Sunday, January 8, 2012

Omar wants to be senator after stint at KNCHR



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Omar Hassan says he will vie for the seat of Senator in Mombasa County.
Photo/FILE Omar Hassan says he will vie for the seat of Senator in Mombasa County. 
By NYAMBEGA GISESA engisesa@yahoo
Posted  Saturday, January 7  2012 at  21:24
Sunday is the last official working day for Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) commissioner Hassan Omar Hassan after a five-year stint.
But the human rights defender has planned ahead.
“I am moving into elective politics to vie for the seat of Senator in Mombasa County,” Mr Omar told the Sunday Nation during an interview.
Mr Omar expects to capitalise on his impressive public service stint that won him several awards including two in the last two years – the Coast Human Rights Defender of the Year and the International 2011 Polish Prize of Sergio Vieira de Mello.
“I am yet to decide on the party to use. I will do that towards the end of February or early March but that decision depends on when the General Election will be held,” he said.
He describes the last five years at KNCHR as some of his best.
His greatest moments included the inclusion of an elaborate Bill of Rights in the Constitution and a commission that was at the forefront in offering redress to Kenyans.
Yet still as he plunges into politics, his track record as a defender of human rights may pose a challenge, in part because during his line of duty he brushed some influential people the wrong way while others questioned his credentials as a reformist.
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One of those who have questioned his reform credentials is Eldoret North MP William Ruto, who accused him of bribing witnesses to implicate the MP in the crimes against humanity case pending at the International Criminal Court. (READ: Ruto accuses rights official of coaching witnesses)
“Mr Ruto’s attacks on me, the cold blooded killing of human rights activists Oulu GPO and Oscar King’ara and the arrest of Al-Amin Kimathi over terrorist claims, are my lows in my career,” he said.
A recent opinion piece he wrote in which he said Kenyans are not ready for another Kikuyu president has brought a barrage of criticism his way.
After it’s publication, Government Spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua asked him to relinquish all his public positions while a number of newspaper commentators have criticised his opinion.
Mr Omar, however, argues that he was writing what was generally in the public domain, a view held by several other commentators.
Mr Omar had had a brief stint as an Air Force officer as well as in the private sector. He holds a law degree from the University of Nairobi.

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