Senator Karanja calls for CS Duale's resignation over ethnic slur

Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja. [File, Standard]

Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja has called for the resignation of Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale over his utterances against the Kikuyu community.

Karanja, who is also the deputy majority leader in the Senate, termed Duale an embarrassment to the UDA party and called on President William Ruto to act.

Last week, the controversial CS from UDA was captured on camera comparing Kikuyus to hyenas’ sentiments that have drawn condemnation from various quarters.

The CS for Lands Alice Wahome has also come out strongly condemning her Cabinet colleague terming the sentiments hate speech and reckless.

Speaking in Naivasha, Senator Karanja accused Duale of fuelling political and tribal animosity through reckless statements.

 “The same people Duale is calling hyenas are the ones who propelled our party UDA into power, and that is why he holds that position,” she said.

The Senator called on President Ruto to act and send Duale home, adding that she would push for his resignation for his loose tongue.

 “Duale has refused to apologise, alleging that he was misquoted, and it's time that he stepped aside as he is an embarrassment to this government,” he said.

She called on the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to be proactive and take charge by taking action against the CS.

 “It’s time that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission showed it has powers by charging this reckless CS known for fuelling tribal animosity,” she said.

This was echoed by Naivasha East MCA Stanley Karanja who said that Central Kenya was taking note of hate speech targeting them.

He noted that the region overwhelmingly voted for Ruto in the last general elections, but some elected leaders in the current  government had forgotten this.

 “The so-called hyenas voted to the last man for Ruto, but his generals have forgotten this and are abusing and threatening voters from the region, which is very shameful,” he said.

Former Lakeview MCA Simon Wanyoike termed NCIC as a toothless bulldog that was best known for issuing statements and failing to act.

He noted that the elected leaders were setting bad precedents ahead of the general  elections through incitement and threats to some communities.

“It’s now evident that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission is a useless body that has failed to act despite all the available evidence of hate speech,” he said.