Garissa Township MP Aden Duale has made some sensational claims about his relationship with President Uhuru Kenyatta before their fallout.
Before being ousted as the National Assembly majority leader in June 2020, Aden Duale had been one of the closest political allies of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.
In an in-depth interview with Daily Nation, Duale revealed that President Uhuru became so different right after the nullification of the 2017 General Election.
From then, the president started becoming cold towards him and his deputy William Ruto.
In his interview, Duale recalls how Uhuru used him and William Ruto to get people accused of graft off the hook.
The outspoken politician said he regrets fiercely defending individuals accused of corruption. This he did out of his loyalty to President Uhuru.
“There are many things we did out of loyalty to the President but which we didn’t believe in. The deputy president and I were, for instance, forced to defend Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru (she had been implicated in the National Youth Service multi-billion scandal) because of loyalty,
“We were forced to even defend this government from the Health ministry’s scandal (where President Uhuru’s relatives were mentioned) and to defend the Eurobond fraud and the Standard Gauge Railway. I even fought Jimi Wanjigi over the SGR! Now I regret it,” he said.
He further accused President Uhuru of betraying him and William Ruto and also derailing the Jubilee government development agenda.
Before their fallout, Duale says he used to support Uhuru and would do anything he is asked to do within the legislature.
However, he reveals that his failure to support the Building Bridges Initiative bill is what sealed his fate in the National Assembly.
“I believe that what broke the camel’s back was when I said I would not table the BBI Bill in Parliament as the Leader of the Majority,” Aden Duale said.
He says that BBI was a political arrangement to build a super coalition that would deny William Ruto power.
