We are not for sale, Northern Kenya leaders tell Jubilee

Wajir West MP Abdikadir Ore Ahmed (left), Balambala Constituency MP Abdikadir Aden (centre) and Junet Mohamed (MP Suna East) after a press conference at Parliament buildings [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

A section of Members of Parliament from Northern Kenya are accusing the ruling Jubilee party of buying some politicians in the region.

Led by Balambala MP Abdikadir Aden, the leaders claimed that Jubilee has been on a shopping spree for elected leaders to join Jubilee in a bid to weaken the region that is an opposition stronghold.

Aden said that only 'weak leaders' from the region may be willing to join Jubilee through boardroom briefcase parties.

However he said Jubilee should not expect anything substantial from the strategy as people of Northern Kenya know where their hearts lie.

"The Jubilee regime is embarking on a campaign of blackmail, intimidation, coercion and wholesale of elected leaders and have the communities back them in the August elections," said Aden.

Speaking in Nairobi on Saturday, Aden said communities in the region are aware of the struggle they have endured for the last four years but the government has done nothing to alleviate their suffering.

Instead, Aden who was accompanied by four other MPs among them Suna East Junet Mohamed, said the current regime has made the situation much worse with unexplained executions, disappearances and incarceration- a prejudice associated with the Somali community.

"Even after the government announced drought as a national disaster, there is no action in the region in terms of emergency response. It is lies after lies," said Aden.

His argument was supported by Other MPs from the region including Wajir County MP Fatuma Ibrahim, Wajir South MP Abdullahi Diriye, and Abdikadir Ore of Wajir West.

The leaders pronounced their undying support for Opposition Chief Raila Odinga who is eyeing the NASA presidential ticket in the August elections.

They argued that it is through Raila’s efforts as a fighter for devolution and during his stint as the Prime Minister that the Somali community in the country felt a sense of belonging.

"We will make our democratic choice come August 8th; we know where our hearts lie. We will have no one but us to blame if we agreed to back Jubilee today only for them to repeat the same atrocities on our people," Aden said.