Give us IDs, passports, Muslim leaders call on State
Kenya Haji Mission National Chairman and Chairman Al-Haji Hassan Ole Naado makes his remarks during an Iftar Dinner celebration organised by the Kiambu County Muslim Community and held at Thika Gymkhana on April 06, 2024.
What you need to know:
- ''For how long are we going to be discriminated?
- Most Muslims especially from the northern side of Kenya cannot get jobs because they don’t have IDs, and they cannot travel.” Supkem chairman Hassan Olenado.
The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) has decried continuous discrimination by the Kenyan government in what they call an open bias when seeking identification documents such as national identity cards and passports.
Supkem chairman Hassan Olenado lamented Kenyans with a Muslim background from the northern side continue to be judged by their border names and have been struggling to secure jobs and even open businesses because they lack requisite documents yet they are Kenyans.
''For how long are we going to be discriminated? Most Muslims especially from the northern side of Kenya cannot get jobs because they don’t have IDs, and they cannot travel. They don’t have travel documents because they continue being judged by their border names and seen as a security threat,’’Mr Olenado said when he graced an Iftar Dinner held at Gymkhana Club in Thika town, Kiambu yesterday.
He said it is worrying that President William Ruto seems to have forgotten his promise to address the identity documents issues affecting Muslims which he made during his presidential campaigns.
Juma Hemedi, who is the Chairman Kiambu Muslim Community, urged the government to stop discriminating against members of the Muslim community on matters of identifying card applications.
He also appealed to the Kiambu County government to fix the ethnic-based inequality gaps, especially on job placements.
East African Legislative Assembly MP Maina Karobia promised to table their concerns to the relevant government offices and urged both the national and county governments to consider employing Muslims from the Mt Kenya region in top government positions.
Osman Korar, the Kiambu County CECM Youth, Sports and Communication highlighted that the local government had put in place measures to not only recognise but also include the community in decision-making processes saying Muslims are integral in the social-economic development of the devolved unit.
