"As a Muslim I Feel Pained": MCA Wahat Abdi's Tears Expose the Raw Wound Behind Kenya's Kitui–Garissa Crisis

A Muslim nominated MCA burst into tears on the floor of the Kitui County Assembly this week. Wahat Abdi could barely speak through her sobs. The cause? Words uttered by Health CS Aden Duale that she says have cut her faith to the bone. 

"As a Muslim I Feel Pained": MCA Wahat Abdi's Tears Expose the Raw Wound Behind Kenya's Kitui–Garissa Crisis

When Nominated MCA Wahat Abdi broke down weeping on the floor of the Kitui County Assembly this week, she put into tears what many Kenyan Muslims have struggled to put into words. Wiping her face and barely composing herself, she said simply: *"As a Muslim, I feel pained by Duale's utterances."* The assembly fell silent. The moment, raw and unscripted, has since resonated far beyond Kitui's chambers.

Her anguish did not emerge in a vacuum. It came against the backdrop of one of the deadliest inter-community crises Kenya has seen in recent years  a wave of retaliatory violence between Somali pastoralists and Kamba farming communities along the Garissa–Kitui border that has, claimed at least 12 lives across Garissa and Kitui counties. The bloodiest single incident occurred on April 25 in Tseikuru, where approximately 40 armed assailants stormed Kwa Kamari Trading Centre, shooting dead seven Kamba villagers before torching shops and a petrol station.

Into this already raw wound, CS Aden Duale a prominent Somali-Kenyan Muslim politician who now serves as Health Cabinet Secretary  allegedly made remarks in Mandera that poured salt. Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka accused Duale of spreading ethnic threats against the Kamba community, claiming the CS said in Kisomali that the opposition should not be allowed to go past the Tana River. Kalonzo demanded accountability, questioning how a Cabinet Secretary could speak in such a way at a moment when communities were burying their dead.

It is those remarks  perceived as inflaming an already volatile border  that drove MCA Wahat Abdi to tears. As a Muslim herself, she felt doubly wounded: by the violence that has stigmatised her community, and by the words of a fellow Muslim leader she believes have made matters worse, not better. Locals in Kitui have since been demanding a public apology from Duale, with tension remaining high as leaders on both sides continue trading accusations.

Local leaders and residents have increasingly voiced anger over what they term as government inaction, accusing authorities of failing to address cross-county herder incursions and protect farming communities. Meanwhile, Nguni Ward MCA Jeremiah Mutua issued a one-week ultimatum to government security agencies to remove camels from Nguni Ward and the wider Kitui County, warning that failure to act would prompt residents to take matters into their own hands.

The conflict's roots run deeper than politics. Retaliatory attacks between Kamba and Somali communities almost spiralled out of control, leading to the closure of the Garissa–Nairobi highway, alongside reports of destruction of buses and looting of businesses in Mwingi. Camel herders say they are themselves victims of shrinking grazing land and neglect by both county and national governments.

Duale, for his part, has publicly called for calm. He urged local leaders to promote peace and unity, saying "peace is really expensive," and called on security agencies to arrest those responsible for the killings. But for MCA Wahat Abdi, and for many Muslims caught between communal violence and political point-scoring, those words have come too late and landed too softly.

Kenya is a nation that prides itself on unity in diversity. But as one woman's tears showed the country this week, that unity is fragile  and in Kitui right now, it is cracking. The demand from locals is simple: less political maneuvering, more accountability, and an apology that is long overdue.