MAN OF THE PEOPLE? President Uhuru during the opening of the Toyota Kenya Ltd Business Park yesterday. Photo/PSCU
State House to hosts iftar in Kwale and Garisa as clerics vow to miss itAFTER key Muslim leaders in Nairobi gave President Uhuru Kenyatta's Iftar dinner a wide berth, State house is organising two in Coast and North Eastern regions.
To avoid the backlash that saw the Nairobi and Mombasa dinner cancelled and the controversies that followed the the Kakamega iftar, State House will host Iftar in Kwale and Garissa, places deemed friendly to government.
Speaking to the Star yesterday spokesman Manoah Esipisu said: "For Kwale it will be this week and Garissa next week."
"Last year was the first time the President hosted Iftar dinner in Nairobi, and therefore there should be no rules on how often or where it should be done," he said when asked why Statehouse decided to have multiple Iftar dinners in various regions unlike last year.
Esipisu said the decision to hold the Iftar dinners in Kwale and Garissa was so the President can reach out to the Muslim community across the country.
"The motives is for the President to reach out to his people wherever they are. Muslims are not only in Nairobi or Mombasa. There are Muslims across the country. The President will meet them wherever they are. In Kakamega he was reaching out to the wider Western region. In Kwale he will be reaching out to the Muslims in the wider Coastal region and in Garissa he will reach out to the Muslims in the North Eastern region," he said.
Esipisu rubbished claims that Uhuru chose to host the Iftar dinner in Kwale and Garissa because they were accommodative to government unlike Mombasa where the Muslim community is increasingly becoming hostile to government agenda.
However, Sheikh Hussein Mahat, the secretary general Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya in North Eastern and a member ofMajlis Ulama, said Muslim leaders from the region had not yet received official invitation to the Garissa event.
He said they will not attend even if invited to protest "continued State House insensitivity towards Muslims issues".
"State House has to get serious on how to engage Muslims with a view of addressing our grievances, but hoodwinking us with Iftar with hope of sweeping the matters that have afflicted thecommunity for ages under the carpet will not work. Hosting Iftar is a very superficial means of appeasing or addressing the concerns Muslims have raised," Mahat said.
"I know political leaders may attend the event but the President should be aware that they will be there for their own political interests that have nothing to do with the community. As far as we concerned we cannot be part of that betrayal."
South Coast CIPK chairman Sheikh Amir Banda said even though the Kwale diner is a day away, they have not received any invitation.
"We have heard rumours of the Iftar dinner, but no officials communication has reached our office. Anyone who expects the Muslim leadership in this area to attend on that ground is lying to himself," he said.
"We are leaders with a following here. We must not be demeaned with last minute thought or informal invitations. If he wasreally interested in us attending he (Uhuru) should have instructed his secretariat to write a letter to us about the event."
To avoid the backlash that saw the Nairobi and Mombasa dinner cancelled and the controversies that followed the the Kakamega iftar, State House will host Iftar in Kwale and Garissa, places deemed friendly to government.
Speaking to the Star yesterday spokesman Manoah Esipisu said: "For Kwale it will be this week and Garissa next week."
"Last year was the first time the President hosted Iftar dinner in Nairobi, and therefore there should be no rules on how often or where it should be done," he said when asked why Statehouse decided to have multiple Iftar dinners in various regions unlike last year.
Esipisu said the decision to hold the Iftar dinners in Kwale and Garissa was so the President can reach out to the Muslim community across the country.
"The motives is for the President to reach out to his people wherever they are. Muslims are not only in Nairobi or Mombasa. There are Muslims across the country. The President will meet them wherever they are. In Kakamega he was reaching out to the wider Western region. In Kwale he will be reaching out to the Muslims in the wider Coastal region and in Garissa he will reach out to the Muslims in the North Eastern region," he said.
Esipisu rubbished claims that Uhuru chose to host the Iftar dinner in Kwale and Garissa because they were accommodative to government unlike Mombasa where the Muslim community is increasingly becoming hostile to government agenda.
However, Sheikh Hussein Mahat, the secretary general Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya in North Eastern and a member of
He said they will not attend even if invited to protest "continued State House insensitivity towards Muslims issues".
"State House has to get serious on how to engage Muslims with a view of addressing our grievances, but hoodwinking us with Iftar with hope of sweeping the matters that have afflicted the
"I know political leaders may attend the event but the President should be aware that they will be there for their own political interests that have nothing to do with the community. As far as we concerned we cannot be part of that betrayal."
South Coast CIPK chairman Sheikh Amir Banda said even though the Kwale diner is a day away, they have not received any invitation.
"We have heard rumours of the Iftar dinner, but no officials communication has reached our office. Anyone who expects the Muslim leadership in this area to attend on that ground is lying to himself," he said.
"We are leaders with a following here. We must not be demeaned with last minute thought or informal invitations. If he was
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment