Aden Duale: From high school teacher to 3-time cabinet secretary

Having served in three different Cabinet portfolios since 2022 and previously holding Kenya’s most powerful legislative office as Majority Leader for seven years, Aden Duale remains one of the country’s most enduring political figures.

His journey from Garissa's classrooms to the Defence, Environment and Health ministries illustrates a career built on educational foundations, constituency mobilisation and a readiness to navigate shifting party alliances.

Aden Bare Duale was born on June 15 1969 in Garissa County, in Kenya’s North Eastern region.

He belongs to the Ogaden-Aulihan branch of the Darod clan.

Duale completed his primary schooling at Garissa Primary School, sitting his CPE in 1981, before moving on to Garissa High School (KCSE 1985) and then Moi Forces Academy in Nairobi, where he obtained his KACSE in 1987.

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He enrolled at Moi University in 1988, graduating in 1992 with a Bachelor of Education in Economics and History.

In 2011 he was awarded an MBA by the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

After qualifying as a graduate teacher, Duale spent two months at Sankuri Secondary School before serving as a clerical officer at the Garissa Provincial Commissioner’s office.

He later joined the family business and, between 1999 and 2003, was a director at Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

He is also a co-founder of the Livestock Traders & Marketing Society of Kenya.

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Duale entered elective politics at the 2007 general election, winning the Dujis Constituency seat in the National Assembly on an Orange Democratic Movement ticket.

He served as Assistant Minister for Livestock Development from 2008 until 2013.

Having crossed to the United Republican Party in 2009, he was re-elected in both 2013 and 2017 under the Jubilee banner.

During the 11th and 12th Parliaments he sat on the House Business and Broadcasting Committees, and in 2018 he sponsored a bill proposing that one in three parliamentary seats be reserved for women.

However, the proposal failed to pass due to a lack of quorum in two attempted tablings before the house.

READ ALSO: Ruto assigns Mudavadi, Duale & Mvurya more roles latest changes in Cabinet

In May 2013 Duale was elected Majority Leader of the National Assembly, a position he held until June 2020, when he was voted out amid party tensions.

After nearly fifteen years in the legislature, he declined to contest the 2022 parliamentary election, instead accepting a Cabinet appointment from President William Ruto.

On October 31 2022 he became Cabinet Secretary for Defence, succeeding Eugene Wamalwa, and in July 2024 moved to head the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry.

In March 2025 he was reshuffled to serve as Cabinet Secretary for Health.

READ ALSO: Concerning facts on the state of healthcare in Kenya: What awaits CS Aden Duale

Duale is of Somali descent.

He is married and has five sons, the eldest at university and the youngest in kindergarten.

He released his memoir, For The Record, on Thursday, May 11, 2023