, that terrorists should attack other parts of the country but not Eastleigh area is total irresponsibility and incitement. He is letting down the Jubilee Government, big time,” reacts Kamau. However, Mandera County Senator, Billow Kerrow maintains Duale means well: “Having been with him all along when this entire drama started, I want to confirm to Kenyans that Duale is 100 per cent behind the government’s commitment in flushing out terrorist from our midst.”

Before the controversial rally in Eastleigh, The Standard on Sunday has reliably established that Duale led a team of nearly 40 members of the National Assembly and Senate, as well as opinion leaders from the Muslim community, to a meeting with Interior Minister Joseph ole Lenku and other senior security officers. Kerrow explains that the idea behind the meeting was to share workable proposals o handling the security threat in Eastleigh, including vetting of terror suspects peacefully.

After doing so, says the Senator, the Duale team sought permission to address members of the Somali community with a view to dissuade them against terrorist activities. According to Kerrow, Duale spoke more in defence of the government’s intended action as opposed to “the rest of us, who were suspicious and critical of the Government.”

And he maintains that Duale did not encourage anybody to bomb other parts of the country, claiming the Garissa legislator has been quoted out of context. “He was simply trying to explain to residents that they were constant victims of apparent police harassment because of the continuous grenade attacks in Eastleigh. And he explained that if the attacks were happening, say in Machakos, they could not possibly be targeted for the police swoops,” says Kerrow.

The senator partly attributes Duale’s woes to his growing political constituency. Indeed, the solid numbers behind the MP’s position, across the political divide, could be a major source of political envy among many.

And noting that Duale and members of the Somali community are in Jubilee by right – out of a political negotiation – Kerrow dares anybody scheming to kick out Duale from the office of Leader of Majority to do so.

“We shall not be cowed politically by anybody. We are united – on this one – behind the Leader of Majority and anybody who wants to change the status quo, we are daring them to bring it on,” he said. Separately, Bosire faults the Government for playing into the net of the Somali community leaders “by affirming that they spreading operations to other pars of the country when we know this is clearly not the case”.