A collage of former senior Economic Adviser to the President, Moses Kuria and Health CS Aden Duale/HANDOUT
Former senior Economic Adviser to the President, Moses Kuria,
has hit back at Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale following remarks he made
on Saturday over the Mt Kenya community.
In a statement, Kuria accused Duale and a section of leaders
from the Rift Valley region of perpetuating a dangerous narrative against Mt
Kenya people.
He said such narratives paint people of the mountain as
considering themselves superior to other communities.
“In the recent past, I have listened to a number of leaders
allege that there is a community that thinks it's more superior than others.
From Kamket to Mandago to Aden Duale in Balambala today. Some of us have
unapologetically said NO to returning this country to the politics of negative
ethnicity,” Kuria said.
The former Public Service CS said he would resist what he
termed as wholesale condemnation and collective punishment of an entire
community, insisting that individuals should not be judged based on ethnicity.
“If you have a problem with any individual from the Mt Kenya
community, do not take it out against an entire people. If Mt Kenya people have
eaten your goat, Kamket, Mandago or Duale, do let me know, I will pay you back,”
he quipped.
Kuria cautioned that such rhetoric risked pushing the
country to the edge, warning that a point of no return may lead to very
unintended consequences.
Duale, who was in Garissa on Saturday, in remarks targeted at
former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, said that the days of one community
feeling more superior than another are long gone.
He insisted that with the advent of devolution and the new
constitution, that is now a thing of the past.
“The days of entitlement that one community is more
important than any other community are gone after the new constitution,” Duale said.
