Defence CS Aden Duale has insisted that Muslim women must at all times wear hijabs, whenever they are in public.
Speaking on Tuesday, the CS said the government will respect the Muslim culture by making sure female Muslims dress decently.
The CS added that if anyone has a problem with hijabs, then they should look for other countries to live in.
“Anywhere where the government requires Muslims to sit… we will respect Muslim culture. We will make sure our girls wear Hijab,” Duale said.
“If you have a problems with the Hijabs our girls, wives and sisters wearing Hijab and you are in Kenya, then you better leave this country.”
He spoke during the launch of the International Quran Competition which was held at Sir Ali Muslim Club in Nairobi.
A hijab is a head covering scarf that some Muslim women and girls wear in public. For many of them, the hijab signifies both modesty and privacy.
His remarks came at the backdrop of a debate on some schools banning students from wearing hijabs.
The Ministry of Education in March this year directed that learning institutions stop violating religious rights of school going children by enforcing bans and forcing them to take specific religious subjects.
The ministry said heads of schools were using the same excuses to deny students admission.
In 2019, Duale who was then Garissa Township MP cautioned schools in his constituency not to ban students from wearing hijabs.
“I want to warn head teachers that they dare not stop our children from learning because of wearing a hijab. Anyone who does that will find it rough with us who come from the Muslin community,” he said.
Duale was making reference to a case in which seven students from Thaara Secondary School in Murang’a had been sent home after they were found wearing hijabs.
