An enduring friendship: Reflections from the Presidential visit

The President of Kenya, His Excellency William S. Ruto, visited the Dawoodi Bohra community’s Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah academy in Nairobi in January 2026. He was welcomed by His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, leader of the worldwide community, who personally received him and led a tour of the campus. At the conclusion of the visit, the President and other high-profile dignitaries addressed the gathering.

In their addresses, the President and senior national leaders paid tribute to the Dawoodi Bohra community’s longstanding contribution to Kenya’s social, economic and educational landscape. The President appreciated the community’s values of discipline, integrity and service, highlighting its partnerships with government in education, universal health coverage, housing and infrastructure development. Cabinet Secretaries and the Governor of Nairobi echoed these sentiments, commending the community’s philanthropy, environmental stewardship and commitment to national unity.

Below are selected excerpts from these speeches, reflecting the enduring bonds of friendship and a deepening partnership between the Dawoodi Bohra community and the Republic of Kenya.

His Excellency Dr William Samoei Arap Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya

Your Holiness, Members of your family, Distinguished guests, the Dawoodi Bohra community, fellow citizens.

Good morning. Hamjambo. Happy New Year.

I am deeply honoured to be here today.

Not only because of the warmth of this reception, but because this visit brings back very personal memories. Several years ago, I had the privilege of meeting His Holiness. That engagement then was brief but its impact is lasting. It stayed with me not because of its length but because of its depth. It was marked by three exceptional qualities: clarity of thought, humility of spirit, and a profound sense of purpose. Over time, that past conversation grew into trust. Trust grew into friendship, and friendship found expression in meaningful gestures of goodwill, including my awarding, in the name of the people of Kenya and on behalf of the people of Kenya, the highest honour of the Chief of the Golden Heart to His Holiness. These moments matter because they are anchored in sincerity, mutual respect and shared values.

"The Dawoodi Bohra community has been woven into Kenya’s social fabric for generations. You have lived among us. You have invested here. You have uplifted lives—quietly, consistently and faithfully."

Kenya is a nation built on faith, resilience and hard work. Our strength has never come from institutions alone, but from communities that believe in discipline, in service and in responsibility. Communities that understand and appreciate that progress is sustained not by rhetoric, outward appearance or fanfare, but by character, determination and hard work that delivers results. When I visit institutions such as Aljamea, I am reminded that education is more than the transfer of knowledge. It is the shaping of character. It is also the cultivation of values and the preparation of citizens to serve society with integrity, passion and commitment.

The Dawoodi Bohra community has been woven into Kenya’s social fabric for generations. You have lived among us. You have invested here. You have uplifted lives—quietly, consistently and faithfully. You have contributed to our national story of generations and transformation. That is the kind of partnership every nation treasures—and Kenya does.

When our First Lady, Rachel, visited this community, she observed that Kenya is integral to the Dawoodi Bohra community, and the Dawoodi Bohra community are integral to Kenya. I believe she aptly captured the essence of the relationship between this community and this nation.

This community is often described through its institutions, its buildings and its projects. Yet, what truly defines the Dawoodi Bohra community is daily life. It is how families live. How businesses operate. How young people are raised. How elders are respected. And how neighbours are treated.

That daily conduct adds value to Kenya in ways not always captured by statistics or spreadsheets. Through honesty in trade. Through commitment to education. And through service without spectacle.

In a world where many retreat inward or define themselves narrowly by identity, the Dawoodi Bohra community demonstrates a different path. You remain deeply rooted in faith while truly and fully engaged in society. You preserve tradition while embracing the future. You do not wait for conditions to be perfect. You begin, you persevere, you deliver and you make conditions better.

I have seen this spirit in action. In Project Rise health initiatives, in surgical camps that restore sight, that restore mobility and dignity to ordinary citizens. In outreach programmes in places like Mariakani, where care reached hundreds of deserving patients. In mangrove restoration along our coast, protecting livelihoods and shielding communities from floods. And in moments of humanitarian response, where help arrived—not late, but on time.

The Governor of Nairobi has spoken to this. My Minister for Health has spoken to this. My Minister for Education has spoken to this. I will sum it up and say you have been a most distinguished community in Kenya.

There is much our nation can learn from this community. The value of patience over haste. Planning over ad hoc action. And institutions that endure rather than impress.

It is for this reason that the Government of Kenya welcomes the continued engagement of the Dawoodi Bohra community. Not just as donors alone, but as partners in building a healthier, more productive and more cohesive nation.

You have partnered with us in many respects in education, in health. And I want to tell you, Your Holiness, the members of this community—they pay their taxes. They are very good businesspeople. Business with integrity.

And as we journey as a nation, they have been part and parcel of the Kenyan community marching forward.

Your Holiness, over the last three years, we have significantly transformed our education sector. We have undertaken some of the most consequential reforms in our education sector to expand opportunity and to ensure that every learner has an opportunity, and no child in Kenya is left behind. 

