SUPKEM Chair Hassan Ole Naado rejects calls to resign, defends tenure
Hassan Ole Naado defended his tenure, arguing that the council operates fully within the law and that elections, when due, will be held according to SUPKEM’s constitution.
The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) chairman Hassan Ole Naado has dismissed calls for his resignation, insisting he remains legally in office despite mounting pressure from a section of Muslim clerics and politicians.
In a statement, Hassan defended his tenure, arguing that the council operates fully within the law and that elections, when due, will be held according to SUPKEM’s constitution.
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Hassan was responding to criticism over alleged corruption, management of the Hajj pilgrimage, the controversial Huruma land and claims that he has blocked efforts to hold fresh elections. He insisted the allegations are unfounded and driven by individuals with no legal standing in the organisation.
On claims of corruption related to Hajj, Hassan said SUPKEM neither recruits pilgrims nor profits from the pilgrimage.
“It is important to clarify that SUPKEM does not procure any person to perform the Hajj, nor does it facilitate people in performing the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. So, what is the connection between us and Hajj? Performing the Hajj is purely a matter between the individual going for Hajj and their creator,” he said.
He explained that fees are collected by Hajj agents from pilgrims and remitted to the Saudi government through SUPKEM.
“The Saudi government collects a Hajj fee from every pilgrim travelling for Hajj on the Kenya quota, which has always been capped at 4,500. This fee is collected by the Hajj agents from the pilgrims they procure and is remitted to SUPKEM, which in turn remits it to the Saudi Arabian government and doesn’t interfere in any way,” he added.
According to Hassan, the $100 service fee charged per pilgrim by SUPKEM is spent entirely on medical support, volunteers and logistics during Hajj, leaving no room for misappropriation.
“Anyone who has doubts about the management of the Hajj is welcome to consult the Council’s audited accounts for clarification,” he said.
Addressing the Huruma land dispute, Hassan said the property was allocated to SUPKEM in 1982 under a 99-year leasehold and is home to a mosque and a school.
“The improvement on the Huruma land is not a creation of the current SUPKEM leadership. How can SUPKEM grab land it has owned since 1982? When they say the land belongs to the community, then which community? Does Nairobi have community land? Those claiming so, let them bring the title deed for the community land,” he said.
The controversy escalated in October after CCTV footage surfaced showing Hassan firing at protesters outside his office, calling for his resignation and demanding elections. Critics include Eldoret-based cleric Sheikh Abubakar Bini, chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, and former SUPKEM Director General Lattice Shaban, both of whom have called for fresh elections to restore public confidence.
Hassan, however, maintained that the authority to hold elections rests solely with the National Governing Council (NGC), not individuals or politicians:
“Individuals, persons and entities who are not members of SUPKEM have no legal mandate to demand elections or dictate how the organisation holds its affairs,” he said.
Protests erupted at SUPKEM headquarters in early September over claims of mismanagement and hand-picking of officials since 2017. Lattif Ngirati Shaban said elections were delayed due to Covid-19 and alleged irregularities in leadership appointments after 2017.
“We expected elections to be held in 2021, but this did not happen. We have not held an election since 2017, but, unfortunately, documents were processed and submitted to the Registrar of Societies, marking the beginning of a conspiracy at SUPKEM, because the names changed,” he said.
The Registrar of Societies expelled Hassan and other officials from the registry in January 2023 for lack of valid elections, but the decision was overturned in court, further inflaming tensions. Lattif criticised the council for replacing grassroots officials without their knowledge and condemned the branding of demonstrators as “goons.”
“I want to apologise for the leadership of Muslims in this country. They are not goons. These are people agitating for what is right, a voice to be heard. It is wrong to call them goons,” he said.
Former Laikipia branch treasurer Abdulatif Juma Kombo called for fresh elections to restore the council’s credibility.
“My humble appeal to Hassan Ole Naado is that you should just resign to save the Muslim ummah from all that kind of shame. It is a shame for us to continue having children, Gen Zs, women and old people going to the street for protests just because of your leadership,” he said.
“When did they replace me? Why is the current national council hand-picking people from the grassroots to come and represent us? This is wrong. Let us have an interim leadership as we wait for a fresh election. Our house can only be in order if Hassan Ole Naado and his hand-picked executive council are dissolved.”
But Hassan countered the claims, stressing that the critics lack standing and that the council operates according to its constitution.
“Their call for fresh elections does not matter. They are not members of the society and do not know how societies operate,” he said, adding that elections might be held within the next two years depending on the constitutional cycle.
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