Mvita Member of Parliament Abdulswamad Nassir has opened up about his relationship with his Suna East counterpart, Junet Mohamed, after the two were captured in a head-nodding altercation in a viral video.
Speaking to NTV on Monday, June 27, the Mombasa gubernatorial candidate stated that he shared a cordial relationship with the lawmaker having appeared angered in the video.
He stated that the clip was edited to portray differences between them, disclosing that Junet did not intend to embarrass him in the incident.
Nassir added that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's right hand man was only trying to create a light moment from an earlier incident where rowdy youth hit him with a bottle filled with stones.
"There was a group of youth who decided to through a bottle filled with stones to the podium and it almost hit the party leader and I evaded it. It is an unfortunate incident and I have forgiven them.
"I was angry and governor Ali Hassan Joho was trying to calm me down by telling me that he had also had similar experiences previously," he stated.
Further, he stated that Junet was the first person to call him after the video went viral on social media, attracting backlash from a section of Kenyans.
Nassir revealed that it was during the call that they decided to issue a joint statement over the incident to clear the air.
"Junet is someone I have lived with and even studied together for three years in boarding school. We have known each other for a very long time. I have to applaud the people who made this video because they picked the right angles to target me but we came to the event using the same vehicle and also left using the same vehicle.
"Behind us were some legislators and what you cannot see is that Junet smiles as he does that. He made a joke. Maybe from the angle that it was taken, it was construed to be different but the truth of the matter is that we shared the same car."
After the February clash, the two issued a statement downplaying the incident as Junet posted images of the two of them walking in around parliament grounds.
"With my brother Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir. The last few days have seen so much rubbish said about me from a digitally manipulated video.
"In Tononoka, we drove together in the same vehicle to the venue and left together. Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir and I are deeply cordial. Ignore desperate rumours. Team Azimio is strong," he stated then.
