The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) has pushed back against allegations by Marsabit Senator Mohamed Chute that it plans to demolish a mosque in Nairobi’s Huruma area to facilitate a government affordable housing project.
Senator Chute, while addressing the Senate, claimed that SUPKEM had invited wealthy foreign partners and was preparing to hand over the mosque land for housing construction.
He accused the council of abandoning its religious responsibilities and being driven by political and financial motives.
“SUPKEM is no longer only about religious matters; they have become involved in politics. They went to the mosque in Huruma and brought wealthy foreign partners to take over the mosque, claiming they wanted to build affordable housing. How can you build affordable housing on a mosque? You demolish a mosque and a madrassa to build affordable housing?” he said.
He went on to allege that SUPKEM officials had engaged the president over the project, adding, “They even went to the president, claiming to have brought rich Arab partners to destroy the mosque and construct the affordable housing. This SUPKEM must be investigated, and if possible, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) should be involved. Since this senior SUPKEM leader joined, it has become part of politics.”
In a statement, SUPKEM National Chairman Hassan Ole Naado dismissed the senator’s remarks as “reckless and malicious,” accusing him of misleading Kenyans and abusing his parliamentary platform to spread lies about property legally owned by the council.
Hassan said the land in question was lawfully allocated to SUPKEM for educational development and has hosted a school for decades; therefore, any claim of land grabbing or political involvement was without basis.
He also rejected claims that the land belonged to the community, explaining that there is no legally recognized community land within Nairobi city boundaries. Hassan challenged the senator to produce any legal registration proving otherwise.
“Being a lawmaker, Senator Mohamed must be assumed to know the legal definition of community land and must produce the registration status of such land, if any,” he said.
The chairman explained that SUPKEM had only entered into partnerships to develop modern facilities that would help sustain the council’s activities without interfering with the mosque or school situated on the property.
“Claims by Senator Mohamed that the land has been handed over for the government's affordable housing project are baseless and should be treated with the contempt they deserve because there is no legal provision for such an arrangement,” Hassan stated.
He added that the council remains guided by accountability and ethical principles and will continue to protect its reputation against false and damaging allegations.
