Friday Bulletin 235

7/25/2019 Friday Bulletin 235

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Friday Bulletine Weekly Muslim News Update

Shawwal 15, 1428/October 26, 2007 Issue No. 235

This Newsletter contains some of Allahs names. Please do not throw in the trash. Either keep,circulate or shred.

www.islamkenya.comThe

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Contradictions, inconsistencies and confusions have now been thethemes in the saga concerning the deportations of Kenya Muslims toEthiopia and it is turning out that the government might after all betaking Muslims for a joy ride. More than a week after the Presidenttold Muslim leaders that the matter will be addressed, no word hasemanated from State House on the fate of the 18 Kenyan Muslimsbeing detained outside their country.While there appeared a ray of light on the horizon that this deadlockwill soon be resolved after the President promised to personally takecharge of the matter, his close confidants are maintaining that no

Kenyan was deported to the Horn of Africa country.On Tuesday in a paid advertisement in a local daily, Internal Secu-rity Minister John Michuki insisted that no Kenyan was renditionedto Somalia and Ethiopia and maintained that the deportations werehollow and unconvincing.It is incorrect that some Kenyans have been deported out of the

country. The truth of the matter is certain emotionally charged peo-ple decided to support fighters of Islamic Courts Union to oust thenascent Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. These peoplewere actually arrested by the Ethiopian soldiers as we came to learnlater, he said.His comments came a week after President Mwai Kibaki while at-tending an Eid Bazaar event in Mombasa requested Muslim leadersto avail him a list of those who were deported. This was after com-plaints were raised to him regarding the victimisation of Muslims byhis government.

The list was duly handed over personally to the President at StateHouse on Tuesday last week by the chairman of the Nairobi MuslimYouth Daawah Association Issa Ahmed during a forum when a sec-tion of Muslim leaders and Imams met the President. The Head ofState promised that he will address the matter soon.The President also on October 1 for the first time admitted that Ken-yan Muslims were sent out of the country when he said that all Ken-yan Muslims who had gone to other countries for fear of arrest or whohad been deported on alleged involvement in terrorism should comeback home.Michukis remarks are similar to those of the government spokesmanAlfred Mutua who on two different occasions has come out to denythat Kenyan Muslim were renditioned. He even claimed that the gov-ernment sat with some Muslim leaders verified that none of their ownwas deported. He did not however, give any names to substantiate

his claims.Last month, Transport Minister Ali Mwakere announced that theywere plans to bring back the deported Kenyans though he did notgive the exact date.Reacting to Michukis statement, the National Muslim Leaders Forum(NAMLEF) and the Muslim Human Rights Forum (MHRF) have allcome out to denounce his allegation. The joint report released onTuesday said the MHRF report Horn of Terror which gave graphicreports of the rendition was presented to the Kenya National HumanRights Commission (KNHCR) who in turn forwarded it to various Gov-ernment ministries including that of Michuki.Last week in an unprecedented move, ODM presidential candidateRaila Odinga in full paid advertisements in some of the local dailiescriticised the government for the renditions and said there was evi-dence to suggest that the senior government officials including the

Head of State, Michuki and the Constitutional Affairs minister MarthaKarua received the names of those deported.

Deportation: It is a Game of Musical Chairs

Some Muslim leaders have been accused of not telling the President

Mwai Kibaki the truth in regard to the grievances and concerns of the

community Muslims.

Issa Ahmed, the chairman of Nairobi Muslim Youth Daawah Group

castigated Imams and other leaders who are heaping praise on the

President while ignoring pertinent issues facing the community. He

said this while handing over the list of names of 18 Kenyan nationals

deported to Somalia, Ethiopia and the Guantanamo Bay concentra-

tion camp to the Head of State at State House Nairobi on Wednesday

last week.Issa whose speech took many by surprise as he rose up to speak

before being accorded the opportunity, noted that the President was

being done a disservice as he was being misled into addressing is-

sues which were not significant to Muslims in the country.The reason why Muslims are not pleased with your government and

