Muslim leaders in Mombasa have raised alarm over the increasing use of the buibui by criminals and hookers. It is giving the religious dress a bad name, they say.
In October 2013, Kwale County police intervened to save a man donning a buibui from angry members of the public in Msambweni.
“He was spotted at around 10am at Farmers Bar in a buibui and was beaten by the public after the hotel raised the alarm. He was rescued by police who took him to hospital before locking him up at Msambweni Police Station,” said the OCPD, Jack Ekakoro.
Around the same time in Ukunda, a similar case was witnessed after another man in a buibui was stoned to death by an angry mob at Kona ya Musa.
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Ekakoro blamed the public for failing to share useful information to enable police get to the root of the matter. Mahmoud Barroh, a coordinator of the Msambweni Human Rights Watch, however, said the deceased had kidnapped a child before he was accosted by the public.
“The man was in a buibui and was walking away with a crying child before he was accosted by members of the public, who later lynched him,” explained Barroh.
Abuse of buibui has attracted the ire of Muslim clerics.
Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa, for instance, said it was against the teachings of Islam for a man to put on women’s clothing and vice versa.
The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) Organising Secretary told The Nairobian in Mwembe Tayari that, “We as CIPK are aware of cases of buibui thugs who are harassing people in town. Some robbers get into homes and before you know it, a gun is pointed in your face.”
He asked the police to apprehend the criminals and curtail the trend which, he said, was giving Islam a bad name, adding that CIPK was inundated by reports of men and women misusing the religious dress, even attending nightclubs and engaging in immoral activities that go against the teachings of Islamic.
The cleric reprimanded women saying, “Putting on a tight buibui is like declaring they are on display for adultery. A buibui should be loose and plain without decorations.”
