Blow to Wadajir leader as Kenyan authorities block Nairobi meeting

Kenyan authorities Tuesday blocked opposition politician Abdirahman Abdishakur from addressing a political rally in Nairobi after he suffered a similar fate in Mogadishu.

Wadajir party chairman Kamal Gutale confirmed the cancellation of the meeting scheduled for today at Sir Ali Muslim club in Nairobi’s Eastleigh.

“Indeed the meeting has been cancelled,” Gutale told Goobjoog News but did not elaborate circumstances under which the meeting was cancelled.

Abdishakur whose residence was raided by security forces killing five of his guards last December was set make his first formal address at the rally after he was cleared by authorities in Mogadishu to travel. Banaadir regional court had earlier barred him from travelling outside the country pending a case against him.

The National Assembly leader in Kenya Aden Duale said in a media interview the country’s laws did not allow a foreign politician to hold a rally in the country adding such meetings ‘were aimed at destabilizing the Federal Government.’

“According to our laws a foreign politician cannot hold a political rally in the country,” Duale who has previously cautioned Somali politicians holding meetings in Nairobi said. “We can’t allow politicians to use Kenya as a base to destabilize the Somali government. We want to dedicate time and resources to build the Somali government.”

The intelligence agency NISA blocked Abdishakur from addressing a public forum at Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu mid last month.

The politician who is also a fierce critic of President Mohamed Farmaajo administration yesterday posted a tweet explaining why he would not support the current administration.

“My answer is very simple to those who asked me to support current administration. I will support any leader who will draw his/her legitimacy from visions of truth, reconciliation and national unity rather than from divisive, fear and false clan- factional agendas.”