Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale came under sharp criticism in the Senate on Thursday over remarks in a viral video that senators said could inflame ethnic tensions in the country.
The senators were reacting to a widely circulated video in which Duale is alleged to have compared the Somali and Kikuyu communities by population before recounting what he described as historical discrimination against Somalis under previous administrations of Presidents Jomo Kenyatta, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta.
In the video, Duale, speaking in vernacular, credited President William Ruto with ending what he described as discriminatory practices.
The issue was raised during the afternoon sitting, where lawmakers from both the majority and minority sides condemned the alleged remarks and warned against ethnic rhetoric ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina cautioned leaders against making statements that compare communities, saying such rhetoric risked reopening the wounds of the 2007/08 post-election violence.
“I listened to my good friend and the CS for Health making a comparison of two communities in public.
Creating one community as more superior that the other. I want us to avoid such. Such comments will drag this country back in the trenches where we were in 2007,” said Kina.
He urged political leaders to reject tribal politics and instead promote national unity.
“Let’s do away with this issue of tribalism. We should not let our younger generations look at themselves from the tribe point of view, but let’s unite as one and not divide Kenyans,” said the Narok Senator.
Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua also faulted the Cabinet Secretary’s alleged remarks, saying public officials must exercise restraint when addressing sensitive ethnic issues.
“We are headed to very dangerous ground, and utterances of our leaders should be checked. The utterances of CS Duale, trying to elevave one community over another, going to the extent of even calling one community hyenas. We know what happened in after 2007 elections. We must put Duale on the spot and tell him thta Kikuyus are not and have never been hyenas. They are citizens on this country..,” Wambua said.
Garissa Senator Abdul Haji said he had watched the widely circulated clip after receiving it from Senator Wambua and described its contents as disturbing
“Senator Wambua has shared the clip with me where the CS made those utterances. If leaders make such emotive utterances they will definately bring disharmony in the country and ordinarily Mr Speaker I should be standing to support the CS of Health but in this point, if he did make those utterances, and I have listened to the clip. It is wrong,” said Senator Haji.
However, Speaker Amason Kingi halted further discussion, reminding senators that parliamentary rules do not permit debate on the conduct of a Cabinet Secretary without a substantive motion on the matter.
“Don’t discuss a Cabinet Secretary without moving a motion. Kindly file a motion and pursue it as required by law,” Kingi directed.
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