You are misleading the President onMuslim affairs, leaders told

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Halaal Credit Limited has finally closed down. The Nairobi basedCredit Company which claimed to be providing Islamic banking serv-ices closed shop on Monday with the fate of millions of depositorsfunds hanging in balance.Though the officials of the company claimed that the uncollected de-posits amounted to Sh6.3 million, it is estimated that the amount iswell above this figure.The closure of the company comes barely two months after The Fri-day Bulletin ran an exclusive report about the operation of the com-pany which among other things revealed anomalies which raisedeyebrows regarding its operations.A notice pinned on the locked door of the company offices at Union

Towers building read, Normal operations will not continue in so faras normality can be maintained. This branch and all branches (sic)shall here henceforth remain closedAll shareholders are advised tokeep off the premises of the company.The notice claimed that a dispute between directors affected normaloperations and lawyers will be appointed to assign receiver manag-

Desparation as Halaal Creditshuts down

e closed offices of Halaal Credit Limited at Union Towers Building with anotice which annouced the closure pinned on the entrace


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editorial

The curtain has finally come down on Halaal Credit Limited. Twomonths ago, The Friday Bulletin made an exposure of the operationsof the company which revealed glaring anomalies regarding its op-erations. The collapse of the company comes in the wake of recentclosures of a number of pyramid schemes which have recently goneunder with the savings of its depositors.We would like to send a word to the Central Bank and the ProvincialCooperative Office (PCO) to exert more efforts to ensure that thesavings of depositors are protected. Scrutiny should vigorously be

focussed on emerging financial institutions especially those whichappear suspicious.These two institutions must shoulder part of the blame asthey failed to act in good time to protect the savings of thedepositors. While the PCOs office acknowledged thatthe operation of the company was outside the confines ofthe law, nothing was made to address the issue.At the same time The Friday Bulletin alerted the Cen-tral Bank furnishing it with information about the activities of HalaalCredit Limited and the CBK promised that investigations would beundertaken.After the collapse of pyramid schemes, there were calls for the CBKto tighten its noose on these get-rich- quick schemes but the col-lapse of the Halaal Credit seems to suggest that someone at CBK isstill sleeping on the job.The collapse of the company could as well as provide us with valu-able lessons. After it launched its services in May this year, the Maj-lis Ulamaa went on to send a cautious note to Muslims not to engagewith the company until the scholarly body vets its operations. Thisadvise was ignored by many and now the results are out and clearfor everyone to discern. The Ulamaas (scholars) are an important

source of guidance and ignoring their directions can lead to misfor-tune, after all as the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, theyare the inheritors of the Prophets.Also, the Muslim media should take a cue from this and put in placea policy where advertisements are thoroughly vetted to ensure thatthe consumers are not duped about some so-called Islamic productsin the market.Granted, advertisements play a crucial role in sustaining the mediacompanies but this should not be done at the expense of failing to

take in consideration the larger interests of the community.It is unfortunate that even after the Majlis Ulamaa had dissuaded the

public from engaging with the company, Halaal Credit gota golden opportunity on Iqra radio station where it man-aged to spread its propaganda in the process getting theconfidence of depositors that it was a credible financialinstitution.The Friday Bulletin sent a word of caution to Iqra to re-

frain from giving the company a platform to advertise their productshowever this was not heeded. The exposure by The Friday Bulletindid not also make the radio station to change its policy.On the same radio station, for the last few months, a riba-basedfinancial institution is being given a platform to advertise its Islamicproducts which have not been scrutinized by the scholars.It should be noted that the public have a deeply rooted trust in adver-

tisements airing on Muslim media outlets and there is need to haveproper structure to ensure that consumers are not misled.As the Chief Kadhi Sheikh Hammad Kassim said, the painful lessonsderived from the collapse of Halaal Credit should endear us to en-sure that such spurious ventures are not given any room to prosperin our society.

