Uhuru to launch Arabic academy in Karen

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to launch an Arabic academy that will admit 1,000 students from 21 countries.

Mr Kenyatta will be received at the ceremony on Thursday by the leader of the Bohra community His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, who flew from India for the function.

The Bohra community is a branch of Shia Muslims, according to its Vice-President Sheikh Husain Hebatullah, who spoke to the Nation on Tuesday.

Mr Hebatullah urged Kenyans to denounce violence during the election campaign period and that the community will not endorse any presidential candidate for the August 8 polls.

“[The] Bohra community will support any person elected democratically by the people on August 8. We are only calling upon politicians to conduct their campaigns with decorum for the sake of peace,” Sheikh Hebatullah said during a press conference at Bohra Community Centre in Karen.

The academy will admit students from East African countries, Egypt, USA, England, Germany and Egypt, among others.

FOURTH INSTITUTION

The Arabic Academy will admit 500 girls and 500 boys aged 13 years and above from the 21 countries that are home to the Bohra people.

They will be taught various subjects, including Biology, Physics, Mathematics, Sociology, and Home Science, among others.

“Learners will study for eleven years for them to graduate with a degree. There is also an option of studying for seven years and then the student can leave and continue with university education elsewhere,” said Sheikh Hebatullah.

He said Nairobi’s Arabic Academy is the fourth learning institution to be built by the Bohra community worldwide.

“We have two schools in India and one in Pakistan. Our institutions have produced several architects, engineers and psychologists, among other professionals,” he said.

The Bohra community in Kenya numbers about 12,000, who mostly reside in the Nairobi and coastal regions.