Garissa Woman Rep Udgoon wants Senator Haji probed over alleged incitement

Garissa Woman Representative Edo Udgoon has written to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) calling for a probe into the county’s senator, Abdul Haji, whom she accuses of incitement.

Udgoon refers to a social media video of the senator, which she claims was recorded on November 9 as Haji was addressing a rally in the Garissa township.

The video appears show Senator Haji saying: “Kila wakati tunakaa na amani lakini mara kwa mara tunachokozwa na watu wengine. llikuwa kama familia ya Samawathal tulipata msiba wakati vijana wetu wanne walipigwa risasi kinyama... wasita… walipigwa risasi kinyama.”

“Sisi tukakasirika, wamama wakalia na wakati ile nakumbuka tukiwaeleza Samawathal tukuwe na subra… leo wamama yetu wanalia lakini inshallah siku karibu wamama wengine ya watu wengine ya watu ndio watalia…”

This translates to: “We have mostly lived peacefully but occasionally other people provoke us. As Samawathal’s family, four… six of our young family members were shot dead mercilessly.”

“We were outraged, mothers cried and we told Samawathal to be patient; today it is our mothers crying but soon, God-willing, other people’s mothers are the ones who will be crying.”

In a November 11 letter to the NCIC CEO, Udgoon says the senator’s comments “are well intended to incite violence and hatred against members of a certain community, and have the potential to exacerbate tensions between different ethnic groups in Garissa County that could lead to serious violence and loss of lives.”

She says the video has since gone viral across Garissa and sparked fear of ethnic tensions.

Further, the woman representative says the senator has gone afoul of the conduct of a leader or state officer per the Constitution.

“This is to write to you and demand that you undertake urgent investigations and action to hold Senator Abdul Mohammed Haji accountable for his irrational averments in order to safeguard the precious lives of the people of Garissa County,” writes Udgoon.

She has also copied the Interior Ministry, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in the letter.