With leaders like Aden Duale, we do not expect to win the war on terrorism

What you need to know:

  • Mr Duale was true to his species when he publicly reneged on a very public pledge to expose the financiers and supporters of terrorists.
  • Kenya is at war and faces grave danger unless all unite against the monsters who daily plot to exterminate those of different faith.

Aden Duale is not your ordinary two-bit MP.

As National Assembly Majority Leader, the Garissa Town representative occupies a powerful place in the Kenyan Legislature and the wider body politic.

As both the voice and the ears of the Jubilee government in the House, he is probably more powerful and influential than any Cabinet secretary or political party leader.

He would not retain that privileged position if he did not enjoy undiluted trust and confidence from President Uhuru Kenyatta as well as and Deputy President William Ruto, who in a sense appointed him to the plum position from his URP wing of the governing coalition.

Unfortunately, for someone carrying such a weight of influence and responsibility, Mr Duale is no different from the ordinary Kenyan political animal. This is a unique species in whom lying and skullduggery are deeply ingrained and where honour, trust ,and keeping promises are alien concepts.

PLEDGE

Mr Duale was true to his species when he publicly reneged on a very public pledge to aid the war on terrorism by exposing the financiers and supporters of terrorists.

In the wake of the Garissa University College terrorist attack of April 2 when 148 innocent souls, nearly all students, were brutally slain by Al-Shabaab monsters, Mr Duale led more than 20 MPs, governors, and other leaders for the three northeastern Kenya counties of Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera in condemnation of the senseless carnage.

The leaders appeared united for the first time in acknowledging the cancer in their midst and vowing to lead the campaign against the radicalisation and jihadist ideology that was becoming entrenched in the region.

The promise to take the lead in countering violent extremist teachings in places of worship and exposing the purveyors of terrorism was no doubt seen as major win in a region where decades of alienation and marginalisation have bred a deep resentment that was being exploited by the merchants of death and destruction.

That was the first time such a gathering was coming out to unite in support of the war on terrorism, debunking the notion that the local elite was either complicit or too scared to resist as Al-Shabaab spread its tentacles across the region.

Of particular note was the pledge to within seven days, later extended to 30, compile and submit to the relevant government security arms a list of terrorism suspects, supporters, and financiers living among them.

NOT ANSWERABLE

Well, 30 days passed and Mr Duale, with usual hubris, has declared that he does not owe anybody any list.

The Majority Leader had earlier suggested that the list might have been provided in confidence to the security organs, but when it turned out that the Cabinet secretary for Interior, Major General (Rtd) Joseph Nkaissery, had not received any such list and was as eager as anybody else to get it, Mr Duale retorted that he is not answerable to the minister.

If the Interior secretary is unaware of the list, it follows that the security establishment under him is equally in the dark unless he is a clueless figurehead who is being kept out of the loop.

But then Mr Duale also suggested that he is answerable to the coalition principals and nobody else. So could he, perchance, have handed over the list to President Kenyatta or Mr Ruto?

Well, unless the Jubilee coalition leaders received the list and decided to “sit” on it, there is no list.

The problem is that passing the buck upwards places responsibility squarely on the President and his deputy. It is therefore from that level that Mr Duale must be ordered to live up to his promise or desist from making utterances and taking actions that call the Jubilee administration into disrepute.

This government has suffered terribly for its blunders in the war on terrorism, but the biggest sufferers have been the hundreds of innocent men, women, and children who have been mercilessly slaughtered at the hands of deranged fanatics keen to drive a religious conflict.

Kenya is at war and faces grave danger unless all unite against the monsters who daily plot to exterminate those of different faith.

The people cannot be asked to unite against a common foe when those in onerous positions of leadership speak with a forked tongue.

[email protected]. @MachariaGaitho on Twitter