𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐒 𝐃𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐞, 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐂 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞

The Pastoralist Professionals Caucus on Saturday issued a press statement expressing firm solidarity with Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, accusing critics of deliberately misrepresenting his recent remarks.

The caucus said Duale’s comments had been taken out of context and subjected to selective, inaccurate translation by individuals driven by vindictive motives. According to the group, the Cabinet Secretary invoked a well-known Somali proverb to illustrate a historical pattern of successive marginalisation and sidelining of regions including Northern Kenya, the Coast and Nyanza by successive governments. The proverb, the statement emphasised, was employed to highlight structural neglect and not to advance any ethnic agenda.

The professionals strongly questioned the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) for its swift decision to initiate a probe into alleged “tribal remarks” by Duale. They noted that the same urgency and earnestness had been conspicuously absent when the impeached former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua repeatedly referred to the people of Northern Kenya as Al-Shabaab. Selective enforcement of cohesion standards, the caucus argued, undermines public confidence in the Commission’s impartiality.

The statement further pointed to remarks posted by MP Gathoni Wamuchomba on X on Friday evening, describing them as more inflammatory and steeped in tribal rhetoric than the statements for which Duale has been criticised by certain Mt Kenya leaders. “Consistency in condemning divisive language is essential if national cohesion is to mean anything”, the group said.

The Caucus also called on mainstream media houses to desist from circulating heavily edited and wrongfully translated clips designed to advance predetermined narratives that serve the interests of their owners. Responsible journalism, it stressed, demands accuracy, full context and fairness.

“Northern Kenya, like every other region of this country, deserves to be heard without distortion,” the statement concluded. “We stand with CS Aden Duale in rejecting the politicisation of legitimate commentary on historical marginalisation.”