Valuable lessons from Halaal Credit collapse

Labour minister Newton Kulundu denounced the Unit-ed States and Britain for violating human rights in theguise of the war against terrorism.The greatest violators of democracy and humanrights in the entire world are not found in Africa but

in USA and UK who preach water to us, but go on togulp wine in the name of looking for weapons of massdestruction and fighting terror, he said at a forumwhere the American ambassador to Kenya MichaelRannenberger was present.Dr. Kulundu called for the leaders of both states tobe arraigned before the International Criminal Courtin The Hague for crimes against humanity. He par-ticularly mentioned the killings of millions of innocentchildren and women in the name of fighting terrorismin the Middle East and specifically Iraq.The international court of justice is not only for Africanleaders but for all violators of human rights, includingthose killing millions in the Middle East in the nameof fighting terror, and a way must be worked out tohave them arraigned for it would be hypocrisy to dootherwise, he said during the launch of the reporton human trafficking by the Institute of PolicyAnalysisand Research at a Nairobi hotel on Monday.He said the world should not keep silent as the twonations continue to engage in activities that have ledto the loss of lives of millions.We cannot continue to keep silent as our brothers inthe Middle East and elsewhere are subjected to inhu-man treatment by these countries, exposing millionsof children and women to vagaries of human traffick-ing, and we demand that those behind these policiesas violators of human rights be taken to the interna-tional court of justice in the Hague, said the Lurambilegislator.He further advised donor countries to listen to the

views of developing countries. On matters of de-mocracy, transparency and human rights, it is the re-cipients of foreign aid who should preach some senseon these issues into the minds of the donors, saidKulundu. After the stinging criticism, the infuriated en-voy refused to shake hands with Dr. Kulundu as hetook his seat.

Minister lashes out at US envoyover killing Muslims ers who shall independently take over all the operations.

This however, was disputed by one of the directors of the company who spoke to TheFriday Bulletin on conditions of anonymity. He said the closure was a ploy by the ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO) Yassin Abubakar Argwings Kodhek to swindle depositors oftheir savings.The whereabouts of the CEO are yet to be ascertained but the Nairobi branch man-

ager Ayub Alvin Mangare was detained at Central Police Station on Friday last weekfor four days on forgery allegations. He is out on bond.On Saturday, CID officers stormed the offices when they questioned some officialsand took away office documents. On Thursday last week, Nauria Ali Ongach, thechairperson of Al-Islamia SACCO Society which gave birth to the credit company,was also questioned by police officers regarding the operations of the company. OnTuesday when The Friday Bulletin spoke to her, she was unaware that the companyhad closed down its operations.Depositors who spoke to The Friday Bulletin expressed fears that they will lose theirlife time savings as a result of the collapse. Ameharibu maisha ya wetu wengi naameaibisha uislamu,(He has ruined the lives of many and has embarrassed the Mus-lim fraternity), a distraught Muhammad Abdi told The Friday Bulletin.Commenting on the closure, the Chief Kadhi Sheikh Hammad Muhammad Kassimurged Muslims to be wary of such ventures which aimed at swindling members of thepublic. It is unfortunate that these acts of fraud could be perpetrated by members

of our community, we should not allow this to happen again he told The Friday Bul-letin.On his part, the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya secretary general SheikhMuhammad Dor said the company will not be allowed to open in Mombasa as it haslost credibility among Muslims. Halal Credit had obtained a premise at TSS towerswhere it had planned to open up a branch to serve the Coastal region.In The Friday Bulletin report the Provincial Cooperative Office had said Halal Creditwas operating illegally. As a SACCO, it was to operate under the society instead ofoperating a separate company, a senior official Fred Sitati said then.

Continued From Page 2Halaal Credit collapses

The Kenyatta Universitys Muslim fraternity is up in arms against the administrationwhich they accuse of frustrating efforts to construct a masjid at the main campus.In a letter to the Special Action Committee on Muslim grievances, the University ImamSheikh Abdallah Abubakar Kheir demanded that Muslim be treated equally like theirChristian counterparts.

This came after the university administration, for the third time issued a notice forMuslims to relocate the construction of the mosque to another site.While on previous occasions they assented, this time around they have vowed notto move.Construction of the masjid was already in progress when the decision was taken. Weconsider this action to unfair to us Muslims, and show a bad signal to Muslim com-munity in Kenyatta University and beyond, he Sheikh Abdallah said.

Kenyatta University angers Muslims over masjid


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As the elections draw near, there appears to be much discussionrevolving around Muslim voters, occasioned by an apparent clamourfor their votes. There have been statements made by PresidentMwai Kibaki and the Foreign Affairs minister Raphael Tuju that areostensibly meant to express regrets about the difficulties and neglectfelt by Kenyan Muslims.

