Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
27 November 2007
Nairobi — Muslims will get privileged national status if leading presidential candidate Raila Odinga wins the December 27 elections, according to a Memorandum of Understanding made public today.
A section of Muslim leaders signed the MoU with Odinga in August but only published it today, after three months of pressure by Christian leaders who wanted the terms of the agreement debated by all Kenyans.
Alleged copies of the MoU circulating earlier contained a raft of pledges to Muslims that could ignite interfaith turmoil in Kenya. But the document was dismissed as a forgery by Odinga and the National Muslim Leaders Forum (NAMLEF)
The MoU read to the Press today by NAMLEF chairman Sheikh Abdullahi Abdi is short on details, but binds Raila to embrace Muslims "as his partner of choice" while serving as president of Kenya.
Within the first year of office, he would initiate "deliberate policies and programmes to redress historical, current and structural marginalization and injustices on Muslims in Kenya," including human rights violations and discrimination.
The pact hits out at President Mwai Kibaki, saying his "government has meted out calculated, deliberate, unprecedented discrimination, intimidation and harassment of sections of Kenyans, including Muslims."
Odinga will ensure the Muslim-majority areas of northern Kenya and the Coast receive budgetary priority for infrastructural development, water, housing and health, within two years of taking office, the MoU says. He also pledges to ensure equitable representation of Muslims in all public appointments.
On its part, NAMLEF vows to deliver to Odinga the Muslim vote and to support his presidency should he win. The organization describes the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) candidate as "a credible national leader known for consistency and statesmanship." He is leading in opinion polls.
Answering questions from reporters, Sheikh Abdi said any Muslim who voted for President Kibaki would be treated as "a traitor". Muslims had suffered patiently under successive governments since independence 44 years ago, and out of the nine presidential candidates in this year's election, only Odinga could protect their interests, he said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 Catholic Information Service for Africa. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
