Pressure has been piling for President William Ruto to disband the recently constituted selection panel to scout for WAQF Commissioners in the country.
Muslim cleric Sheikh Abou Qattada said the panel has sidelined the Coast region despite most of the property under WAQF being from the Coast region.
The five-man panelist is mandated to select commissioners to spearhead the WAQF Commission that is mandated to manage Muslim properties in the country.
Speaking in Mombasa, Sheikh Qattada noted that the the panel should involve at least three candidates from the Coast region and who are not affiliated to any Islamic organisation.
“We need proper representation at the WAQF selection panel so that we also get impartial and credible commission. None of the panelists is from the Coast region,” noted Sheikh Qattada.
He appealed to President William Ruto to intervene and disband the recently appointed WAQF selection panel and ensure a different panel with national face is reconstituted.
Such sentiments were earlier shared by Kenya Muslims Advisory Council (KEMNAC) Chairperson Sheikh Juma Ngao who said the earlier selection panel is extremely biased and cannot properly execute its mandate.
Sheikh Ngao said he earlier served as WAQF Commissioner and the same panelists interfered with the operations of the commission thus affecting its daily operations.
“We know those people the Attorney General Dorcas Oduor nominated to the WAQF selection panel. They will only sail through their friends, relatives and they will do so with high levels of ethnicity. Let this panel be immediately disbanded and a fresh process reinstituted,” said Sheikh Ngao.
The selection of the five-member panel followed an order from President William Ruto who said that the formation of WAQF commission to over see the Muslims endowment fund has taken too long following former AG Justine Muturi’s ‘laxity’
The five-member team includes Jawahir Keinan Hassan, Al-hajj Hassan Ole Naado, Muslim Scholar Sheikh Ibrahim Lithome Asmani, Sheikh Abdallah Ibrahim Ateka and Sumayya Hassan.
Muslims clerics, across the country have strongly disapproved the WAQF selection panel.
