Idris with Kenya Maritime Authority staff after receiving a cheque worth Ksh. 500,000
Disquiet and high level suspicion are threatening to disrupt the activities of the much hyped Mombasa Walk Movement (MWM).
The movement founded by retired major Idris Abdulrahman celebrated its two years anniversary on February 10, 2024 but since then things haven’t been the same.
The social media has been awash with reports that the former military officer is fighting terror group Al-Shabaab links.
Things have escalated fast and furious with Idris suspecting sabotage from within while at the same time some of the key organizers for the MWM are blaming him of sidelining them and running the registered walk movement as an individual initiative.
Mr. Idris is on record stating that he started the walk movement for health reasons after he had been diagnosed with Diabetes and Hypertension in 2010 He started his fitness journey through walking while updating his social media followers.
This would later grow into the walk movement which according to the official MWM facebook page has over 3000 members now.
But all this could be swept down the drain with the shocking Al-Shabaab links where some social media have reported that his son joined the outlawed militia group in Somali.
One of the social media reported that Idris’s son holds a ‘key’ ICT position in Alshabaab and has been in contact with him.
The reports indicated that the Kenyan government through its intelligence system is tracking the situation before making any move. Another website reported that Idris could be summoned even as the state closely follows up on the activities of the walk movement.
It is not clear when Major Idris’s son went to Somalia but reports indicate he left their home in August 2023 and has never been seen again.
While the walk movement has received major support from government agencies like the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Marime Authority(KMA) and even Absa Bank Kenya, Mombasa County and Agakhan Hospital, authorities are closely monitoring any possible links to recruitment to Al-Shabaab.
This after some reports indicated that Idris has been communicating with some al-Shabaab senior officials who have assured him that his son is in safe hands.
Back home to the walk movement, he is facing rebellion from members who are now planning to start a walk movement of their own.
All the members had joined a WhatSApp group he formed and some of the members who have taken a back seat following the Al-Shabaab links claim Mr Idris has effected changes to the administration of the WhatsApp group and formed a different group.
He did this after suspecting that he was being set up by his own members but a senior DCI officer has revealed that the Al-Shabaab reports about his son emanated from Somalia and were shared by some retired Intelligence officers to journalists.
The MWM runs a bank account with Absa Bank after ending its relationship with KCB which is still partly owned by the state.
Some of the members claim they have evidence on how the recent released money were divided among staff.
The Absa Account 2050405187 was opened by Idris himself and other MWM officials have been wondering why he opened another account yet they had an account with KCB.
She said “We wonder why he opened an account with absa yet we had an account with KCB. Worrying is that even absa bank itself wired its money to KCB. This is before they withdrew the while amount from the bank.”
Absa Bank, KPA and Kenya Maritime Authority contributed Sh 500,000 thousand each to the just concluded Bonje Walk Edition held on February 10, 2024.
The source added that she has everything in her possession on how the released money was shared amongst the ABSA staff as a kickback.
She added “We have everything, we know how much those absa staff both in Nyali and Mombasa branch got. This was a high end scheme to loot money.”
The fallout has partly been attributed to the fact that Idris is involved in terror related activities and is using the group for political ambitions.
Major Idris, a father of three and since retiring, has been looking for the son who is on the National intelligence surveillance.
Another report indicates that Idris is always drunk, goes to bed with young and old ladies.
She added “We even have his chats at with some ladies. He is always drunk and sleeps with anyone on his way. I think Idris is psychologically disturbed and needs a psychologist he never goes to his wife in Nairobi.”
The over 60 year-old was barely known in Mombasa and has been enjoying a quiet retirement life in his upmarket home in Nyali estate.
A bank senior officer said that MWM staff have been holding secret meetings to discuss on how to loot and have money in their pockets with faked activities.
He said “It’s their time to eat. What was the need of having an account. If it was a genuine charity thing toward the community then the money was to wired to their KCB account. We know how our fellow staff benefited. They have even bought themselves new items.”