Former Mombasa mayor Ahmed Mwidani was Thursday buried at the Kikowani cemetery with a huge crowd lining up the streets to pay their last respects.
Just as has been the norm, leaders from across the political divide at the Coast put aside their differences as they paid their last homage to a person they described as a gallant soldier for Mombasa.
It is one of those times that people who many think hate each other from the core of their hearts show the reality that in politics, there is no permanent friend or permanent enemy, and that it is all just a passing moment.
“In the end, we are all humans and we have to live together,” Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho told a group of mourners at Kikowani cemetery during the burial of Mwidani.
He had led politicians in singing the unity song as they mingled freely with friends and foes, as the body of the former mayor was being interred.
This has been the case for a long time.
In Mombasa, as in most of the Coast, rival politicians who do not see eye-to-eye kiss and hug whenever tragedy strikes.
It is the norm that has many, especially up country folks, baffled.
“Everybody forgets political affiliations and puts other issues aside and returns to their humanity,” said political analyst Maimuna Mwidau on Saturday.
Although politicians in other regions tend to do the same, they do not do it as profoundly as in Coast, especially Mombasa.
This is because of the Islamic teachings that insist on humanity first.
Death or any tragedy is a unifying factor and rival politicians usually share moments of humanity, according to Mwidau.
It is a sign that “in the end, we are all humans and we have to live together”.
As former mayor Mwidani was laid to rest, political rivals Hassan Omar and Suleiman Shahbal shared the stage as they mingled with supporters.
Omar indicated his presence showed that politics would come and go but humanity has to remain in the hearts.
He described Mwidani as a respected elder of Mombasa county.
Having been the longest serving Mombasa mayor, between 1983 and 1997, Mwidani was an example of how to lead and how to keep your people united.
Omar and Shahbal are gunning for Mombasa governor in 2022.
The two also shared moments with Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir on November 14 when the MP buried two of his staffers who died in a road crash in Lamu.
Nassir is also eying the Mombasa governor seat.
The burial of the MP's staffers brought together a host of politicians in Mombasa, some of who do not see eye to eye in normal days.
Former Nyali MP Hezron Awiti and businessman Said ‘Saido’ Abdallah shared the stage at the burial of Ali Naaman, a trusted aide of MP Nassir, at the Sargoi cemetery.
Political analyst Mwidau on Friday told the Star it is the nature of Islam to mourn with fellow humans, no matter the relationship.
She narrated her own experience in 1986 when her father Abdalla Mwidau, a former Likoni MP and Mwidani’s predecessor as Mombasa mayor, died.
Back then, there was a major political contest in Kanu pitting her father Mwidau and his camp including Kwale politician Juma Boy senior and Kisauni’s Ibrahim Abdalla Mwarua, and the other camp allied to former President Moi's henchman Shariff Nassir of Mvita and Said Hemed of Kisauni.
“Immediately my father died, all the leaders were able to attend his burial and made peace with him. In Islam you have to ask for forgiveness from the dead. You must have closure,” Mwidau said.
She said that Islam demands that no matter what differences there are between the departed and the living, peace must be made.
“If the deceased owed someone, the family will take up the debt and make an effort to pay. If someone owed the deceased a debt, he must find the family and find a way to settle it,” Mwidau said.
That is why whenever death occurs, Muslim leaders will go to condole their rivals.
She said societal structures remain and must be followed. “There is no politics when one exits,” she said.
“Look at what happened when (ODM leader Odinga) Raila lost his son Fidel. (President) Uhuru went and mourned with him,” said Mwidau.
“When interests align, that is when the handshake happens,” she noted.
Those who don’t understand are the ones easily influenced into political violence, she noted.
“If only they understood it is only about interests. That is what politics is all about,” Mwidau said.
On Thursday, Mwidani’s body was prayed for at the Masjid Noor in Bondeni before it was taken to the cemetery for interment.
Mwidani, whose 14-year tenure as the Mombasa mayor in the defunct Mombasa Municipal Council saw the growth of Mombasa as a business and tourism hub, would be remembered for his ability to steady a ship in stormy waters.
Shahbal said Mwidani’s wisdom and advice helped his political career take off.
“We all, as human beings, have a shared destiny— death,” he said.
Omar said: “Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.”
Mwidani, a former Port Reitz councillor, died at the Pandya Hospital on Wednesday evening.
He was the father-in-law to current Mombasa Senator Mohammed Faki, who described him as a father figure and a man of wisdom who transmitted calm in times of turmoil.
He was mentored by former Coast political supremo and Cabinet minister Shariff Nassir and was close to former President Daniel Moi.
In 1997, following pressure from senior politician in Mombasa, he resigned from his post giving way to then nominated councillor Najib Balala to take the reigns in 1998.
Edited by Henry Makori
