Duale must speak or forever remain silent

Time has flown past and it is one month since the lives of 148 innocent Kenyans, most of them university students bubbling with life and energy, were cut short by Al-Shabaab terrorists in the now infamous Garissa attacks.

Amid the terrifying development, leaders from the region led by National Assembly Majority Leader, Aden Duale, promised to expose financiers of terror activities within 30 days.

Since then the vocal Mr Duale ironically, remains mute.

Alive to the sensitive nature of such a disclosure, we are not asking him to buy newspaper space to make public names of Al- Shabaab financiers.

However, Kenyans need confirmation from Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaiserry, and other relevant security organs, that such an undertaking has indeed already been made.

Quick as he may be with his mouth and smart as he remains as a political jester of the establishment, the Garissa Town MP must not be allowed to get away with this.

We should remind him America’s 16th President Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

But Mr Duale is the face of the political leadership in northern Kenya.

As he has frequently and rightly defended himself, the decision to compile a list of financiers and sympathisers of the rag-tag Al- Shabaab terror outfit was not solely made by the Majority Leader.

It was a decision arrived at by over 30 leaders, including MPs, senators and at least four governors, Nathif Jama of Garissa, Ali Roba (Mandera), Ukur Yatani (Marsabit) and Ahmed Abdulahi of Wajir. Mr Duale only served as their spokesman.

Add to this list, three Cabinet Secretaries from the region, including Hassan Wario (Sports and Culture), Adan Muhammed (Industrilisation), Amina Mohammed (Foreign Affairs) and the influential advisor of the President on Constitutional Affairs, Abdikadir Muhammed, and then you realise the leadership from this region is influential enough in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government to get things moving.

One of the things they must now move on and bring to the fore is the promised list of Al-Shabaab financiers.

When Duale announced they would make known the names of those supporting terror related activities, many Kenyans reacted with rage.

To most people, the move was tantamount to conceding that the leaders have all along known who have been sponsoring terror activities.

There was a barrage of angry questions from religious and elected leaders from both sides of the political divide.

Kenyans’ rage is understandable, especially considering the timing of the undertaking by northern Kenya leaders “to provide names of Al-Shabaab financiers”. However, this is not entirely correct.

Mr Duale and his colleagues may well have been reacting to a difficult situation in a manner they best understand.

Put it another way – silence or non-action over this question is tantamount to complacency or abetting terrorism. If a crime or error was committed before, this is a good time to right the wrong.

Over the last one year alone, over 400 people have been slaughtered by Al-Shabaab terrorists across the country and it might not have been easy for leaders from the northern frontier to open up about the collaborators of the crimes without fear of facing retaliatory attacks.

Indeed, a host of moderate clerics have been targeted for murder. Their mistake, according to the attackers, has been dissuading locals against joining the terror gang and thereby impeding Al-Shabaab activities in Kenya.

Ideally, as we accuse the Duale group on one hand for “volunteering” to divulge names of Al-Shabaab’s friends, we (particularly the Government machinery) must do everything possible to aid this new-found resolve.

And this is because there are repercussions for such an action.

The unmasking of Al-Shabaab sympathisers is bound to frustrate the terror gang’s activities.

And it will fight back even more viciously. A case in point is recent abduction of a Mandera chief, ambushed by gunmen as he travelled via public transport.

Chief Muktar Maalim, popularly known as Muktar Otieno, was ordered out of the 14-seater van after it was stopped along the Arabia-Mandera road.

He was found dead two days later in a bizarre drama with Al-Shabaab claiming responsibility.

Now that Duale and fellow political leaders from northern Kenyan have decided to bite the bullet, let us not condemn them but stand with them.

It is a potentially dangerous stand and President Kenyatta must bolster their efforts so they do not bail out.

Duale opted to spill the beans and the 30 days are over – he must speak now or forever remain silent. He must unmask the enemies in our midst as promised.

He must speak to reassure family members of the departed Kenyans.

He must speak, even if it is for the sake of believability, lest we interpret his sentiments as mere hollow utterances meant to hoodwink Kenyans.