[Duale and a section of the leaders who attended the meeting. The leaders have promised to ensure there is peace during and after elections.] (facebook.com/ Aden Duale)Leaders from Garissa County convened a special meeting on Friday and declared peace as the country prepares to hold elections.
Leaders from across the political divide converged at the Garissa Town Social Hall and unanimously agreed to preach peace ahead of one of Kenya’s most competitive election.
Among those in attendance were Parliament Majority Leader Aden Duale, gubernatorial aspirant Ali Korane (Jubilee) and MP and MCA aspirants vying on Jubilee Party tickets among others.
High profile opposition leaders including Governor Nathif Jama and Duale’s main contender Farah Maalim were absent.
Garissa according to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission is a violence hotspot and (NCIC) is working round the clock to contain acts of incitement in the county.
In February, Maalim accused Duale of propagating hate when a video circulated on social with a voice claimed to be Duale’s telling Garissa Township residents to evict non-Somali’s from Garissa town.
Duale refuted the allegations terming Maalim’s assertion attempts to injure his reputation ahead of the election.
He said Maalim had sensed defeat and had resorted to tarnishing his name.
“We successfully held a peace declaration forum where as leaders we advocated for a peaceful, fair and harmonious electoral process in Garissa County,” Duale said after the meeting.