Divisions have rocked the Muslim community after a faction trashed the position taken by some leaders and threw its weight behind the Building Bridges Initiative report.
Days after some clerics, led by Hassan ole Naado of the Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslim, rejected the BBI report and called for its shelving, another group, calling itself genuine Supkem leaders, has come out to support the proposals.
“The train has moved. We don’t want to be left behind at the station. BBI is a reality. So we have to be positive and if there are any issues, as [ODM leader] Raila Odinga had said, time for talks is over,” Yusuf Nzibo said.
Nzibo said he is the genuine chairman of Supkem and accused Naado’s faction of a coup. However, a court case he filed over the leadership row has yet to be determined.
A letter by Karen Ndegwa, the assistant Registrar of Societies, addressed to the chairman of the Association of Haji and Umrah Kenya on March 12, 2020, cited Nzibo as Supkem chairman.
Mohamed Mahat is listed as secretary-general, Mohamed Abdi as deputy secretary-general, Abdullahi Salat as organising secretary and Bakary Chemaswet as national treasurer.
Nzibo spoke only a day after Kenya Muslim National Advisory Council also vowed to rally Muslims behind the report. Chairman Sheikh Juma Ngao reiterated that the lobby fully supports the constitutional changes.
But Naado dismissed the Nzibo faction, saying he is the substantive Supkem chairman.
“I am the national chairman of Supkem. Forget about those, I am the national chairman of Supkem,” he said.
Naado on Sunday led a team of Muslim clerics at a press conference in Nairobi, where they tore into the BBI report, saying it will breed imperial presidency and will not yield any reforms.
They claimed the report will roll back the gains the country has achieved since the promulgation of Constitution.
"BBI proposals do not meet the stated and public-declared objectives of the handshake and of uniting Kenyans and ensuring general elections will not be violent,” Naado said.
But Nzibo dismissed Naado’s statement as personal views, an indication of widening cracks in the leadership of the Muslim community.
“They were not views of Muslims. They did not consult Muslims, so those were their personal views,” Nzibo said.
"Let's continue with the collection of signatures... let's follow the law. If I go and vote, I don’t vote as a Muslim, I vote as a Kenya. There is nothing in the BBI that is anti-Muslim.”
Edited by F'Orieny
