While nearly everyone in Isiolo knows that Senator Fatuma Dullo is considerably wealthy, the source of her net worth has never really been established. It has remained elusive for the nearly fifteen years that she has been in leadership.
That may soon change as a video uploaded on a video sharing platform, TikTok, sheds light on the source of her wealth. While unverified, many users have supported the claims while basing their support on a ‘glaring lacuna’ in Dullo’s first stint as a senator.
Context
Senator Fatuma Dullo was nominated to the senate by the URP party in 2013 through the influence of former Isiolo governor Dr. Mohamed Abdi Kuti who was the regional party honcho at the time. This was reportedly done as a measure of appreciation because of her indefatigable support for Kuti in his past campaigns.
Recall that the first devolution regime in Isiolo county was marred by runaway corruption which led to among others the then Governor Godana Doyo and County Secretary Ibrahim being prosecuted for a variety of crimes.
Among the accusations made by the EACC against them are abuse of office, economic crimes, mismanagement of public funds/resources just to mention but a few.
Dullo’s turnaround
Fast-forward to 2017 and Senator Dullo was elected as the bonafide senator of Isiolo County and all hell broke loose.
She went at Governor Kuti(who defeated Doyo, a key ally of Dullo at the time) with such vengeance that even the local political analysts were left muted by the sheer cluelessness with which she pursued her goals.
Fast-forward to 2022, Gov. Kuti dropped out of the gubernatorial race citing medical issues endorsing the current governor Guyo, a top flight city politician who was also very popular in his home county of Isiolo.
This was partly because of his charitable activities which he had been undertaking since he rose to political prominence in Nairobi.
What has been on everyone’s lips since Dullo became an elected senator in the general elections of 2017 is why she all of a sudden developed an interest in ‘oversight’ which she pursued with a never-seen-before charisma, aggressiveness and agitation.
In comes the Guyo administration and despite being reelected largely on Gov. Guyo’s support including securing her the then highly-coveted Jubilee Party nomination, it didn’t take long for Dullo to change stance on Guyo.
She started calculated attacks on his administration including on his own person and office. Most of these attacks have been baseless and rooted in propaganda.
What is even more worrying with her renewed attacks on Guyo’s administration is that she has chosen to expand the scope of her attacks by even recruiting professional propagandists ousted from their counties like the case of one Almamy Moha, a media strategist for the former governor of Wajir.
He remains a key spinner behind the viral lie about Isiolo County Government allegedly paying one million shillings for a crate of a soda, a baseless claim which we debunked right on this site.
Now, it seems her silence during the first devolution administration can be explained vide a video which has gone viral across most social media platforms including whatsapp and TikTok. The video explains the benefits that the then nominated senator accrued from that administration.
These benefits were in form of tenders for various services that her proxy companies supplied to the county government. Some of these tenders involved vital services such as health among other sectors.
The senator has now been exposed for involvement in the procurement of second-hand ambulances which led to the wastage of public finances running into tens of millions.
One of her companies has also been linked to the failed solar street-lighting project which also sunk with millions of taxpayers funds despite the project being touted as a grant from an unnamed non-governmental organization.
Another troubling revelation is the alleged involvement of Senator Dullo in the shady leasing of Isiolo county parks to private investors which was so scandalous. It was Governor Dr. Kuti who upon assuming office cancelled the deal bringing the parks back into the hands of the people of Isiolo County.
From the revelations, it has now been ascertained that the lease agreement itself was prepared by none other than our ‘saintly’ senator, Fatuma Dullo. It is noteworthy to appreciate that the senator did all of these while flying under the radar.
Staying on the legal course, it is estimated that Isiolo County Government incurred hefty legal bills which accrued as a result of multiple court cases leveled against the administration.
The legal fees paid by Isiolo County Government amounted to Kes 150 million. You can imagine what 150 million would have done to alleviate the suffering of the multitudes of the less-endowed folks in this county.
It has also been revealed that her proxy companies were awarded over 15 tenders for the roads to be upgraded to murram-standards. These are tenders which would have gone to the local people, women and youth groups among other vulnerable groups such as the people with disabilities.
However, all of these were handed over to a senator; a public official who draws their salary from the public coffers. It is very hard to decipher where public interests end and where personal interests take root in such scenarios.
The senator has also been implicated in the construction of 5 ECDE classes which have apparently never been built to date despite moneys for the same having been released. The tenders were awarded to her proxy companies which are well known and in public domain.
Finally, a revelation has been made that the senator has been a key beneficiary of allowances and imprest not surrendered which amounts to a cool sum of Kes 30Million. She reportedly executed this through one of her well-known brothers who is a local political wheeler-dealer.
In conclusion, while these allegations haven’t been proven in a court of law, this sufficiently explains why the senator was mum through the five years that she served as the senator of Isiolo. This is why she wanted the then governor back in the office so that she could continue chewing the public funds with abandon which wasn’t to be.
It should be noted that the first devolution administration of Isiolo County was charged in court for various economic crimes including the disappearance of over kes 1.2 billion ot taxpayers fund which the senator has never mentioned.
Those who think that Senator Dullo is a ‘saint’ by judging from her alarmist and usually baseless claims about the county administration now know exactly who she is.
On the contrary, it is also worthy to note that Governor Kuti or members of his administration is yet to be charged in a court of law over any disappearance of public funds or other corruption-related charges. This is despite the Senator shouting herself hoarse with promises of jailing the good doctor.
In so far as the Guyo administration is concerned, there is none, not one scandal that can be traced to his nascent administration has ever sufficed. Despite this, the senator is still ‘overworking’ to ‘expose’ the administration by skewing payments made by previous administrations to make it look like it is the current admin which has done that.
This is wrong on so many levels and the senator needs to refrain from these outdated shenanigans of hers because it is certainly not doing the people of Isiolo County any good.
Disclaimer: The piece above is the intellectual property of Hussein J Elema
