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| Controversy mounts over Kadhi courts |
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| Halima |
| 10/24/02 at 03:05:04 |
| Controversy mounts over Kadhi courts By NATION Team A heated debate raged yesterday over proposals in the draft constitution to extend the scope of the Kadhi's courts. Leaders of various Christian denominations opposed the proposal while Islamic groups and their leaders supported the move. The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) accused a senior Cabinet minister of sponsoring groups to oppose the proposals to enable Kanu to scuttle the review. The draft Constitution provides for expansion of Kadhi's courts to district and appeal court level and extends their mandate to cover both civil and criminal cases. The court is presently at High Court level and only deals with civil matters. Opponents of elevated Kadhi's courts argue that Kenya is a secular state and all citizens should be subject to the same law, except in some aspects of civil matters. They say that changes proposed in the new Constitution would introduce full-fledged sharia and establish a parallel legal system for Kenya Muslims. But the Supreme council of Kenya Muslims blamed the mounting clamour on a cabinet minister, whom it accused of spreading "propaganda" against other religions. They claimed the minister had been quoted by a section of the media as threatening that Muslims would take over Supkem offices if its officials do not withdraw from the Ufungamano initiative. Supkem chairman Prof Abdulghafur El Busaidy said the minister had been opposed to the Ufungamano initiative from the beginning. The same minister and fellow Kanu politicians were whipping up opposition to the Constitution to cause a rift among Kenyans. Prof Busaidy said: "The minister has always felt uneasy over Supkem's involvement in Ufungamano because of his blind loyalty to Kanu whose opposition to change in this country is known." He added: "What we suspect is that the minister and like-minded colleagues in government are using some sections of the church which were always opposed to Ufungamano, to whip up religious emotions." Prof Busaidy said the politician had no moral authority to speak for Muslims or threaten elected religious officials. Supkem, he added, would not quit Ufungamano, which had enabled Muslims to participate in the struggle for political reforms. Supkem secretary-general Ahmed Khalif said the minister and his colleagues were panicking because of looming political change. "He thinks Muslims should always stay in Kanu and not join other Kenyans in debating issues of the day," Mr Khalif said. The Muslim leaders said the religious groups crusading against the upgrading of the Kadhis court were the same ones who held a rally at Uhuru Park to denounce the Ufungamano initiative. "The laws in the constitution only affects Muslims and applies to marriage, property ownership and succession. There is no introduction of sharia law," Mr Khalif said. They maintained that Kenya was a secular state adding that the Kadhi's court, which has been in existence for years, has only had its status elevated. In a paid up advertisement that appeared in the Nation yesterday, the Evangelical Fellowship of Kenya argued that the draft constitution granted special privileges to Islam by creating two parallel judicial systems; one for Muslims and the other "for everyone else". The advertisement claimed that the move would legitimise sharia law in Kenya - an otherwise secular state. It also took issue with the elevation of the chief Kadhi, with the same status, privileges and immunities as a High Court judge. The advert asked Kenyans to ensure that the new constitution was neutral on religion and freedom of worship. The organisation challenged the commission to tell the public whether Kenyans of all faiths will be taxed to sustain the Islamic court system. In another paid up advertisement appearing elsewhere in this paper, the Jesus is Alive Ministry also took issue with the provision requiring that a Muslim woman and the Chief Kadhi be members of the Judicial Service Commission. It questions why other religions have not been accorded similar privileges. "Isn't this entrenching religious discrimination in our constitution?" they asked. At a meeting of the Ufungumano initiative, chairman the Rev Mutava Musyimi was forced to stop debate on the Islamic courts after it threatened to get out of hand. The controversy, which threatens to tear the faiths group apart, will now be settled at the national constitutional conference which begins next Monday. At the Coast, there was a strong reaction to proposals that the provision in the draft constitution elevating Islamic courts be removed. The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya and the Muslims for Human Rights (Muhuri) were among groups supporting more powers for Kadhi's courts. Lamu West MP Fahim Twaha said in a statement that it would be impossible for Muslims to swear to defend a constitution that does not cater for their rights. Muhuri director Khelef Khalifa called for the scrapping of all religious holidays to ensure that Kenya remained a truly secular state. The Council of Imams and Preachers in Kenya accused some foreign embassies of sponsoring churches to fight sections of the draft supporting islamic law. The council's secretary general, Sheikh Mohamed Dor, said the embassies wanted to incite religious conflict in Kenya. Reported by David Mugonyi, Jeff Otieno, Edmund Kwena, Karim Rajan and Wahome Thuku, Ismail Mwadham Comments\Views about this article |
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