Garissa Township MP Aden Duale has reacted to a viral video showing him blocking Kilifi gubernatorial aspirant George Kithi from the podium at a press conference hosted by Deputy President William Ruto in Karen, Nairobi.
The video was taken on Tuesday, shortly after Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) party leader Amason Kingi defected to Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza camp from the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party.
The 16-second video shows Kithi, a lawyer by profession, making his way to the main podium where Ruto was preparing to address the press.
The aspirant tries to find himself a spot between his party leader — Kingi — and Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi before the former National Assembly majority leader physically blocks him.
Duale is seen pushing Kithi away, relegating him to the periphery, as senior politicians who flanked Ruto and Kingi look on. Some of them included Ford Kenya boss Moses Wetang’ula and National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi.
The video sparked a debate on social media, with a section of netizens accusing Duale of demeaning and humiliating the politician.
But reacting to the video on Wednesday, Duale said he didn’t know who Kithi was and that he only reacted the way he did to avert a security breach.