The Office of the Attorney General has waded into an ongoing controversy over the alleged fraudulent registration of a Muslim association in Eldoret.
Jamal Diriwo Omari, a member of the Muslim community in Eldoret in July 2023 wrote to the Registrar of Societies – asking for the current registration status of the Muslim Association Mosque Committee, Eldoret.
Omari, in the letter, claims a group of individuals had fraudulently registered a different association – but were purporting to be the legitimate leaders of the original one first registered in 1957.
“The society name – Muslim Association Mosque Committee, Eldoret – has been fraudulently forged and registered by strangers as – Muslim Association Mosque Committee – omitting the word ELDORET intentionally aiming to rob the properties under the original organization,” he says in the letter.
“We refer this fraudulent act for your immediate intervention in accordance with the laws of the constitution of Kenya to secure and safeguard the properties and records of the Muslim Association Mosque Committee, Eldoret which was duly and legally registered on the 8th day of July 1957 as is evidence in the records in the register of the registrar of societies which is not in doubt,” he added.
No response from Registrar of Societies
The Registrar of Societies has yet to respond to any of Jamal Omari’s inquiries.
However, the Office of the Attorney General, to which the letters were copied has responded to the matter.
According to the AG’s office, the first letter from Omari was received in October 2023, after which they went further to write to the Secretary of the Society in September.
But as of the date of the reply – November 24, 2023, they had not received any response to the letter.
For this reason, the AG’s Office notes they have written a reminder to the Registrar of Societies over the matter. Should they fail to respond on time, the AG says a decision will be made without their input.
“The Office has written a further reminder to the Secretary vide this letter. If the said letter does not elicit any response, the Office of the Registrar of Societies will go ahead and a decision without further reference to them, which will be communicated to all parties involved,” noted Phillip Mukamba, State Counsel.
Omari wants the Registrar to clarify whether the recently registered association is the same as the original whose registration was issued in 1957.
Last week, he issued a 7-day ultimatum to the Registrar of Societies to respond to her inquiries and complaints.
“I expect the matter to have been settled by mid-January 2024,” Omari told Uasin Gishu News on December 27, 2023.
[…] year, the Office of the Attorney General wrote to the society’s secretary asking for a response, failure to which it noted they would go ahead and provide their decision […]