Kikuyu elders condemn Duale remarks, warn against ethnic division
Kikuyu Council of Elders led by Wachira Kiago during the press conference yesterday.
By MKT Reporter
The Kikuyu Council of Elders (KCE) has strongly condemned Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale over remarks in which he allegedly compared members of the Kikuyu community to hyenas, describing the comments as offensive, divisive and unbecoming of a national leader.
In a statement issued yesterday, the elders accused Duale of showing “a lack of common decency and moral responsibility” and said his remarks had caused deep pain across the Kikuyu community.
The council said the Cabinet Secretary’s speech, delivered during a recent public address, conveyed “sweeping contempt and bitterness” towards an entire community and risked undermining national cohesion.
“Mr Duale, your condemnation has caused deep injury to this community. You did not spare children or their mothers, the young or the elderly, the sick in hospitals and homes, labourers or jobless, leaders or the led,” the statement read.
The elders said no Kenyan leader occupying such a senior public office had inflicted similar harm on so many people through public utterances, warning that the effects of such comments could linger for years.
“It is comments and actions like yours that have kept Africa in ethnic and governance turmoil and steeped in poverty and bloodshed, and without stable governments,” the council added.
The latest condemnation adds to mounting pressure on the Health Cabinet Secretary following widespread criticism from political leaders and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), which has opened investigations into the remarks after receiving formal complaints.
The controversy stems from comments Duale made during a public function in Lafey, Mandera County, in which critics said he referred to members of the Kikuyu community as “hyenas” while discussing recent political developments. Duale has maintained that he was misquoted and that his remarks were taken out of context, insisting they were not intended to incite ethnic hatred. He has also declined calls to apologise.
In its statement, however, the Kikuyu Council of Elders rejected the remarks outright, saying they amounted to a blanket condemnation of an entire community regardless of age, gender or social status.
While expressing disappointment, the elders urged members of the Kikuyu community not to retaliate with similar ethnic insults directed at the Somali community.
“The Gikuyu Community respects the Somali Community, which you come from, as well as other Kenyan communities,” the council said, adding that it continues to encourage cordial relations among all ethnic groups.
The elders appealed to leaders across the political divide to exercise restraint in their public pronouncements, warning that inflammatory rhetoric could reopen painful wounds from Kenya’s history of election-related violence.
“To leaders in Kenya from the lowest to the highest, we pray and plead with you to avoid words and acts that would cause tribal disharmony in Kenya, and let the blood spilt from 2007 to 2024 be enough,” the statement said.
The council also called on elders from all communities, religious leaders and faith organisations to play a greater role in promoting peaceful coexistence and national unity.
“To elders of Kenya communities, the clergy and clerics of all faiths, we urge you to stand and be counted as beacons of reason and peaceful co-existence, to the end that Kenya becomes a peaceful and democratic nation,” the statement added.
The elders’ statement comes amid growing condemnation from across the political spectrum. Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has demanded an unconditional apology, saying the remarks amounted to dangerous ethnic profiling, while Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome has also urged Duale to withdraw the comments and apologise to the Kikuyu community.
Despite the growing backlash, Duale has maintained that he will not apologise, arguing that his speech has been deliberately misrepresented and insisting that he spoke about political inclusivity rather than targeting any community.
The National Cohesion and Integration Commission has since confirmed that investigations into the matter are ongoing as it seeks to establish whether the remarks violated laws governing hate speech and ethnic incitement.
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