Abdul Yusuf, son to the late Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji has been endorsed by elders to succeed his father in the looming senatorial by-election.
The elders led by Garissa Governor Ali Korane, said Abdul has all the traits Garissa residents admired in his father who was serving for his second term before his demise in February.
Elders from the region have been in talks to field one unopposed candidate for the election with the aim to unify the community.
Abdul is yet to come out on if or not he will accept the proposal by the elders.
He hit the limelight in the 2013 Westgate terror attack after risking his life to save innocent civilians who had been cornered but the terrorists.
Armed with a pistol, he bravely made entry to the mall and several photos captured showed a caring man and one loyal in defending his country from external threat.
Since then, he has kept a low profile even after Senator Haji’s death on February 15.
Haji breathed his last at the Aga Khan Hospital where Abdul together with his brother, Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji had visited him last.
The late senator according to DPP Haji was contemplating stepping down as Garissa Senator saying that it did not feel okay for him to earn a salary that he was not working for.
He wanted us to call the Senate Speaker to resign because he said it was haraam to draw a salary while he was unable to work for the people of Garissa,” Abdul recalled.
Now, Haji’s family will donate an equivalent of his six month’s salary to vulnerable children in Garissa County.
The funds will be managed by former Red Cross Society secretary-general Dr Abas Gulet. The money will be distributed across all the six sub-counties in Garissa.
