UDA Secretary-General Hassan Omar Sarai has launched a scathing attack on former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, telling the opposition presidential hopeful that he should be answering for his record in government rather than seeking the presidency.
Sarai spoke on Monday during a UDA consultative meeting with Kisauni village elders and Nyumba Kumi leaders, as Matiang’i began a five-day political tour of the Coast to build support for his 2027 presidential bid.
Sarai used Matiang’i’s return to the Coast to reopen old grievances over citizenship vetting and what he described as discrimination against Coast communities during the previous administration.
“I hear Matiang’i is in Mombasa today. Instead of coming here with his one-term rhetoric, he should tell us what he will do for us. He should tell us where the 380 children from our community went during Uhuru Kenyatta’s ten years in power,” Sarai said.
He accused Matiang’i, who served as Interior CS under former President Uhuru Kenyatta, of overseeing a system that subjected members of Coast communities to citizenship vetting and made it difficult for some young people to obtain identification documents.
“You were the Interior Minister. You told our Giriama children, our Mijikenda children and our Muslim children to undergo vetting. You discriminated against our children and made it difficult for them to obtain their citizenship documents. Today you are coming to ask us to make you our president,” he said.
“You do not belong in State House. You belong in jail,” he added.
Sarai also challenged Matiang’i over his association with Uhuru Kenyatta, claiming that the former president’s political camp should first address historical land grievances at the Coast before seeking support from the region.
“Tell your party leader Uhuru Kenyatta, the person you took money from, that the only way you will get votes from the Coast is by returning the land his father took from these people. Give us our land, and after Ruto leaves, perhaps we will consider giving you our votes,” Sarai said.
He said Coast communities would continue demanding justice over historical grievances.
“Tell Uhuru Kenyatta that the children of those who were wronged are demanding and will continue demanding justice. We will also teach our children to demand it. They will not rest until the last inch of justice is delivered,” he said.
Sarai further accused the Kenyatta administration of neglecting the Coast for decades, saying the region had been held back while being classified as a low-potential area.
“You have frustrated this entire community. You took away our development and delayed it for 40 years, calling us a low-potential area and saying that we had no potential,” he said.
He contrasted the Coast’s development record with infrastructure investments in other parts of the country, arguing that the region had the economic potential to become a major driver of Kenya’s economy.
Sarai’s broadside came as Matiang’i stepped up his political activities at the Coast, where he is seeking to build support for his presidential ambitions and strengthen the opposition’s presence ahead of the 2027 General Election.