‘I Did Not Deploy KDF During… Protests’ – Former Defence CS Aden Duale
Aden Duale, the nominee for the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry, has insisted that the Kenya Defence Forces were not deployed during the anti-Finance Bill protests.
Duale stated on Friday that it was done by the Kenyan Constitution’s framers. He stated that the deployment followed the law.
He stated that the Constitution empowers the Defence Chief of Staff to intervene whenever the police are overburdened with public safety duties.
“I did not deploy KDF. The framers of the Constitution put Article 241 (3)(b)and (3)(c) in the Constitution,” Duale said.
Aden Duale on events during recent anti-gov’t protests: I did not deploy KDF, the framers of the constitution did. If KDF did not come to assist security agencies on the day protesters stormed into Parliament, God forbid, but maybe some legislators would have lost their lives. pic.twitter.com/o3NcNwnONA
— KTN News (@KTNNewsKE) August 2, 2024
“So Kenya Defence Forces are in the streets, they are in Boni Forest fighting al Shabaab, they are in North Rift dealing with banditry, they were in Westgate during the terror attack, in Garissa University during the terror attack where we lost many people.”
“For peace, public order, public safety, where the police are overwhelmed Article 241 (3)(b) kicks in the function of the Minister for Defence, by then me. Once it kicks in I am supposed to do subsidiary legislation. I gazette.”
The CS nominee appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Appointments for vetting. Duale claimed that on that day, the Supreme Court and Parliament were under threat.
He insisted that if the KDF had not intervened, many people would have died. He added that as Defence CS, he would not be irresponsible to allow that to happen.
“That day the office of the Chief Justice and Supreme Court as an institution was under threat, Parliament and colleagues sitting here, if KDF did not come to assist, God forbid, many MPs could have died, including our Speaker,” Duale said.
“Parliament could have been burned. I will not be that irresponsible as a Minister of Defence with a provision of the Constitution.”
The former Defence Chief Secretary also praised the Constitution’s framers for including Articles 241 (3)(b) and (c) in the Kenyan Constitution of 2010.
“I want to thank the framers of the Constitution, I participated, the Speakers participated, and many other members participated,” Duale said.
“It is today and that day, June 25, I realise how the importance of Article 241 (3)(b) and (c) is.”
‘I Did Not Deploy KDF During… Protests’ – Former Defence CS Aden Duale
