Former National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) commissioner Gitile Naituli has called for the immediate resignation of Hassan Omar as UDA Secretary General, saying an apology is insufficient given the gravity of the remarks made at a public function attended by the President and Deputy President in Mombasa.

“He must resign as UDA Secretary General because UDA is the ruling party. And usually the secretary-general speaks for the party. So he has to resign, he can’t just apologise,” Naituli said.

Speaking during an interview on Wednesday 27^th May, Naituli said that the remarks were not an isolated slip but a reflection of what some leaders say privately.

“Some of these people are verbalising what they speak in secret. When the cameras are not there, and then they go to the public and say it. When you speak like that, the way Hassan spoke, with the Head of State sitting right there and the Deputy President there, that is a serious indictment against UDA as a party and the Kenyan government,” he said.

On the question of accountability from state agencies, Naituli argued that NCIC should have acted immediately, without waiting for a formal investigation.

“Immediately after that fellow (Hassan Omar) stopped speaking, NCIC should have gone to the CID in Mombasa to apprehend him, because there was nothing to investigate. That was incitement capable of being implemented, which is an offence under the Penal Code,” he said.

Naituli also called on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to move against Hassan Omar, both in his capacity as UDA Secretary-General and in his role at the East African Community.

He acknowledged a deeper, more troubling problem behind the inaction, saying that officers are afraid of performing their rightful duty just because they are afraid of losing their jobs.

“When the country is collapsing, you are afraid as an officer of the law from executing the mandate of your office because you need to feed your children. You need to have a legacy. So you see something like that and say, this is not meant for my policy, I don’t want to burn my hands,” he said.