National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale is a man who needs little introduction. His outspoken nature and witty remarks have made him one of Kenya's most vibrant politicians.
However, it is his ability to sense impending doom that has seen him grab the headlines recently.
President Uhuru Kenyatta's purge of the ruling party's Senate leadership or 'the fumigation of Jubilee' as its referred to on social media platforms has seen the Garissa MP change all his social media profile pictures and reverted back to one he used back in March 2018. In the photo, the legislator standing next to the president.
It may seem trivial, but his actions echo recent sentiments by the ruling party's Secretary-General Raphael Tuju.
"The president has been very patient but we've reached a point where we cannot take any more indiscipline in the party.
"In fact, one of the things we are considering right now is that some of the MPs who have been acting out of turn, we are going to start a process of recalling them," he stated during an interview on May 13.
Having seen his Senate counterpart Kipchumba Murkomen stripped of his Majority Leader role, Duale is leaving nothing to chance.
Several names have been mooted as ripe for the chopping block in Parliament and his open ties to Deputy President William Ruto could be a cause for concern.
Duale first joined Parliament after winning in the 2007 General Election on an ODM ticket and later decamped with Ruto to the United Republican Party (URP), where he became a vocal defender of the party leader.
Despite being an open critic of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, he has always been a master of sitting on the fence when it comes to the Uhuru-Ruto divide.
In the last seven or so years, Duale has been DP Ruto’s most ardent soldier, with a venomous tongue that has trumped most of the DP's detractors.
However, he has equally been vocal in his support for President Kenyatta.
“If Uhuru and Ruto told me to jump from the top of the KICC and assured me that I will not break my leg, I will jump. I am so much indebted to these men. I can do anything for Ruto and Uhuru under the sun,” Duale said on September 29, 2014.
He seems to have read the signs of the purge as far back as October 2019, when he said that he was consulting with Tuju on how to deal with discontented party members.
"I am in consultation with the party secretary-general. I am a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC), and as a party, we plan to discuss the conduct of those errant members or officials who want to disparage the president and his deputy," he stated during an interview at the time.
Despite Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairperson Kimani Ichung'wah, Majority Whip Benjamin Washiali and his deputy Cecily Mbarire being floated as the next casualties of the purge, Duale's art of playing it safe could see him survive.