There has even been a rare moment (and a strange one given hisrecord on Muslim rights) of President Kibaki clad in a Muslim attire,replete with the long flowing robe (Kanzu) and head cap. These areall election gimmicks designed to hoodwink the Muslim communityinto voting for Kibaki, prompted principally by the polls that showthe soaring popularity of Raila Odinga and his Orange DemocraticMovement (ODM). With the country mainly polarised between sup-port for Raila and Kibaki, the campaign strategists have calculatedthat the Muslim votes might just decide the outcome. Accordingly,the sudden outburst of sympathetic rhetoric towards the Muslimcommunity is nothing more than the symbolic crocodile tears ahypocritical display of remorse when your actions bear testamentto the contrary. In the case of the current government, this mani-fested itself in the unrelenting arrogance with which it dealt with thegrievances put forth by the same group of people. Curtailing Muslimrights was often done at the behest of a foreign government, nay, atthe instruction of the US government.There are so many historical injustices towards Muslims that stillpersist and this article cannot possibly cover them all. However, anumber of pertinent examples should suffice here.First, and the most damning for the Kibaki government from theperspective of Kenyan Muslims, is the transfer of Kenyan citizens toEthiopia. Mistreated, blindfolded and bundled into airplanes to Ethio-pia, these people suffered the ultimate humiliation and are still be-ing brutalised. It appears that the current government has patterneditself after the highly belligerent Bush Administration that has eitherdisregarded or substantially re-worked the existing human rights andinternational laws. This is not what a self-respecting and sovereignnation should be doing to a section of its citizens. You just do notrepatriate your own citizens to a different country to be mistreated.The proper procedure should have been to try anybody suspected

of wrongdoing in Kenya, including the presentation of all reasonablegrounds for suspicion.Second, vestiges of undemocratic practices are still played out ona routine basis in the Muslim community, none more conspicuously

than at the Garissa Bridge, where travellers to Nairobi are alwaysforced to disembark the vehicles to produce ID cards. This not onlyacts as a reminder of the type of emergency laws enacted in yearspast to subdue the people of North-Eastern Province, but also rendersvivid the iniquities in the countrys different regions. This is what thenational security personnel should be doing at border points and not

within the towns.Third, a host of other issues compound the situation faced by Ken-yan Muslims: educational resources that are not distributed equitably,lack of access to plum government jobs even with right credentials,and barriers in the acquisition of official documents that other Ken-yans take for granted. Given this dire scenario, what might KenyanMuslims do in the coming elections?Voting is the constitutional right of each individual, but as a collectiveentity, Muslim voters need to seriously weigh the candidates and voteas a single block.First, it must be someone with the willingness and potential to bring

an end to the injustices. As demonstrated in the last five years, Kibakiis not that person!Second, mutual bickering in the public domain among Muslim leadersand organisations will only bring about disharmony whilst perpetuat-ing any disquiet between the leaders and the people. As taught inIslam, it is an ideal that the members of a community respect thoseleaders who are sincere and work for the collective good of that com-munity, as long as they do not contravene the basic tenets of the reli-gion. For their part, the leaders are expected to reciprocate that trustthrough the extensive use of consultations in decision-making. Assuming these two vital preconditions are fulfilled, the electedparliamentary leaders in the Muslim community will need to have acollective national voice in addition to representing their specificconstituencies so that these disparities in the countrys regions arecorrected and any future occurrence countered.Finally, any elected President will necessarily have to prove himself indelivering his promises to the Muslim community during the course ofhis term, the failure of which must result in a stand being taken againsthim after his five-year tenure. If that happens, we will be faced with aPresident in Eid attire articulating nice-sounding but hollow visions of

a Kenya that offers equal opportunities to all. We will then have comefull circle. There is no rest!

