Garissa Township Member of Parliament Aden Duale suffered a huge blow after he failed to counter Azimio flag-bearer Raila Odinga's influence in his backyard.
As of Thursday early morning, Odinga was ahead with 16, 718 votes against Ruto’s 7,904 votes in the provisional results.
The provisional results put the former majority leader in a precarious position after he was tasked with delivering the UDA vote in the region.
Apart from the constituency level, the former Prime Minister early results further showed Raila leading in Garissa County with 53, 431 votes with Ruto trailing with 16, 172 votes.
The former Majority leader in the National Assembly was elected in 2013 under the United Republican Party (URP) which was led by Deputy President William Ruto and in 2017 he retained the seat on a Jubilee Party ticket.
Prior to his election in Garissa Township, Aden had served as MP for Dujis Constituency after winning the 2007 parliamentary elections.
While in Parliament, he also served as an assistant minister in the Ministry of Livestock Development under the Grand Coalition Government of the late President Mwai Kibaki.
After serving as the first majority leader when the Jubilee government came into power, Duale served for seven years before being ousted by over 130 MPs who accused him of sabotaging the Jubilee Big Four Agenda.
Following the de-whipping, the former Majority leader joined Ruto's camp, blaming his political woes on his loyalty to the Deputy President.
Duale has been so critical in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Campaigns in the Northern Frontier District ( NFD) counties.
Further, he has faced criticism over his politics, especially in Garissa County. During the campaigns, a section of irate residents heckled him with rival slogans forcing him to prematurely end the rally in the presence of Ruto.
Garissa for a long time has been perceived to be DP Ruto’s turf since President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee won major seats in the county during the 2017 general election results.
Duale is facing one of the tightest races as a slew of candidates from his Abdiwak clan seeks to unseat him, in a region where clanism plays a major role.
Among the candidates contesting against Duale include former Garissa mayor and deputy ambassador to Pakistan Abdi Yare, ODM candidate Nasir Mohamed, and former deputy speaker Farah Maalim who lost the senate seat in 2013 to the late Yussuf Haji.
