{"id":110238,"date":"2025-02-11T11:04:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T11:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/02\/11\/north-eastern-leaders-slam-kalonzo-natembeya-over-criticism-of-id-vetting-ban\/"},"modified":"2025-02-11T11:04:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T11:04:37","slug":"north-eastern-leaders-slam-kalonzo-natembeya-over-criticism-of-id-vetting-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/north-eastern-leaders-slam-kalonzo-natembeya-over-criticism-of-id-vetting-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"North Eastern Leaders Slam Kalonzo, Natembeya over criticism of ID vetting ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 11 \u2013 Lawmakers\u00a0hailing from the North Eastern region have castigated Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Transnzoia Governor George Natembeya for criticizing President William Ruto for scrapping\u00a0off ID vetting process in the region.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The leaders condemned sentiments by the two leaders terming them reckless and aimed at inflaming division in the North Eastern region which has been marginalized for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey attempt to vilify and unjustly profile an entire community as terrorists,an indefensible and outrageous accusation especially coming from a person in a position of elected leadership,\u201d Eldas Member of Parliament Adan Keynan stated.<\/p>\n

The Eldas MP said it was regrettable that Musyoka was insinuating that President Ruto\u2019s proclamation\u00a0to end the vetting requirement was a political maneuver to influence the outcome of the 2027 election.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy reducing this critical issue to political rhetoric, the Former Vice President is willfully ignoring the systemic marginalization and disenfranchisement that the people of North Eastern Kenya have endured for decades,\u201d Keynan stated.<\/p>\n

The seasoned lawmaker criticized Governor Natembeya for criticizing the directive based on his misguided attack on President Ruto\u2019s administration not cognizant of the widespread relief of the decision across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy then has the Governor chosen to direct his rage not towards the positive impact this reform could have on his constituents,but instead,unleash a barrage of personal attack against the pastoralist communities of Northern Kenya?\u201dKeynan posed.<\/p>\n

Echoing the sentiments, Dadaab MP Farah Maalim emphasized the need for fair treatment of all Kenyans, referencing the historical presence of Somali community and atrocities against the community including massacres.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the same way that the\u00a0Kikuyu cannot be threatened, or the Kalenjin nation cannot be threatened, nobody is going to threaten us. I\u2019ll tell you that for sure, you can have it for free,\u201dMaalim retorted.<\/p>\n

The Dadaab MP said communities including Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera, have been indigenous for thousands of years and should not be questioned in this day and\u00a0era.<\/p>\n

He highlighted the historical contributions of Somalis to Kenya, including founding major towns and establishing trade before colonialism.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause for the longest this discrimination has persisted to the extent whereby somebody thinks that we are subhuman. It\u2019s a political process to discriminate the Somali yet we are the first people who established Nairobi city as trade centre,\u201d noted Maalim.<\/p>\n

Opposing voice<\/h2>\n

While some have hailed the decision to end vetting required for issuance of identification documents to residents of Northern Kenya as a step toward equality, others have raised concerns over its potential national security implications.<\/p>\n

Leaders fom the region supported he presidential directive amid concerns the move could expose the country to security risks including illegal registration of alliens.<\/p>\n

Natembeya, a former national administration official, strongly opposed the move, arguing that it could pose serious security risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a wrong policy decision, and it is going to injure us. In the next five years, we are going to experience its implications, and they will be very bad,\u201d Natembeya warned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will come a time when the presidential escort will be drawn from Al-Shabaab,\u201d he stated in caution.<\/p>\n

Musyoka had criticized the decision, alleging that scrapping the vetting process was a political strategy by President Ruto to secure votes ahead of the 2027 presidential election.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey think that by registering people here and there, it will save them. If their plan is to increase votes for 2027, they will fail,\u201d he\u00a0 said on Sunday during the official opening of the Wiper Democratic Movement office in Malindi, Kilifi County.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 11 \u2013 Lawmakers\u00a0hailing from the North Eastern region have castigated Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Transnzoia Governor George Natembeya for criticizing President William Ruto for scrapping\u00a0off ID vetting process in the region. The leaders condemned sentiments by the two leaders terming them reckless and aimed at inflaming division in the North Eastern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}