Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper party has recommended the expulsion of Daadab MP Farah Maalim from the party and the removal of his position as Deputy Party Leader. This follows allegations against Maalim for making inflammatory remarks targeting the youth, specifically Gen Z, who participated in protests against the Finance Bill 2024, which has since been withdrawn.
In a video that has circulated widely, Maalim is seen speaking in the Somali language, where he reportedly stated that if he were the President of Kenya, he would have “slaughtered” 5,000 young protesters daily.
A verified translation of the video indicates that the lawmaker was criticizing Kenyan Gen Z for their attempt to march to State House during the protests against the Finance Bill 2024.
“This was an attempted coup, a clear attempted coup. Children of wealthy business owners, wealthy parents and kids raised on ill-gotten wealth, 80 per cent from one tribe were dropped off in downtown and told to riot and take over State House and Parliament buildings,” he said.
“God forbid if I was president I would have slaughtered them, 5,000 of them daily. Serious, there is no two ways about it,” he said.
Maalim Defends himself
But Maalim has defended himself saying the video was edited to paint him in a bad picture.
“It’s all editing, cutting and pasting, taking a word from here, another one from here and putting it together. There is a lot of nonsense there. It’s Somalis basically who would do that because I weighed in on their politics. It’s not the true picture,” he said.
The ensuing uproar that has now escalated with the party holding a special National Executive Council (NEC) meeting and resolved to expel the Dadaab lawmaker.
“NEC recommends expulsion from the Party to the National Delegates Convention (NDC) – the supreme organ of the party. NEC’s decision is that the Farah Maalim be de-whipped from all Committees in Parliament including the Speaker’s Panel,” said Wiper Party Secretary General Shakila Abdalla.
She continued, “Regarding the conduct and statements attributed to Deputy Party Leader Farah Maalim, let it be known clearly that the Wiper Democratic Movement party distances and disassociates itself from these remarks. They go against our guiding principles and values as a party.”
Meanwhile, the embattled MP has been summoned by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to clarify his controversial comments regarding the recent protests in the country. The NCIC stated that it is investigating Maalim’s statements made in the Somali language, where he suggested he would ‘slaughter 5,000 Gen Z protesters’ if he held the presidency of Kenya.
According to NCIC, these remarks have the potential to incite contempt, hatred, hostility, violence, or discrimination, and may disrupt peaceful coexistence among groups with different political affiliations in Kenya, which contravenes Section 13 (1) (a) of the NCI Act.
