A section of Mombasa Muslim leaders have started lobbying for the next Chief Kadhi whom they feel should be appointed from another region other than the Coast.
Speaking in Mombasa on Tuesday, Kenya Muslim National Advisory Council (Kemnac) chairman Sheikh Juma said all Chief Kadhis in the country have been from Mombasa and particularly from one prominent family.
He termed it discriminatory and discouraging to have a majority of the Chief Kadhis come from one family at the Coast.
“Where is the problem if the Chief Kadhi is Mohamed Nzai Katana, or Salim Njoroge, or Seif Onyango if they all qualify?” the cleric asked.
The Chief Kadhi and other Kadhis are appointed by the Judicial Service Commission.
The qualification for appointment to the office of a Kadhi, including a Chief Kadhi, according to the Constitution is that one must profess the Muslim faith and possess knowledge of the Muslim law. There is no security of tenure.
Incumbent Chief Kadhi Ahmed Muhdhar told the Star on the phone that for one to be appointed Chief Kadhi by the JSC, one must have served as a Kadhi for at least 12 years and have a degree in Islamic Law from a recognised institution.
“We are magistrates like the other magistrates,” Muhdhar said.
The jurisdiction of the Chief Kadhi and the other Kadhis is to hold a Kadhi's court. They help in the determination of questions of Muslim law relating to personal status, marriage, divorce or inheritance in proceedings in which all the parties profess the Muslim religion.
Kadhi’s courts are subordinate to the High Court. They resolve disputes regarding divorce, inheritance and marriages for people who profess the Islamic faith and are willing to be tried according to the Shariah law.
The Chief Kadhi also has the non-judicial function of announcing the beginning and the end of the holy month of Ramadhan, something that has happened even before independence.
Sheikh Ngao said the appointment Chief Kadhis from one particular prominent family that is spread across Mombasa and the whole Coast region goes against tenets of Islam.
“Islam is against racism, discrimination and dictatorship. The Chief Kadhi is not a hereditary position. It is not a Kingdom,” Sheikh Ngao said.
However, Muhdhar dismissed the notion that Chief Kadhis are appointed from one prominent family in Mombasa.
“I am not from Mombasa. I am from Tana River,” he said.
He explained that before independence, most of the Chief Kadhis were hand-picked by the government from the 10-mile strip that stretches from Vanga all the way to Lamu.
“They were political appointees. That, however, changed with my appointment, which was openly advertised. I underwent a rigorous vetting process. After my tenure, any of the Kadhis who have served long enough have a chance to be the new Chief Kadhi‚” Muhdhar said
He said they may not even have a Kadhi from the Coast, seeing that the office of the Kadhi represents diverse ethnic groups across the country.
“Maybe a Meru will be the next Chief Kadhi or even a Pokomo, or a man from any other tribe in the country,” Muhdhar told the Standard in an interview four years ago.
He is set to retire in November next year when he will have hit 60 years of age, at which the Chief Kadhi is expected to retire once appointed. Apart from the Chief Kadhi, there are currently 35 other Kadhis across the country.
Muhdhar has dismissed accusations of a conspiracy between the government and some particular families at the Coast to have the Chief Kadhi appointed from those families.
There have been at least five chief Kadhis since before independence. The first was Abdalla Kassim from Mazrui, Mombasa who was succeeded by Swaleh Abdalla from Zanzibar.
The longest-serving Chief Kadhi was Nassor Nahdy from the Nahdy family, from Mombasa. Then came Hammad Kassim, from Mazrui, and who was succeeded by Muhdhar.
“Therefore, apart from the Mazruis who have had the privilege of having two of their members serve in this position, the rest of us have been from diverse families and backgrounds. “We expect even more diversity going forward,” Muhdhar said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
