Speaking on Citizen TV’s JKLive Show on Wednesday, Duale ran down memory lane claiming that Odinga betrayed him politically during the 2008 Grand Coalition government despite the former Garissa Township MP being his chief campaigner in the Northern Kenya region.
CS Duale who at the time had been elected on an ODM party ticket, says the former prime minister at the time and the late President Mwai Kibaki failed to appoint him to the Cabinet since they had chosen the late Mohamed Yusuf Haji as Defence Minister who hailed from the same district as Duale.
He says Odinga’s act of outrightly denying him the appointment was a direct betrayal.
“I was a loyalist of Baba. Baba indicted me into the school of politics. We campaigned for Raila Odinga mainly in the Muslim areas…I was his chief campaigner in the North; both in terms of the numbers, and resources, and that is where the politics of deceit started,” Duale stated.
“When the cabinet of the grand coalition was formed, Raila Odinga looked at me in the eyes and said Kibaki has appointed another candidate, Haji, to be the Minister for Defence so we can’t have two of you from the same county, the same district then.”
He added: “I remember I told him he should have told me, I would have gone to PNU and square out with Haji for the ministerial position, ‘I was part of your coalition’.”
The outspoken CS, who is a diehard supporter of President William Ruto, went on to blame the former premier for dismissing him as an Assistant Agriculture Minister together with Ruto, who was his boss.
“It is Raila who fired Ruto…William Ruto and I were fired on the same day. It was around three o’clock. I was in my office and the screens showed the following have been sacked as ministers,” he said.
Citing the aftermath of the infamous Handshake between Odinga and retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, Duale remained adamant that Odinga would continue betraying his followers if for instance there would be a similar agreement with the current regime.
“The only part I am disappointed with about Baba is that he is still in the business of politics of deceit and betrayal, even today. Baba went and did a handshake with Uhuru, he did not consult Kalonzo, Mudavadi, or Wetangula and he is going to do that if at all there’s going to be a handshake which I don’t think so,” he noted.
