MP Shakeel Shabbir’s inter-racial union spawns resentment

Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabbir Ahmed and his wife Nancy Wanyonyi,who converted to Islam after their wedding and took the name ‘Noor. Shakeel encourages Asians to inter-marry with other communities. [PHOTOS: COLLINS ODUOR AND FILE/STANDARD]

Kenya: The floodgates — it seems — are opening on proclamations of love by inter-racial couples. Just one month after Sarika Patel and Timothy Khamala professed their undying love in the young man’s mud-walled hut, Kisumu West MP Shakeel Shabbir Ahmed has given a candid interview about his marriage to a Bukusu woman.

His cheerful wife, Nancy Wanyonyi, whom he married seven years ago, also talks happily about her marriage to the two-term MP from Kisumu, and the challenges they have faced and overcome.