Who Is Aden Duale? Health CS and Garissa's Political Heavyweight

Updated 2 October 2026.

Aden Duale (Garissa Township) has been Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Health since 25 March 2025. First elected to Parliament in 2007, he was Majority Leader of the National Assembly from 2013 to 2020 and then President William Ruto's first Defence Cabinet Secretary. On 23 September 2026 he remained one of the government's most combative defenders, and a central figure in Garissa County politics.

Early life

Duale went to Garissa Primary and Garissa High School and later to Moi Forces Academy, according to Wikipedia. He studied education at Moi University and has an MBA from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. After a short spell teaching he worked in the family business, and sat on the board of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation from 1999 to 2003.

MP and Majority Leader

In 2007 the constituency was still called Dujis, and Duale won it on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket. He was an assistant minister for livestock from 2008 to 2013. He later moved with Ruto from ODM to the United Republican Party, which Ruto launched on 15 January 2012, and was re-elected on its ticket in 2013.

He became Majority Leader in 2013, as the Jubilee years began. A bill he sponsored in 2018 to reserve one in three seats for women failed. In June 2020 he was removed as Majority Leader in the purge of Ruto's allies, which Wikipedia describes as a response to perceived disloyalty to Uhuru Kenyatta.

Three Cabinet posts

Ruto gave him Defence after the 2022 election. He took office on 31 October 2022 and deployed troops to eastern Congo under the East African Community force.

When Ruto dismissed the Cabinet on 11 July 2024 after the Finance Bill protests, Duale went with it, but he was renominated days later to Environment, Climate Change and Forestry. In the March 2025 reshuffle he moved to Health, replacing Deborah Barasa.

The Health record

Health has exposed him more than either. The Social Health Authority (SHA), which replaced the NHIF, has faced claims of fraud by "ghost" facilities claiming payments, and Duale has refused calls to resign. On 20 September 2026 he said 33 million Kenyans had registered with SHA.

There were other rows in 2026:

• In June 2026 he said the government would obey a court order halting a US Ebola quarantine facility planned at Laikipia Air Base.
• On 31 August he blamed 12 counties for delays in paying Universal Health Coverage staff.
• On 22 September The Standard reported that he explained why he hired private lawyers in a case over a two per cent fee on SHA claims, denying he had disobeyed court orders.

Politics in 2026

He campaigns openly for Ruto. In Tharaka-Nithi on 20 September 2026 he told Uhuru Kenyatta, the retired President: "We defeated you in 2022, we are going to defeat you in 2027," and accused him of envy, The Star reported. On 16 September he disputed David Maraga's proposal to scrap the national tallying centre.

At home, Duale said on 8 September that two decades in leadership entitled him to a say in Garissa's politics, and rejected calls to keep off. The governor race there is open. Former governor Ali Korane has launched a comeback on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), while Abdulkadir Haji (Senator, Garissa) has the backing of Nathif Jama (Governor, Garissa), who is running for the Senate, The Standard reported on 17 September.

On 12 September an opposition convoy carrying Kalonzo Musyoka (Mwingi North), Justin Muturi and Eugene Wamalwa was stoned in Garissa. Kalonzo blamed a senior state official and named Duale. It remains an allegation; no finding had been made public by 23 September 2026.

Will he run?

Cabinet Secretaries who want to run in 2027 must resign by early February 2027; see the public officer resignation deadline. Duale had not said by 23 September 2026 whether he would seek any seat.

For the Garissa contest, see every governor defending a seat, and for the SHA backdrop, Kenya's 2026 budget. Our profile of Justin Muturi covers the Garissa incident from the opposition side.