Saney secession threat Northern Kenya has jolted the political landscape after Wajir North MP Adan Saney openly called for the region’s independence if the central government continues treating it as a “liability and appendage” despite its massive contributions.
In a fiery talk after President William Ruto’s state of the nation address, the UDA lawmaker lamented decades of marginalisation, declaring, “If Kenya treats Northern Kenya as an appendage & liability despite our taxes, then allow us to secede. 70% of the land, 12%+ of GDP from livestock, yet ignored.”
Saney’s remarks mark the strongest secessionist rhetoric from a ruling party MP since devolution began, exposing raw frustrations over neglect even under President William Ruto’s administration.
The MP says the President’s speech did not touch anything to do with animals. “Livestock is the backbone of northern Kenya, contributing 12% of the GDP. The president did not speak anything concerning livestock.”
The MP, elected on a Kenya Kwanza ticket in 2022, accused successive regimes of exploiting the region’s vast rangelands while starving it of development.
“We pinned hopes on President Ruto and even sang for two terms. Those hopes are slipping away,” Saney said, referencing campaign songs composed by local bards promising roads, water, and security.
He highlighted stark disparities: Northern Kenya spans 70 percent of the country’s landmass and contributes over 12 percent of GDP through livestock exports worth Sh200 billion annually, yet receives less than 3 percent of the national budget.
Issues like perennial drought, banditry along the Somalia border, and absent infrastructure dominate daily life in counties like Wajir, Garissa, and Mandera.
Saney’s outburst follows years of simmering discontent, amplified by recent budget cuts that slashed equalisation funds for marginalised areas by 15 per cent in the 2025/26 fiscal plan.
Residents in Bute echoed his sentiments, with pastoralist Fatima Hassan telling journalists, “We pay taxes on cattle, yet our children learn under trees. If Nairobi doesn’t want us, let us go.”
