Balambala parliamentary aspirant Abdi Omar Shurie has rubbished claims made by his opponents saying that he is an outsider and should not contest for the position.
Shurie, who was speaking in Garissa, said he was chosen by the elders because he belongs to the area, saying he comes from the family that forms the larger Abduwak clan.
Shurie was reacting to the recent remarks made by the area MP Abdikadir Aden, who said that Shurie was an outsider who does not understand the constituency.
“Within our families and communities there are no boundaries. I can go and live anywhere. When somebody says I am an outsider, he is only trying to look for cheap propaganda and doing cheap politics and I am not into that,” he said.
“If I was an outsider and I did not belong here, then I would not be here and I doubt if the council of elders could have proposed that I go to Balambala. They could not have considered me,” he added.
Elders of the Garissa County’s Abudwak clan last year picked Shurie alongside Ali Korane (Governor), Anab Subow (Women rep), Aden Duale (Garissa Township) and Barre Shill (Fafi) to contest for their seats come the August General Elections.
Shurie will vie for the Balambala parliamentary seat in the 2017 polls which is currently held by Abdikadir Aden who was the clan’s choice in the last general elections.