How Muturi saved Duale’s head from chopping board
Emeka-Mayaka Gekara
Aggressive lobbying by MPs and intervention by House Speaker Justin Muturi as well as protests by Somali professionals is said to have rescued National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale from being kicked out of the powerful position.
His long-standing relationship with the President and a perception that he had toned down his rhetoric in support of Deputy President William Ruto is also said to have played a role in saving him from the chopping board.
Duale is a senior founding member of the Jubilee Party and has waged many battles for Uhuru and Ruto though he is said to be a staunch supporter of the DP. He was widely expected to be dropped at yesterday’s Jubilee Parliamentary Group meeting chaired by the President.
However, after sparing him, the President appears to have given Duale a checkmate by appointing Kipiriri MP and former Cabinet minister Amos Kimunya as Jubilee coalition parliamentary secretary.
In yesterday’s changes, Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali was replaced as Chief Whip by Navakholo MP Emanuel Wangwe while Igembe North’s Maoka Maore took over from Cecily Mbarire (Nominated) as Deputy Whip. Kitutu Chache North MP Jimmy Angwenyi was retained as Deputy Majority Leader.
Powerful forces
The changes follow a similar purge in the Senate that saw then Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen, Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki and Majority Whip Susan Kihika removed.
According to multiple sources, Duale’s name was on the chopping board until yesterday morning when the President is said to have changed his mind.
Last evening, however, sources told People Daily that Duale may not be completely out of the woods as powerful politicians around Uhuru still want him out and may have gone back to the drawing board.
An excited Duale yesterday welcomed the President’s decision, acknowledging Kimunya’s expected influential role in House business in the future.
“We had a good conversation to push the President’s agenda whether it is budget or legislation. In due course, we will make more changes in committees as ratified by the State House meeting,” said Duale.
Uhuru’s agenda
“I want to thank the President and the party rank and file for having confidence in me. I believe in God, destiny and commitment. The deciding body is the President, the party leader who is my friend,” he said.
The Garisa Town MP thinks he owes his stay in the seat to the fact that he enjoys support from both sides of the House.
“I have friends across the board even in the Minority. It is all about building bridges. We have a new parliamentary secretary and we hope to work together. We will whip right to ensure we push the President’s agenda.”
A highly placed source who attended the State House meeting told People Daily that there was persuasion that Duale’s removal would have opened room for an “acrimonious and distractive fight” that could have overshadowed the President’s agenda.
“With Kimunya now assigned a significant role by the President in the National Assembly, it was decided that Duale can continue hanging on the thread. Kimunya’s role is a signal that Duale’s influence in House politics has been diminished.
In Kimunya, the President has another experienced point man who he can use to whip members and push his agenda” said the source who requested anonymity.
Richard Bosire, a political science lecturer at the University of Nairobi, attributed the President’s decision to retain Duale to his “moderated behaviour” and standing among pastoralist communities.
“Duale lately has behaved like a moderate, not the extremist he used to be. He stopped acting as the DP’s mouthpiece.
Again his arrogance was not much like that of Murkomen and his sparing is perhaps a message by Uhuru that ‘we are not sending away people for the sake of it’. The President is saying, ‘if you repent and toe the line, we will keep you’.”
Possible backlash
He added: “Politics is about perception and with Duale being the most senior person in the Legislature from North Eastern, perhaps the President was concerned about what people from the region would think. You may want to keep the people of the region calm by retaining Duale.”
But Michael Mugo of Dialogue Foundation, linked the President’s move to the desire to push through the Budget due next week as well as fear of a possible backlash from the Somali and pastoralist communities that see Duale as their most senior voice in government.
“The Budget statement is on the table. The President knows that in Speaker Muturi and Duale, he has men who can pass it through.
And unlike the other rebels Duale is not confrontational with the President. He also represents a huge chunk of an ethnic group of Kenyans,” said Mugo.
During his press conference in Parliament yesterday, Duale downplayed claims of factions in the Jubilee Party.
“There is no room for factions, I am sure everyone who attended would agree that today (yesterday) is a good day for Jubilee as a party,” he said.
He defended Washiali and Mbarire’s performance in the House, saying the changes were normal.
“In the same way we had changes after 2017 is the same way that the leadership has felt the need for others now. That is not to say that Washiali and Mbarire were not good enough,” he said.
