Attempts to vilify Majority Leader Aden Duale misplaced

Recent attacks on National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, have their roots in the war on terror, especially the Garissa University College attack.

The political onslaught against Mr Duale, coming from elected leaders from other parts of the country, is an attack on the North Eastern leadership, and it should be understood in the context of competition for national power and other resources, and the role of North Eastern region in these competition.

As a leader from North Eastern, I am well placed to share some of my observations and experiences on how the region and its leaders are perceived by other Kenyans, including elected leaders.

The assumption that leaders from the region must know terrorists and provide a list when called upon was the genesis of Duale’s political woes, and is one that ties a global problem to a region and a people. What must be made clear is that North Eastern residents do not subscribe to violent extremism or other forms of intolerance. Like other regions, it has had its challenges and leaders have come in to resolve the same while at the same time pursuing development to improve lives of residents.

By organising counter-narrative to the ones spread by terror agents, by speaking out against terrorism, by initiating educational, developmental opportunities, and even by being outspoken on other national issues, leaders from North Eastern have shown their immediate constituents that they are part of Kenya, with stakes in the country just like other Kenyans. Could this be why some Kenyans have decided that Duale, one of the leading figures in these initiatives, must go?

The fact that some leading detractors of Duale come from Jubilee alliance shows the disdain with which leaders from North Eastern are viewed: not as helpful resource persons who may help us find solutions to our problems, but as problems that need to be solved! This attitude, expressed by some leaders, is misguided because it does not reflect what leaders from the region have done towards finding solutions to some of the problems affecting our country. Nor does it show any awareness of the peculiar challenges the region faces, such as youth radicalisation and violent extremism.

So what are these challenges peculiar to the region? For one, the fact that the region has, from colonial times to very recently, been considered a mere outpost to the country (remember in colonial times, the region was known as the Northern Frontier District) meant that no serious government investment was made there, leading to untold human suffering. Further, the collapse of the state of Somalia in the early 1990s posed a unique challenge to the region which acted like an unofficial buffer zone between Somalia and Kenya. This problem, with social and economic dimensions, was compounded by the knee-jerk government reactions to social and security problems that arose.

Yet, these leaders continue to work on strategies meant to solve problems in the region, sometimes risking their lives and political careers, as Governor Ali Roba has done. What we ought to do, then, is to support them in implementing a strategy that encourages inclusivity and dialogue. One that avoids the easy and unhelpful route of religious or regional profiling. Vilifying leaders like Duale for not providing the terror list is ineffective and other Kenyans should rise above this.

The writer is Wajir North MP