NAIROBI—Garissa Township legislator has for the first time responded to Wajir Women Representative following weeks of attacks and call for his ouster.
Speaking during interview with Iftiin FM on Monday, Aden Duale termed Fatuma Gedi “ a stooge” in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) while challenging her to speak for the “interest of the people for once.”
“She (Fatuma) accepted to be a stooge (for the political elites) and forgot to rally and advance the interest of the people of Northern Kenya,” Duale said.
The Majority Leader of the National Assembly was reacting to a previous comment by the Wajir MP when she called for his removal, accusing him of “disrespecting the president.” She made the call during BBI rally in Kakamega last month.
“She is a first-timer and her calls to remove me from the Majority Leader post will fall on deaf ears.
“I did not earn this post through bribery. I did not inherit it nor was it a preferential treatment. I earned the post through merit and my contribution to the party (Jubilee),” Duale declared.
He said he was a founding member of the Jubilee and that he would only leave the post when asked by the president.
“I gave her (Fatuma) a ticket in 2017 and vied on a URP ticket when she failed to secure a Jubilee one. She is not a member of the Jubilee party and therefore has no say in the party affairs,” Duale said.
The vocal Garissa Township MP, who was in the US at the heat of the bitter Jubilee internal wrangles pitting the Kieleweke and Tangatanga outfits, said he was “not a guest at Jubilee and I’m here to protect the interest of the pastoral communities.”
He stated that political leadership requires confidence in one’s ability to chart a way for the people and using the platform to advance the electorate’s interest.
“It’s always good to be confident in your abilities and not choose to be a stooge for others. You have to put the people’s interest on the table before embarking on any course of action,” Duale said.
He previously told The Star that “The people of North Eastern are facing a lot of problems from insecurity, schools being closed down to census issues. These are my priorities for now.”
