Mohammed Hussein Ali
Encyclopedia
- For the Kenyan politician, see Mohamed Hussein AliMohamed Hussein AliMohamed Hussein Ali is a Kenyan politician. He belongs to the Orange Democratic Movement and was elected to represent the Mandera East Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya since the Kenyan parliamentary election, 2007.-References:...
Major General Mohammed Hussein Ali (born in 1956 in Eldoret
Eldoret
Eldoret is a town in western Kenya and the administrative centre of Uasin Gishu District of Rift Valley Province. Lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about 2100 metres above sea level at the airport to more than 2700 metres in nearby areas...
) is an ethnic Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
military commander. He was the former Commissioner of the Kenya Police
Kenya Police
The Kenya Police is a national body in charge of law enforcement in the East Africa State of Kenya. While organised at a national level, each arm reports to a Provincial police authority, which in turn divides its force by local Police Divisions, headquartered at local police stations...
, and is currently Chief Executive of the Postal Corporation of Kenya
Postal Corporation of Kenya
Postal Corporation of Kenya is the company responsible for postal service in Kenya . It is also known as Posta Kenya.Kenyan post system was formerly part of the Kenya Post & Telecommunication Corporation , which was split into Posta, the Communication Commission of Kenya and Telkom Kenya in 1999 ....
.
Early life
Ali is a member of the SheekhaalSheekhaal
The Sheikhal or Fiqi Omar is a Somali clan whose members inhabit both Somalia and Ethiopia, with considerable numbers also found in the Northern Frontier District in Kenya....
Somali clan
Somali clan
The demographics of Somalia describes the condition and overview of Somalia's inhabitants. Demographic topics include basic education, health and population statistics, as well as identified racial and religious affiliations.-Somalis:...
. He was born in 1956 in Eldoret, and went to Uasin Gishu School and then to Kolanya Boys High School in Busia District. He dropped out of high school after the death of his father to take care of his four younger siblings.
Military
In 1977, Ali joined the Kenyan Army. He was eventually promoted to BrigadierBrigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
in 2003 and to Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
in 2005. During his military career, he served as a military attaché
Military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
and Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, and was commanding officer of the Western Brigade of the Kenya Army Paratrooper Battalion, as well as the Air Cavalry regiment in Embakasi
Embakasi
Embakasi is a division of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. It is located east of the central business district. As a residential estate it houses mostly lower middle income citizens....
. He is also a former chairman of the Ulinzi Stars
Ulinzi Stars
Ulinzi Stars are a Kenyan football club, based in the city of Nakuru.- History :The Ulinzi Stars are a football club for Kenya's military Combined Services [Army, Navy and Air Force]. They compete in the top-level Kenyan league, the Kenyan Premier League. The team have been champions of Kenya four...
football club.
Police
Ali was appointed to the position of Commissioner of the Kenya Police in 2004 by incumbent President of Kenya, Mwai KibakiMwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...
, whilst then holding the rank of Brigadier in the Kenya Air Force
Kenya Air Force
The Kenya Air Force is the national Air Force of Kenya.The main airbase operating fighters is Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, while Moi Air Base in Eastleigh, Nairobi is the HQ & operations Kenya Air Force. Other bases include FOB Mombasa The Kenya Air Force (KAF) is the national Air Force of...
. Ali was the first Police Commander to assume office from a post outside the police force.
Anti-vice and corruption reform
Ali's first significant act upon his appointment was to disband the then feared Kenya Police Reserve, and to draft new recruitment procedures. He also authorized a mass clear-out of the police's hierarchy in a move to reform the force, which had long had a poor reputation and faced accusations of corruption and criminal involvement. The reform constituted the largest shake up of the police since independence.Crackdown on the Mungiki sect
Starting 2007, Ali's charges in the Kenyan police began severely cracking down on the notorious MungikiMungiki
Mungiki is a politico-religious group and a banned criminal organization in Kenya. The name means "A united people" or "multitude" in the Kikuyu language. The religion, which apparently originated in the late 1980s, is secretive and bears some similarity to mystery religions. Specifics of their...
sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
, a local politico-religious group and banned criminal organization known for, among other things, decapitating policemen. For this perceived excessive use of force on its part, the police drew heavy criticism from human rights groups, particularly over the deaths of several hundred youth in its custody without trial over alleged links to the sect.
2008 Post-election crisis
In 2008, controversy also surrounded the Kenyan police's response to the violence2007–2008 Kenyan crisis
The 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis refers to a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that erupted in Kenya after incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election held on December 27, 2007. Supporters of Kibaki's opponent, Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic...
that rocked the country following a disputed presidential election, especially regarding a 'shoot to kill' order that is alleged to have come out of Ali's office. According to a report
Waki Commission
The Waki Commission, officially The Commission of Inquiry on Post Election Violence , was an international commission of inquiry established by the Government of Kenya in February 2008 to investigate the clashes in Kenya following the disputed Kenyan presidential election of 2007.- Background : The...
investigating the Post election violence, gunshot wounds most likely from police guns were the biggest single cause of death amongst the fatalities. On 15 December 2010, Ali was named in a summons by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, in relation to his putative role in the events that followed the 2007 elections. The ICC prosecution alleges that Ali authorized the use of excessive force and facilitated attacks against supporters of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement
Orange Democratic Movement
Orange Democratic Movement refers to a political party in Kenya, which is the successor of a former grassroots people's movement which was formed in the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. The erstwhile single party which separated in August 2007 into two...
during the period's post-election violence.
The Alston Report
In 2009, Major General Ali was in the news again when a report by UN special reporter Philip AlstonPhilip Alston
Philip G. Alston is an international law scholar and human rights practitioner. He is John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, and co-Chair of the law school's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice...
into extrajudical killings recommended that he was a stumbling block to police reform and should resign. This was despite at least one observer describing him in the Nairobi Chronicle as "without doubt, the most effective police chief Kenya has seen in a long time." While never shying away from making use of all of the available means open to him as head of Kenya's police, during his time as Commissioner, Ali, among other things, re-equipped the police with new patrol trucks and vehicles and trucks, secured modern policing equipment for his charges, revitalized the police over the long-term by increasing the recruitment of officers, and improved the sharing of information between the police and the public.
Postal Corporation
On September 8, 2009, Ali was transferred from his position as Police Commissioner to Chief Executive of the Postal Corporation of KenyaPostal Corporation of Kenya
Postal Corporation of Kenya is the company responsible for postal service in Kenya . It is also known as Posta Kenya.Kenyan post system was formerly part of the Kenya Post & Telecommunication Corporation , which was split into Posta, the Communication Commission of Kenya and Telkom Kenya in 1999 ....
.