Somali men played role in William Ruto's victory in Kenya election

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya's politics are ethnic-based and this explains the cutthroat competition in presidential elections given that communities fight for accommodation purposely to be in strategic positions to witness and, or control sharing of national centralized resources.

The 2022 elections paved way for coalitions mainly from regional blocs which saw communities support top presidential candidates William Ruto and Raila Odinga. The electoral body declared Ruto the winner with 50.4% while Mr. Odinga, a former Prime Minister came second with 48.85%.

On Monday, the Supreme Court of Kenya dismissed a petition by Odinga challenging the victory of William Ruto, paving way for the inauguration of the latter as Kenya's fifth president. Although Mr. Ruto had a galaxy of supporters and strategists, Garowe Online takes account of three Somalis who played a crucial role.

Aden Duale

For the last 15 years, Aden Bare Duale, a nomad born in 1969, has been a close associate of William Ruto. Mr. Duale, who was first elected to parliament through Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement [ODM], served as Dujis MP.

After the controversial elections of 2007, Mr. Odinga picked Duale as Assistant Minister. The Balambala-born politician would bolt out of ODM together with Ruto in 2011 when the duo differed with the former PM, who is arguably their political mentor.

In 2013, he joined William Ruto's defunct United Republican Party [URP] and was elected as MP for Garissa town. Subsequently, he was picked as the Majority Leader of the National Assembly, a position he held until June 2020, cementing his position in Kenya's politics.

Duale secured his third term in Parliament on President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee ticket in 2017 and bounced back in 2022 for the fourth time on William Ruto's UDA party. Although Ruto lost in Northern Frontier Districts, Duale was critical to the campaign strategic team.

He comes from the Abdulwak of the Talamooge sub-clan, which is part of the larger Ogaden clan. While Duale will not be Majority Leader in Ruto's administration owing to Raila Odinga's Majority in Assembly, he will definitely be vital in running of government business perhaps as Leader of Minority.

Mahat Somane

Somane is relatively not known until the recently concluded presidential election petition lodged by Raila Odinga. While many people focused on veteran advocates, Ruto picked Somane, a young Somali lawyer, who went on to change the course of the case.

Somane attracted praise with his diction and articulation of information technology and legal jargon while defending President-elect, William Ruto's victory. For almost a week, he was the talk of social media forums given his submissions to the Supreme Court.

"The court already pronounced itself on the issue of the 50 percent plus one vote. Deal with it! It's over!" Somane hit back at Raila Odinga and Martha Karua who claimed that Ruto did not attain the required threshold to be declared President Uhuru Kenyatta's successor.

"No one can upload Form 34A, not even Wafula Chebukati. They are only transmitted from the KIEMS kits from the polling stations and that's the end of the story," he added, disparaging Raila's claims that Forms 34A were manipulated.

Somane graduated with a Bachelor of Law from the University of Nairobi in 2005 and a Post Graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law in 2007.

He was also admitted to the Bar that year. In 2010, he graduated with a Masters's Degree in Public Policy [International Economic Development] from Harvard Kennedy School.

A year later in 2011, he completed another Masters's Degree in Law [Corporate Law and Governance] from Harvard Law School. Winning a Fulbright scholarship to study at Harvard is an opportunity he says helped him get legal knowledge from one of the best institutions on the globe.

Born in a family of 10, Somane stated he had an inbuilt desire to help his marginalized community in Garissa County. The attorney who also represented IEBC in the 2017 Presidential election petition manages a law firm, Garane & Somane Advocates, that he co-founded to cater to startups.

Hussein Mohamed

A familiar face in Kenya's media Industry, Hussein Mohamed, a former newscaster on Kenya's Citizen TV, was William Ruto's Communications Director in the campaign Secretariat, and he's likely to be the president-elect's Press Secretary at State House.

Throughout the campaigns, Hussein Mohamed was in charge of messaging having been tasked to shape Ruto's public speeches. Given his media knowledge, he's credited for giving Ruto's campaigns a digital face, thus resonating well with youths.

In a past interview, Mohamed confirmed that he was born in Nairobi, at Moi Air Base in Eastleigh. "If I served my country in the field of journalism, then I’m picking from where my dad left. He was a soldier in the Kenya Air Force. I grew up at the base with my eight siblings until I was 19," he noted.

According to him, at Moi Air Base more than 95 percent of the children he grew up with ended up going to boarding school and his dad was under pressure to take him to one. Still, Jamhuri High taught him how to be street-smart, which is very important.

After school, he studied for a diploma in broadcast journalism at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication before joining the University of Nairobi for an undergraduate degree in political science and communications.

He also has a Master’s degree in diplomacy from the University of Nairobi and is now thinking of enrolling for a Ph.D. Mohamed has been married for eight years and blessed with two beautiful children.

GAROWE ONLINE