The Sunday Nation newspaper became the subject of a sustained online attack after they published a commentary that was perceived as demeaning the Somali community in Kenya.
The contentious article, Junet Mohamed Should be told there is nothing special in being Cushitic, penned by columnist and Nation editor Gitau Warigi, criticised Suna East MP Junet Mohamed, who is also the ODM Director of Elections, for referring to Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa as a ‘monkey’.
Warigi responded by noting that the monkey slur has deep-rooted racial connotation against Africans, especially in Europe and in America, and expressed his shock that Mohamed would utter such racial insult at a fellow black man.
The veteran journalist opined that Mohamed’s surprise choice of insult may have been driven by a sense of superiority in his Cushitic heritage, against Marwa who is a Bantu.
“This silly African-to-African race-profiling was fuelled during the colonial period when ethnic Somalis in Kenya had certain minor privileges, like being appointed domestic housekeepers in White establishments. This certainly gave some of them the notion that they could pass themselves off as non-natives,” Warigi wrote.
However, the journalist’s solution to the perceived superiority complex has now caused a sustained attack on his employer.
“First, gently remind them that they are kinsmen to clans from the only failed state in Africa...and that nation, which has over the years sought to reclaim “lost” provinces in Ethiopia and Kenya, has suffered successive and humiliating military defeats as a result...remind them that armies from five different African states, including Kenya and Ethiopia, are stationed in Somalia...” he concluded.
@GitauWarigi am on official business in paris, but once back will give you a lesson on superiority of cushites and bantus @ahmednasirlaw...
— Hon. Junet Mohamed (@JunetMohamed) February 19, 2017
Here are some of the other responses:
Gitau Warigi is an ethnic idiot. He a Daily Nation editor who can't stop hating the #Somalis. This article is reflection of what he blieves pic.twitter.com/4IMrvyXBwN
— Abdikadir Ukash (@AbdikadirOkash) February 19, 2017
@ahmednasirlaw @JunetMohamed @WehliyeMohamed - Is this writer serious or has he melted down with inferiority complex? Race bashing is wrong
— Doli Law (@DoliLaw) February 20, 2017
My Q to @GitauWarigi is what would he have written if the monkey word was uttered by say Hon Onyango or Hon Kamau instead of @JunetMohamed https://t.co/wtsXhaQONh
— Mohamed Wehliye (@WehliyeMohamed) February 19, 2017
@GitauWarigi @JunetMohamed @ahmednasirlaw And when a politician called someone uncircumcised, did Gitau put a Bantu vs Nilotic spin?
— Mohamed Wehliye (@WehliyeMohamed) February 19, 2017
When I was shouting at the top of my voice about #AntiSomaliNMG, some scoffed at me. Now read this and weep. https://t.co/UCRtqPkLPU pic.twitter.com/10qZpEDt6A
— Ahmed Mohamed (@asmali77) February 19, 2017
What is this,does warigi realise that ,this piece is more pathetic than junet,u r basicaly crying https://t.co/sjjPir6GBz
— GHAZALI ADAWA (@GhazaliAdawa) February 19, 2017
