Majority Leader in the National Assembly Adan Duale said his recent speech at rally in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area was received out of context, accusing a local media house of wrongly translating his statement. He said the local TV, which implied he suggested to terrorists that they should attack elsewhere and not the Eastleigh, may have deployed a “quack” to translate his comments that sparked uproar among leaders.
The translation aired by the TV claimed that Duale had called terror groups to target other areas such as Machakos. “It is important that the Eastleigh business community and residents co-operate with security agencies and expose suspected terrorists to curb acts of terror being meted on Kenyans.
That is why such attacks are not happening in other areas like Machakos and this is exactly what I said during the rally,” Duale told The People at Parliament Buildings yesterday. “It is a pity that some media houses are using quacks to translate for them tapes for political propaganda.”
Duale reiterated that he will defend his community with the same energy he has supported President Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto. “It would be illogical to keep on fighting for the government I serve and leave out my own people. Am a founder member of the Jubilee government and would not work for its downfall, never,” he said.
Duale’s remarks comes after some Jubilee leaders criticised him for claiming the ongoing security operation to flush out terror cells in the country is targeting the Somali community. Some dared him to quit the ruling coalition, while Muslim leaders supported his stand on the swoop, especially in Eastleigh, which is dominated by members of his ethnic community.
Duale said, like any other leader, he has every right to champion and protect the rights of his people. “I am a national leader and I stand for national security. Acts of al-Shabaab terror group and other criminal gangs should be condemned by any peace-loving Muslim,” he said.
“My constituency in Garissa county has been hit by the terror group so hard and more than 69 people have lost their lives between 2011 and 2013. More than 20 per cent of the votes I received in my constituency in the last election came from Christians.” He vowed to continue safeguarding the interests of all religions from acts of aggression the same way he is “steadfast in defending the jubilee government” in Parliament.
Speaking in Eatleigh recently, Duale had threatened to quit the government over what he termed as targeting of the Somali community in the ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants and suspected Al-Shabaab sympathisers.
