Defense CS nominee Aden Duale was on Monday subjected to difficult questions during the vetting process before he fully assumes his responsibilities.
One of the questions was about his remarks after the 2015 terror attack on Garissa University which is located in the constituency he is currently representing.
According to Opiyo Wandayi, a member of the Parliamentary Appointments Committee, Duale had promised to expose the financiers of the terror attack in 30 days. Several years later, the promise was never kept.
Wandayi, therefore, asked Duale to present the names during the vetting. Defending himself, Duale argued that he was misquoted by KTN. The Defence CS nominee said that he was urging the committee to work with security agencies in a bid to unravel the mastermind of the terror attack.
“This story has been haunting me since 2015 and I have answered over a thousand times. That was after the Garissa university terror attack, one of the lowest moment in my life where 143 innocent, promising young Kenyans lost their lives.
“I was with the whole leadership of Northern Kenya whether they are governors, senators, members of the cabinet, and I was reading a statement on their behalf. What they were saying was.. and I would still say today, that we urged our communities, because community roles are very important in the war against terror, to come out and help government, and security agencies in identifying among their neighborhood who were the financiers. We were urging the communities to play their role. Of all the media houses, KTN decided to twist that and say that hon. Duale is going to name the financiers within 30 days,” Duale said.
He further said that he has no capacity or constitutional mandate to establish those behind the attack. According to him, the job is for the Director of the National Intelligence Service.
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