Muslims must see through Kibaki and his teams gimmicksOPINION

Dr Mohamed Omar Mohamud

Dr Mohamed Omar Mohamud is a Researcher at the University ofLeeds, United Kingdom

John Michuki has once again compelled us to set the recordstraight. Other than Michuki trying to dispel his role in hunting downthe freedom fighters when he was a District Officer, he denies therendition of Kenyans to Somalia and eventually to Ethiopia.The Minister, typical to the way he has handled the Ministrys work,is denying facts which have been well documented.The report by the Muslim Human Rights Forum was presentedto the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights who in turn

forwarded it to various Government Ministries including the Hon.Michuki in his capacity as the Minister whose Ministry was heavilyinvolved in the arrests, detentions and actual banishing of the 18Kenyans to Somalia, later Ethiopia and one- Mohammed AbdulMa-lik to Guantanamo Bay - Cuba. Also to have been given the reportis the Police Commissioner, Major-General Hussein Ali who fallsdirectly under Michukis Ministry.The Minister should be cognisant of the following:1. On 27th February 2007, Mr. Zack Tum, who doubles as an As-sistant Commissioner of Police as well as the Deputy Director ofOperations at C.I.D Headquarters swore an Affidavit before JusticeGeorge Dulu at the High Court of Kenya. In the affidavit, he bearswitness that:a. He was one of the officers who escorted and handed over 39persons to the Somali authorities on 27th January 2007.b. That originally, they were to deport 42 persons but 3 persons;

Kassim Musa Mwarusi, Ali Musa Mwarusi and Abdallah KhalifanTondwe were left behind due to breakdown of communication.c. That by the t ime the Aircraft Flight no. AXK 527 took off, the abovethree persons had not arrived at the airport therefore the Aircraft leftwithout them but with the 39 on board.d. That some other arrangements had to be made and the threeKenyan subjects as well as Mrs. Ines Chine from Tunisia were de-

ported to Somalia on 10th February 2007.2. We were able to obtain the flight manifests of the two Airlines in-volved in the said renditions. These were African Express Airways andBluebird Aviation Limited. African Express Airways was involved twicein transporting the individuals to Somalia. This was on 20th Januaryand 27th January 2007. On 27th January 2007, the Police officers ac-companying the deportees to Mogadishu were:1) Mr. Zack Tum 7) Mr. Peter Muli

2) Mr. John Koki 8) Mr. Ibrahim Wambesi3) Mr. Josephat Kirini 9) Mr. Zachary Talam4) Mr. Richard Koros 10) Mr. Nicholas Koros5) Mr. Paul Cheruiyot 11) David Mama6) Mr. Michael Yego 12) Paul KaikaiThe above are Police Officers who fall under Michukis Ministry. Howthen does he want to play ignorant of such a high powered and largecontingent of his Police officers escort to Mogadishu. On 16th Febru-ary 2007, 3 Kenyans Kassim Musa Mwarusi, Ali Musa Mwarusi, Ab-dallah Khalfan Tondwe were among others from different countriesdeported to Baidoa, Somalia and were accompanied by1- Corporal Julius Lokale 4- PC Richard Muriira2- Police constable Michael Yego 5- PC Wesley Mutai and3- Police constable Erodlin Mwenda 6- PC Stephen Mugedi.The Minister of Internal Security by his denial of the renditions is byextension accusing Muslims of lying. If the Minister believes we are

peddling lies on this issue, he needs to prosecute us. Otherwise, heshould know that Human Rights of Kenyans have been violated andabused and the best the Government can do is to correct their ownmistake by facilitating the return of our citizens immediately. It is not amatter with which to play politics.

Statement by National Muslim Leaders Forum and Muslim Human Rights Forum re-garding Michukis denial of rendition of Kenyan Muslims to Ethiopia

Al-Amin KimathiCo-Convenor -MHRF

Farouk MachanjeCoordinataor-NMLF


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The Friday Bulletin is a Publication of Jamia Masjid Committee, P. O. Box 40629-00100 Nairobi, Tel: 243504/5 E-mail: [email protected] by Colour Magic Production Ltd-Kirinyaga Crescent P. O. Box 9581-00100 Nairobi

Advertisers Feature

SATURDAY LECTURE Media Meeting

Continued From Page 1

Muslim-Christian InteractionDr Abdallah KhatibSaturday 20th September 2007.

