Mombasa Muslims for human rights are lobbying for the renaming of Fidel Odinga Road in Nyali, Mombasa County.
This comes amid a Wednesday, March 4, 2020, public hearing organized by Mombasa MCAs to rename Mama Ngina Waterfront Park to "a name significant to Mombasa."
The leaders who addressed the county assembly stated that it was important to rename key parts of the county with identities that are important to locals.
“What do the names Mama Ngina and Fidel Odinga have to do with Mombasa? They do not have any connection to this city,” stated Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI) director Khelef Khalifa.
"The two names do not have a historical connection to Mombasa Town," he added.
The Muslim human rights leader explained that many of the residents were not consulted when the park was named after Kenya's maiden First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta and the subsequent renaming of Nyali Road to Fidel Odinga road following his death.
The clerics gave the County government two options to choose from; Mekatilili wa Menza Waterfront Park or Mombasa Waterfront Park instead of its current name.
ODM deputy party leader Hassan Joho renamed Nyali Road to Fidel Odinga Road in 2016, in memory of Odinga’s son who had died in January 2015.
"It is not about renaming but restoring its original name Mzimle which existed since the brief Portuguese occupation over five hundred years ago. The place has a history, culture and tradition and it cannot be wiped out with a stroke of a pen," Khalifa concluded.
