Suna East Member of Parliament Junet Mohammed has issued an apology after his remarks on albinism caused widespread uproar.
In a statement, the MP noted that his comments were taken out of context, and added that he had no intention of attacking demeaning or attacking people living with albinism.
Junet clarified that his comments were only directed towards Nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura given his character.
"I want to apologize to people born with albinism. My comments in no way reflects my opinions of them as upstanding citizens of our county.
"My comments were directed at the rotten character of Isaac Mwaura who exploits his disability for personal gain and incitement of violence," stated Junet.
In a video clip that went viral on Saturday, February 6, Junet was heard accusing Mwaura of bleaching his skin to land Parliamentary nominations.
"It seems he bleached himself so he could secure himself nomination to the National Assembly first through the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), then Jubilee and now he has decamped to the Wheelbarrow movement," he stated.
The vocal lawmaker made the remarks during a Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) popularization campaign on Saturday, February 6, in Turkana County.
The minority chief whip further claimed that he would like the constitution amended so that all white men can be considered as people with disability.
The remarks attracted the attention of many people including the organisation of the people living with disabilities, and who demanded an apology.
"Junet Mohammed should immediately withdraw and apologise for his rather unfortunate, demeaning and derogatory remarks towards our leader Sen Isaac Mwaura, if at all he deserves the title of an honorable member of parliament.
"Junet should desist forthwith from issuing any further utterances that shall be construed to demean, defame and misrepresent persons with albinism and indeed any other disability in his public pronouncements," read the statement in part.
The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) also noted that action was being taken by the commission against the lawmaker.
"NCIC condemns these utterances by Hon Junet Mohammed, making fun of Hon Isaac Mwaura's disability. Such utterances are demeaning to persons living with disability, if left unattended it may trigger division between persons of different colors. The Commission is considering the matter with the view of taking appropriate action," read a statement from NCIC.
