GARISA, Kenya | About eight years ago, Abdul Haji, then 38, was presented not only in Kenya but across the globe for what many considered heroic acts, after a picture of him rescuing innocent women and men in the Westgate Mall, where Al- Shabaab had attacked.
Armed with his rifle, Haji, whose father Yusuf Haji was then the senator of Garissa, was depicted by rescuing dozens of people, but it is the footage of him holding children and women that puts him on the global map and even gets president Uhuru Kenyatta to give him the praise of the Head of State.
While Haji has taken a low profile since then, overshadowed by his late prominent father, Yusuf Haji, who died in February, and his older brother Noordin Haji, who is the director of prosecution in the Republic of Kenya, Abdul will now feature prominently in Kenya’s policies.
Yesterday, Abdul was cleared by the Independent Electoral and Border Commission [IEBC] as Garissa’s second senator, after being elected unanimously after goodwill from various political parties and consensus among clan elders.
No one had expressed interest in the by-elections on May 18, which automatically prompted the IEBC to clear him as the second senator for Garissa. He will be sworn in over time by Senate Kenneth Lusaka.
His father, Senator Haji, who led the Building Bridges Initiative [BBI], who united Uhuru and his political nemesis Raila Odinga, died after months of imbalance. He first started as a provincial administrator before coming to politics in 1997.
“Before he became unconscious, he wanted us to call the Senate speaker, so he resigned because he said it was haraam (illegal) to deduct wages while he was unable to work for the people of Garissa. ”Abdul recently told voters the interview.
Mzee Haji also wanted his salary for the last six months to be given to vulnerable children. They promised to fulfill the wish by distributing the money to needy children in the six sub-counties of Garissa.
Ijara MP Sophia Abdinoor recently confirmed that there would be a grassroots meeting to get Abdul, whose official name is Abdikadir Mohamed, approved by his larger Samawathal clan. The elders and political class cleared him.
“You are part of the Garissa community and we will support you for all political ambitions,” said Garissa Governor Ali Korane during a prayer meeting in Masalani, which was also attended by Aden Duale, among other top politicians from the Northeast.
The al-Shabaab attack in 2013 in Westgate Mall on a rainy afternoon left dozens of people dead, but the heroics of Abdul Haji have been mentioned even in the international media. He once told The Guardian that he was kept “going” without thinking about the possibility of being shot.
“I thought she was so brave,” he said. “It just motivated us to keep helping more people.”
Was he ever scared? “That thought never came over me – thought I was going to die that day. I think because of the adrenaline I just kept going.”
“I still do not see myself as a hero,” he says quietly. “I’ve even looked up the word completely. People who have been called heroes – I do not think I have done anything close to what they have done.”
Al-Shabaab has been a threat, especially in the north-eastern region, and his election as senator could give the fight a new dimension. He will serve the remainder of the term before the country goes to the polls in August 2022.
AXADLETM
