NAIROBI, Kenya, May 11 — Defense Cabinet Secretary Duale has cited deceit as the greatest undoing for Azimio leader Raila Odinga terming his betrayal of close confidants in the past as political treason.
Duale, first elected into Parliament on an ODM ticket, said Wednesday Odinga had betrayed his lieutenants countless times leading to the departure of key figures including President William Ruto who once served in the party’s summit — The Pentagon.
He cited their twin dismissal from the President Mwai Kibaki-led Government of National Unity (GNU) as a move engineered by Odinga who recommended them for appointment following a power-sharing deal that saw the ODM leader control half the Cabinet as Prime Minister.
“I was a loyalist of Baba (Raila). Baba inducted me into the school of politics. We campaigned for Raila Odinga mainly in the Muslim areas I was his chief campaigner in the Northern region; both in terms of the numbers, and resources, and that is where the politics of deceit started,” Duale said.
“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.
Betrayal in Cabinet
Duale who served as an Assistant Minister for Agriculture under Ruto (Minister) said Odinga fired them from the job despite having reneged on a promise to make him (Duale) Defence Minister.
“When the cabinet of the grand coalition was formed, Raila Odinga looked at me in the eyes and said Kibaki has appointed another candidate (Yusuf 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 informed me and I would have gone to PNU and square it out with Haji for the ministerial position,” Duale said.
Duale said he considered Odinga’s act of outrightly denying him the appointment as direct betrayal.
Having moved into the Ruto-led URP which later dissolved into Jubilee Party co-founded by Ruto, then Deputy President, and his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta, Duale cited the 2018 handshake between Odinga and Kenyatta as yet another demonstration of deceit.
“Baba went and did a handshake with Uhuru, he did not consult Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi, or Moses Wetangula and he is going to do that if at all there’s going to be a handshake,” he noted.
Duale who ruled out the possibility of a political deal between Ruto and Odinga, said the Azimio Coalition leader would not hesitate to betray his current allies given an chance.
“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.”
