Thursday April 1, 2021
NAIROBI (HOL) - Abdikadir Haji, the son of former Garissa senator Yusuf Haji is poised to replace his deceased father in the Senate after it emerged no other candidate submitted nomination papers at the close of the deadline by the electoral commission.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) set March 30 as the deadline for submission of papers for those intending to run in the Garissa county by-election but only Abdikadir beat that deadline.
Haji died in February in Nairobi having served as Senator for Garissa and previously as defence minister and within the provincial administration.
Abdikadir rose to public limelight during the 2013 Westgate attack in Nairobi when he braved his way into the mall and managed to rescue several people who were trapped in the building as Al-Shabaab militants laid siege.
Among those rescued was his brother Noordin Haji who is now the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The younger Haji was endorsed by three key clans of Abduwak, Aulihan and Abdalla which hold sway in the politics of the county.
An electoral official quoted by the local media said he had submitted Abdikadir’s papers to the IEBC headquarters for determination.