Ruto Got To Statehouse By Six AM Yesterday To Plead With Uhuru To Spare Duale and Save Him Too Much Embarrassment

By six am, Deputy President William Ruto was at Statehouse where he was holed up in a brief meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta and Jubilee secretary-general Raphael Tuju – the agenda was the Garissa Township MP Aden Duale.

The President held a meeting with the DP and Mr Tuju where Dr Ruto pleaded for the majority leader’s case. The President then called in Duale as other members waited in the tent. Duale left the meeting room and joined anxious colleagues in the tent with critics taken aback at the rather unexpected “honorable” treatment.

“The President and the Deputy President met Duale for a couple of minutes before we were addressed. It appeared they were giving him some instructions,” said a Jubilee MP who was at State House.

When the President headed to the tent with Ruto, he is said to have been categorical that while “he had pulled the sword, he would not draw the blood today (yesterday)”.

“Baba yangu alinifunza ukitoa njora, rudisha saa zingine bila kutoa damu,” Uhuru is quoted to have said as he addressed the PG in reference to Duale’s fate.

At the end of it all, it took the internal politics of Garissa County, deep family connections and that last-minute effort by Ruto to save Duale from the shame of being kicked out as the majority leader on the day the purge in the ruling Jubilee Party finally reached the National Assembly.

However, sources aver that Duale’s victory is temporary. Another meeting is expected in three weeks, where his fate will be decided

Uhuru who had decided to give Duale’s position to Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya hurriedly created another position- secretary of the Jubilee coalition joint parliamentary secretary for Kimunya, a position meant to check and infuse some energy into the office of the majority leader.

Late yesterday, Duale held a press briefing, discounting reports that he had survived the purge in the ruling party.

“I did not survive. My work stood out. I have served the country diligently and with dedication as the first holder of this office,” he said at Parliament. “These positions come and go.”

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