Duale explains why he failed to pick leaders’ calls during KDF recruitment

By , August 2, 2024

The Cabinet Secretary nominee for the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry Aden Duale revealed that he did not pick calls by leaders during the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) recruitment to avoid corruption.

During his grilling by the 20-member Parliamentary Committee on Appointments, Duale was put to task to give answers on why he could not be reached by Teso South MP Mary Emaase.

“I refused to pick up your calls and many others because of corruption; you wanted me to employ people for you?” Duale said during the vetting process.

Emaase asked Duale to prove to the committee why he could be trusted with the environment ministry when there was corruption in the defence docket, where he previously served.

The Teso MP narrated that a constituent of Teso South was dismissed over flimsy grounds after successfully passing the recruitment process. Her calls to reach the Cabinet Secretary to explain the circumstances around such dismissal went unanswered.

“At some point, efforts to reach you were futile, you could not pick our calls; my question is why should we trust you now,” Emaase asked.

Adding: “I was calling the CS to seek clarification that those who were successful and had reported to the training camp were being chased away over flimsy reasons; one of my constituents was told that his testicles (sic) were not equal that is why he is being dismissed from the training camp,” Emaase noted.

The MPs lamented the recruitment process at the Ministry of Defence, urging that some of the considerations like dental formulae and height had been overtaken by events.

Duale apologises

A section of the MPs also said that successful recruits were turned down after reporting to their respective training camps, and their positions were sold to individuals with the ability to offer bribes.

“I’m sorry if I didn’t pick up your call; I was scared you’d ask me to recruit somebody for you,” Duale noted.

On why he was transferred to the Environment Ministry after initially being nominated to serve in the defence docket, Duale said that it was the prerogative of the president to move him to any other docket as the constitution permits.

He stated that he could as well be moved back to the Ministry of Defence should the president decide so later on.

The Parliamentary Committee on Appointments had interviewed seven nominees by noon on August 2, 2024, including Aden Duale, CS nominee for Environment, Andrew Karanja, CS nominee for Agriculture, Julius Migos, CS nominee for Education, Soipan Tuya, CS nominee for Defense, Alice Wahome, CS nominee for Lands, Deborah Mlongo, CS nominee for Health, and Kithure Kindiki, CS nominee for Interior.

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