Karisa Thonje at Wesley Hall in Tononoka on Saturday
/ BRIAN OTIENO
Mutungwa Wambua outside the Hustler Centre in Nyali
on Saturday / BRIAN OTIENO
Said Twaha at Markiti on Saturday / BRIAN OTIENO
UDA secretary general Hassan Omar, who has put on a brave face amid accusations of inciting ethnic division, can now breathe easy after his strong allies started putting up a spirited defence for him.
Led by Said Twaha, the allies said Omar’s remarks about land grabing at the coast and marginalisation of the coastal communities were deliberately misinterpreted so as to advance some agenda.
“SG Hassan Omar, speaking as a coastal leader, was only defending his people over the land question, which everyone knows is a problem in this region."
“He wants those grabbed lands given back to their rightful people. I don’t think that is driving a wedge between communities,” Twaha, a UDA operative eying the Mvita MP seat, said on Saturday.
The Star has learnt that the Coast Parliamentary Group had prepared a statement in defence of Omar, which was to be issued on Thursday, but high-level intervention from the party stopped it.
"This is because there was already a high-level intervention on the matter, and the higher-ups did not want the issue to escalate any further. Everything is now under control," an insider told the Star in confidence.
Twaha said the Coast is home to almost all communities in Kenya because the natives welcomed them all and have been living with them in peace and harmony for more than five decades now.
He said some individual politicians with vested interests are driving a certain narrative so as to ensure Omar, who they see as a threat to them because of the position he holds, is removed as the ruling party’s secretary general.
“We are calling on our beloved president not to fall for these cheap tricks. Our SG is a hard-working professional who has his work cut out. He has done great things for the party and the Coast region,” Twaha said.
Mutungwa Wambua, a UDA-appointed director at the Kenya Pipeline Company, echoed Twaha, saying Omar is seen as a threat to some people, and that is why they are pushing for his ouster.
“But we are here to support him and say he should not resign. He is not going anywhere. We see through the translucent veil that you are hiding behind,” Wambua said outside the Hustler Centre in Nyali, Mombasa, where they held peaceful demonstrations.
Abdulswamad Ali, who is eyeing the Nyali MP seat, said as a human rights defender, Omar is devoid of race, ethnicity, or religion.
“What he said is what many people, including leaders at the Coast here, are saying behind closed doors. What Omar did was be bold enough to speak in the open, which few leaders in this region have done,” Ali said.
Mohamed Mwahima, a Coast Waterworks Development Agency director, said Omar has lately been receiving flak because he is fighting for the coastal lands.
“It is true that our lands were grabbed at some point in history. It is a fact. Pointing it out is not wrong,” Mwahima said.
Although he said his sentiments were taken out of context, Omar offered an apology to those who felt offended.
However, some UDA leaders from a certain region have been pushing for his ouster as the UDA secretary general.
At the Wesley Hall in Tononoka, members of the Mijikenda Kaya elders said it is true that their lands were taken away from them, and Omar has only been advocating for their return.
“I was born in Kashani in 1953. I am now 73 years old, living in the same Kashani area in Kisauni. Today, we see people come with title deeds, telling us to vacate our lands, that they are theirs. Is that not land grabbing?” Karisa Thonje said.
He said this has been their lives for the past five decades.
“Now that a leader is talking about the injustices we face, he is being told he is inciting violence against a certain community. This is not right. We must not politicise everything,” Thonje said.
UDA leaders from a certain region have been calling for the ouster of Omar, but his allies are now telling him to stay put.
“Now they want Omar to resign within 48 hours. Why should he resign? Because he is fighting for us, the weak in society? Kaya elders have said no to Omar resigning,” Thonje said.
The Kaya elders said President Ruto should continue solving the land question at the Coast by issuing title deeds to the genuine land owners in the Coast region.
“For 73 years, you want to tell me, someone did not know that they had land here, that they are now suddenly appearing from nowhere, yet they are not even 50 years old, some of them? They got these lands before they were born and before even their parents were born?” Thonje questioned.
INSTANT ANALYSIS:
Omar has since clarified that his comments were focused purely on addressing systemic historical land injustices and were never meant to target, demean, or alienate any specific ethnic group. He formally apologised to the residents of the Central Kenya region and anyone who may have felt aggrieved by his delivery, while standing firm on his long-standing human rights advocacy.
