Supkem lashes out at Balala

THURSDAY, 29 MARCH 2012 23:54 BY BRIAN OTIENO, CHRISPINUS WEKESA AND ELIZABETH WERE

JUBILANT: Balala being received by his daughter Nusayba yesterday. Photo/Norbert Allan

Sacked Cabinet minister Najib Balala was yesterday given a hero’s welcome in Mombasa even as the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims SUPKEM warned against using religion as a basis for getting political appointments. Balala landed at the Moi International Airport at 10.32am an hour after Prime Minister Raila Odinga had left for Nairobi after a three day stay in the coastal town.

Balala, returning home after his sacking from the Cabinet on Monday was received by his wife Najah, their last born daughter Nusayba, his elder brothers and his mother who shed tears and about 200 supporters. “I am back home! I want to be with my Mvita constituents, the people of Coast and the people of Kenya – those who know the meaning of justice,” said Balala at the airport’s VIP lounge.

He addressed the hundreds of supporters who danced and chanted his name around the airport before leaving in a convoy of more than 30 vehicles including a caravan, a bus, matatus, saloon cars, tuk tuks and motor bikes which snaked its way into the city centre. Balala has accused Raila of betraying him and the Muslim community by breaching the MOU he signed with the National Muslim Leaders Forum in 2007.

Following Monday's sacking, Balala and several Muslim clerics have cited his faith as a reason for the sacking and replacement with Danson Mwazo. Balala yesterday claimed that Raila had 'duped' the people of Mombasa by giving them 'half a flag' in reference to the elevation of Kisauni MP Ali Hassan Joho as assistant Transport minister.

Raila and other leaders have dismissed Balala's and the clerics' claims that faith played a role in his sacking. Raila said Balala had been asking for ‘divorce’ for a long time and it was only right that he be sacked as he was also not a good team player. Yesterday, Supkem chairman Hussein Adan Somo criticised individuals using the Muslim faith to push 'selfish political agenda. “It is unfortunate that some people who were appointed to different positions never lived to the expectations of their party and the Muslim community at large and therefore should not cry foul when their misdeeds come to haunt them,” Somo said.

He said individuals and not the whole Muslim community were the targets of the party disciplinary measures and therefore they should not try and drug the entire Muslim community into their political troubles. Addressing a press conference in Nairobi, Somo said any member of a political party should expect punishment whenever he disrespects the party’s leadership. This punishment had nothing to do with the individual's religious faith.

“Hon Balala decided to go against the ODM Party and criticized the appointing authority. He never sought consultations from the Muslim community when he did this and did it alone. He should, as an individual, bear the consequences and not drug the muslim community in his problems," Somo said.

He reminded Balala that the days of making political capital out of the majority Muslim community in the Coast region were long gone. He said politicians should seek the support of the electorate not on the basis of their religious faith but on what they can do to improve their living standards. "They should not peg their faith or Muslim issues when making political bargains. They should develop a strategic plan that will unite and lead society towards surviving in the ever changing political environment,” Somo said.