On Saturday July 7th, the Kenyan Ambassador to Scandinavia H.E Mrs Purity Muhindi organized a “Top secret” Party for Mr. Hassan Duale Amin, the First secretary who has been in charge of Immigration Affairs at the Embassy for many years. Although a quiet personality, Mr. Duale is well known by Wakenya who have been linked to him during his work. He has been a senior Official who has worked with at least three Ambassadors.
To bid him farewell, H.E the Kenyan Ambassador Plenipotentiary Mrs Purity Muhindi, settled for a highly confidential Party at her official residence in Nacka in which attendance was strictly by special invitation. Non Embassy staff who attended the Party were specially screened before being invited. An insider told KSB that the Embassy made the Party confidential because of “lack of resources” to throw an all night Party where Wakenya could have rioted in their usual way.
Mr. Duale has been very helpful to Wakenya especially when it comes to renewal of Passports and other Immigration related problems. His departure will leave a huge vacuum which, hopefully, will be filled by an equally competent official. Since the farewell Party was “Classified”, KSB never got any invitation and had to depend entirely on its Network of professional spies for information.
Mr. Duale addressed the crowd and declared that following the end of his life in the field of diplomacy, he was now joining politics. In other words, Mr. Duale will be contesting a seat in his native Wajir East and will be seeking to unseat Hon MA Mohamud currently holding the seat.
According to information gathered by KSB contacts in Duale’s constituency, chances that the diplomat will be elected are very high because despite his profile as a diplomat, he has been very active back home. For example, Mr. Duale has been responsible for sending several Kenyans from his home village abroad for further studies or to look for other opportunities in life as opposed to the incumbent MP whom, apparently, has not been able to send a single constituent abroad.
The problem is that the incumbent is related to Mr. Duale through marriage. According to sources, money plays a very big part when it comes to elections in Mr. Duale’s area although experts informed KSB that the situation would be slightly different for Mr. Duale.
UKWELI WA MAMBO: MR. DUALE DESERVED A BETTER AND POMPOUS FAREWELL
According to those who understand the politics of Wajir East, the incumbent will have problems because since Mr. Duale is related to the incumbent, the deciding factor will be what the contestants have done to try and change the lives of Wakenya in the area and not money. It is here where Mr. Duale is expected to gain an advantage because of the number of villagers he has taken abroad and other projects he has initiated in the area as a diploamt.
Mr. Duale has also been involved in sorting out small financial problems of his constituents through strategic trips to Kenya while his politics is seen as “reformist” by the locals especially the youth who view him as an alternative and more progressive leader who is serious about real development. We were told that if there is anybody who will give the incumbent a run for his money, it is Mr. Duale whose profile as a long standing diplomat is also expected to work to his advantage.
Duale’s campaign talk is expected to focus on eradicating the hazards of draught in Wajir East, the notorious problem of cattle theft, landlessness, shortage of water, famine, lack of business opportunities in the area, improvement of health care services, education of the youth, security, provision of clean drinking water, responsible leadership and above all, accountability of the Constituency development Fund (CDF) which the currently MP has been accused of embezzling.
In Wajir East, the Committee heading CDF is seen as aligned to the MP through family contacts, personal friendship and political connections, a factor that people in the area believe, is responsible for lack of proper utilization of the Fund. Duale therefore has a tall order as he prepares to join politics.
Sources told KSB that Mr. Duale was electable because the main argument in his constituency is that if he has been able to send so many constituents abroad during his tenure as an Embassy official and make several economic interventions on personal lives, he is likely to perform even better if he is the MP of the area with extra economic and political resources.
Duale’s campaign based on his policy of “Further education of the youth abroad” might work because this is what is “booming” in his Constituency. KSB has been tipped that Kenyans who have benefitted from Mr. Duale’s generosity are expected to lead his campaign for the seat.
The Duale Farewell Party in Stockholm should have been organized in Norsborg Musikhuset and even converted into a mini Campaign fund raising for the diplomat who is another example of a Kenyan who has worked and lived abroad and is now returning home to enter into active elective politics.
On the Duale Party, KSB believes that H.E Plenipotentiary Purity could have been courageous enough to organize a more public Farewell for a proper send off of Mr. Duale to Kenya, given that he was returning home to contest a Parliamentary seat.
By virtue of his decision to stand for elections, Mr. Duale is a good inspiration to Wakenya with similar ambitions abroad and the best option was for the Embassy to utilize his departure to announce to Wakenya that “Yote Yawezekana Kutoka Ngambo”.
Ukeweli wa mambo is that Mr. Duale deserved a better and more pompous farewell where Wakenya he has been serving could say a proper good-bye. Because he is seeking to extend his good services to the Kenyan public there is no better way through which Wakenya could have said “Thank you Mr. Duale”. But that is now water under bridge.
KSB takes this opportunity to wish Mr. Duale a successful campaign in Kenya. We hope that he will be able to enter Parliament and provide impetus to other aspirants still stuck in Sweden and other countries due to circumstances.
Okoth Osewe
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