UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar has blamed Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen for terming Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group.
Omar, while addressing the public on Sunday at Uhuru Park during a solidarity rally for Palestine, stated the move is not a real representation of sentiments of most Muslims in Kenya and the world in general.
“I witnessed my brother gazette Muslim Brotherhood a terror organisation. I don’t agree with that line,” Omar told the masses. “If anything, it is Israel that should be counted as a terror state due to what it has done to Palestine.”
He went on challenging Kenya to rethink its foreign policy, saying the country has more to gain by partnering with Muslim nations than with Israel.
Kenya’s destiny lies in closer ties with the Muslim world. We should not even be doing business with Israel,” he added.
Murkomen gazetted the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizb-ur-Tahrir last week under the Prevention of Terrorism Order 2025.
The notice, issued on September 19, stated that the ban would remain in force indefinitely unless it was revoked or notwithstanding by a court.
The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, is a leading Islamist movement in the globe.
With millions of members and a network of social and political programs, it’s also been accused of propagating extremism and banned across different countries some of them Muslim majority.
What the ban is about in Kenya
Once an organisation is tagged as a terror organisation in Kenya, all its activities are illegal.
The state can freeze its assets, and anyone who is found to be supporting it be it by money, logistics, or even support through statements faces prosecution.
Murkomen’s move has already attracted controversy in religious and political circles.
Omar’s statement now adds another layer of controversy to the situation, stoking fresh fears about how Kenya balances security interests against foreign policy and religious sensitivities.