Kenya’s Parliament majority leader, Adan Barre Duale has hit back a Kenyan lawyer Donald Kipkirir for his controversial post about the Somali Community.
Kipkorir on Wednesday said there are only 300,000 Somalis in Kenya.
“Somalis are less than 300,000 but belong to all political parties, and have their own parties but never allow political differences to come between their faith, friendships, business and lobbying for big offices. Like Qatar, Somalis punch above their weight … other tribes need learning,” said Kipkorir.
Duale vehemently dismissed the claims by the lawyer, saying Somalis number is more than three million and are spread across the country.
“Wakili, Somalis are over 3 million spread across the country occupying 3 counties, historically occupied critical positions in government, legislature and private sector, contribute to the economy. To wrap it all they occupy more than 65%of the Horn of Africa. Bure Kabisa. Fitina,” Duale responded.
Over hundred others have attacked Kipkorir for the controversial comment about the community.
Fatuma Kinsi, a Twitter user, said: “Over 20 million ethnic Somalis are spread across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and all over Africa, and three million of them share the same nationality as you here in Kenya. Deal with it!”
Abdishakur Maalim said it is possible that there are millions of Somalis in Kenya, considering most of their families are polygamous.
“The average Somali household has six kids. You forgot to add another zero to your quoted figure, notwithstanding that they are polygamous in nature. That’s is a conservative figure. Maybe you are basing your figures on [Duale’s Twitter followers],” Maalim said.
In Kenya, Somalis are dominant in Northeastern counties of Wajir, Mandera and Garissa as well as other 45 counties.
In March a report by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) showed that Somalis who are fourth largest community will occupy the third position of the largest communities in next twenty years,
The Former Northern Frontier Districts said to have highest number of family growing, thanks to polygamy and rapid human reproduction.
The families in Mandera, Garissa and Wajir towns have families that 1 1/2 bigger than the major towns including Mombasa and Nairobi.
According to the survey, the average Somali families consist of eight to nine members despite the harsh climate that hangs over the region.
“Relatively high average household sizes were recorded in arid and semi-arid counties (ASAL) of Wajir, Garissa and Mandera,” said Mr. Zachary Mwangi, the KNBS Director-General.
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