From 2.00-4.00 .pm Jamia Mosque Multi Purpose Hall

Water is essential to the health and survival of every community,but a safe supply of this precious commodity is not somethingmany people can take for granted.In North Eastern Province and other areas where Muslims are

predominant, the problem of water scarcity is evident due to thepersistent drought experienced in the region. Water facilitiesare very scarce with residents depending on seasonal rivers anda few scattered wells for their water supply. Many people haveto spend several hours a day walking for kilometres to watersources in the process utilising their valuable time that couldotherwise be spent in economic activities which can improve ontheir lives. Added to this, there is a risk that the water may becontaminated, increasing the risk of diseases among the popu-lation.This has contributed to the areas lagging behind in economicand social development.This factor coupled with the rampant poverty in the areas, haveattracted Christian evangelical organisations that have takenadvantage of the situation to attempt to spread Christianity inthe guise of humanitarian programmes. Currently, they are un-dertaking a number of water projects in the district of Wajir andother areas with an ultimate goal of converting the local peopleto their faith.As Muslims, we have an obligation to ensure that our brothersand sisters in these areas are adequately assisted in having ac-cess to reliable supply of safe water. While during periods ofsevere drought, there are concerted efforts to address this prob-lem, unfortunately, these programmes are abandoned as soonas the situation stabilises.There is need for long-term mechanisms to be put in place toensure that the residents have a supply of water throughout theyear.Ummah Foundation has been working to ensure that the peo-ple in these areas can have secure access to clean safe wa-ter supply that is so vital for their survival. Through the waterproject which involves provision of water tanks and sinking ofboreholes, the Foundation has contributed in easing the prob-lems of water shortage in many areas of the region. Our goal isto see to it that many residents have access to reliable supplyof safe drinking water and we believe that with your support, wecan go a long way in realizing this goal. If we can ensure safewater supply, we can reduce health risks and make it easier forpeople to engage in income generating activities to improve ontheir lives.Your contribution to the Ummah Foundation water project apartfrom helping poor people have access to water project and safe-guarding their faith, it will also secure the future benefits of ongo-ing charity, i.e. Sadaqah Jariyah, inshaAllah. Allahs Messenger

salallahu alyahi wasallam said: Verily what a believer continuesto receive (in the form of reward) for his actions and his virtuesafter his death is the knowledge which he acquired and then dis-seminated, the pious son that he left behind him or the canalthat he caused to flow, or a sadaqah which he gave out of hisproperty in the state when he was healthy and alive. (Mishkat)Whichever amount you can donate to this programme can bringlasting changes in the lives of many people.Please send your contributions toUmmah Foundation Pioneer House6th Floor P. O. Box 58717-00100 Tel:(020) 2226331 0727-119677, 0733-515917Email: [email protected]

Providing safe water to the needy

Muslim journalists have formed a body which they hope will improve onthe standards of journalistic coverage of issues facing the community. TheKenya Muslim Media Practitioners (KMMP) was initiated following a meet-ing of media personnel drawn from various news organisations.The association will endeavour to see that the role of Muslims in the mediais enhanced, foster cooperation between and also cater for the interestsand welfare of Muslim professionals in the media field.Muhammad Yarrow Areis from Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC)was elected as the interim chairman. In his address, Areis said Muslim

journalists had an important role to play in safeguarding and articulatingon the interests of the community in the media.Those who attended the gathering included media personnel from theDaily Nation, The Friday Bulletin, NTV, People Daily, Nairobi Star, FrontierFM, Iqra FM, Pamoja FM as well as freelance journalists.

Muslim Journalists form union

are supporting the opposition is due to the harassment by your govern-ment and in particular the deportation of some of our boys to Ethiopia,Issa told the President who appeared startled by the remarks.When you were in Mombasa, you requested for the list of names of thosewho were deported, and I am here to present the names to you, he saidbefore he personally handed over the list to President Kibaki.The President acknowledged his contribution and said his government

will address the issue of deportation soon.The chairmans earlier request to be allowed to address the gatheringwhich comprised Imams and other Muslim leaders was thwarted by theSupreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) secretary general AdanWachu who was the master of ceremonies. Wachu is also the chairmanof the Muslim campaign team for President Mwai Kibaki.In his address earlier, he had appealed to the Head of State to provide airtickets for Muslims to undertake the Hajj, the Pilgrimage to the Makka, arequest which The President assented to and promised that up to 50 airtickets will be provided.

President recieves list of deportees

Kenya Muslim Media

Practiotiners MeetingJamia Mosque

Sunday October 27 2007From 10.00 am

All Muslim journalists invited

Documents

Friday Bulletin 235