I did not know who he was, Aden Duale speaks on physically removing George Kithi behind DP Ruto

The incident occurred on Tuesday when Deputy President William Ruto was welcoming Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi to his UDA party after defecting from Azimio La Umoja movement.

Before the press conference kicked off, the Deputy President was doing a mic-check with several Kenya Kwanza bigwigs among them Musalia Mudavadi, Amason Kingi, Aden Duale, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and Moses Wetangula.

It is then that Mr. Kithi walks in and goes straight to where Governor Kingi is standing and tries to create space for himself between Mr. Mudavadi and Kingi.

Mr. Duale then steps in, tapping him twice in the back before grabbing his arm and gently gets him out of the line up.

Contacted, Mr. Duale says he did not know who Kithi was and was trying to maintain protocol,

“I did not know who he was and why he was trying to stand between the Deputy President and Musalia Mudavadi, I was following protocol,” he told Citizen Digital.

Duale says everyone had been assigned a spot behind the Deputy President and Mr. Kithi was not there when that was happening.

“It was a security issue and I tried to intervene before the DP’s security came and removed him,” he recalls. “Before the press conference, everyone had been introduced in the boardroom and Kithi was not there as he came late and so we did not know who he was.”

The incident has sparked a heated debate online with many accusing the former National Assembly Majority Leader of acting like Mr. Ruto’s bodyguard.