We have expanded learning spaces with 23,000 classrooms built over the last three years. We have expanded the number of teachers with 100,000 teachers hired in the last three years. And, we have increased our budget to the education sector by 200 billion Kenyan shillings in the last three years to make sure that we support all our learners and also forge a student-centred funding model to ensure that our universities remain sustainable and every student in college and university is treated fairly, and bursaries and grants are given on merit.

To the students of Aljamea, you carry a special responsibility. Wherever your journey takes you, remember this: Leadership is service. Discipline builds trust. And consistency delivers outcomes.

I did inform the nation that in the transformation of Kenya, education is going to be at the centre of that transformation. We just concluded examinations where 53% of learners joined STEM pathway. Our plan and target is to make sure that 60% of learners engage in the STEM space as we seek to build a highly professional workforce that will drive the transformation of Kenya into the future.

It is my wish and expectation that this university will participate with us as we develop the highest calibre of professional human capital that we need for the transformation of our nation, as we seek to take Kenya from a third-world country to a first-world country.

Let me also tell you, Your Holiness, that members of this community have worked with me on the priority projects that we have rolled out in Kenya. Among them, the housing programme. I have seen in this gathering some of our very best investors and construction companies from the Bohra community who have worked with us in the development of our housing programme across Kenya. As we all know, the housing programme is not just about houses. It’s about jobs. It’s about dignity. It’s about lifting people who live in neighbourhoods and in spaces that do not have water, do not have sanitation, do not have electricity or roads.

And I must say a very big thank you to the members of this community that are participating in the drive on our housing programme.

Let me also congratulate the members of this community for their participation in our health space. I want to say a very special thank you to the surgeons and the doctors that have come to work with their partners and colleagues in Kenya in the interventions that you have made in the last two days. And to thank members of this community who are working with us towards making health not a privilege for those who can afford but a right for every citizen.

And as has been said, 28.5 million Kenyans today are registered in SHA as part of our programme of making sure that access to health is universal—reaches every citizen. I want to thank members of this community for being part of the ecosystem of hospitals that support our universal health coverage and partner with SHA so that health can be affordable and accessible to the majority of citizens.

Your Holiness, as we embark on the journey to move Kenya to a first-world country, we seek your partnership, your support and your prayers. We are confident. We are confident that with your partnership, your support, and as we build synergy across this nation, we will be able to transform our nation. We will be able to generate an extra 10,000 megawatts of energy to power our industry and to support our transformation. We will be able to invest as has been requested here in infrastructure. At the moment, we have 6,000 kilometres of tarmac roads going on. We are seeking to add another 28,000. And I’m asking the Governor of Nairobi that as we look at the next priority areas, to make sure that the roads that were raised by the MP of this area are included in the plan that we have so that we can serve every community and every region and every part of this city and of the Republic of Kenya.

Your Holiness, I know you use our airport. I just want to assure you that this year, we will be building a new world-class airport that will support not just Kenya as a hub in our region, not just our tourism sector, not just our conference sector, but also our business communities that use our airports for purposes of travel.

Your Holiness, I want to thank you for your leadership in providing direction in uncertainty, clarity in complexity and calm in a restless world.

In Kenya, you have a partner. And in me, you have a friend to work with as we serve this community, and as we serve the people of Kenya and humanity in general.

Thank you very much and God bless you.

Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary of the Republic of Kenya

Ladies and gentlemen,

Your Excellency, the Republic of Kenya enjoys cordial and longstanding relations with the Dawoodi Bohra community since the early 19th century. Historical records reveal that there were 120 members of the community in Mombasa by the 1870s. Today, thousands of community members live in Kenya with over 700 Dawoodi Bohra families based in Nairobi, mainly at the Karen centre.

In his travels across the world, His Holiness not only nurtures spiritual growth but also engages with leaders worldwide to promote peace, cultural harmony and societal well-being.

His Holiness is indeed a leading diplomat of peace, spiritual growth and human development.

His Holiness and the Dawoodi Bohra community in Kenya continue to significantly contribute to our economy while promoting unity, philanthropy and peace in support of national stability and economic progress.

Notably, the Bohra community in Kenya has been active in popularising cricket, thus contributing to Kenya’s sporting culture and advancing our nation’s sports diplomacy.

The magnificent institution we toured today stands as a testament to the community’s commitment to empowering individuals and strengthening communities through education as well as promoting environmental protection.

Hon. Julius Migos Ogamba, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education

Your Excellency, let me begin by thanking you for taking your time out of your busy schedule to visit this institution.

Your visit here today reinforces the conviction that we all hold, that Kenya’s future depends not only on academic achievement but also on the development of disciplined, ethical, and responsive citizens.

Your Excellency, I had the privilege under the invitation of my learned friend, Hamza Taher and Quresh, to visit this campus in November 2024, during which I witnessed for the first time, the state-of-the-art facilities, the serene and conducive learning environment, and above all, the discipline and dedication exhibited by the students here.

Your Excellency, the reforms that we are rolling out in the education sector under your visionary leadership seek to entrench holistic education. We seek learning institutions and environments where intellectual development grows alongside character, responsibility and civic awareness.

This institution reflects these priorities in practise. The order, the cleanliness, and the discipline across this campus speak clearly of an institution committed to excellence, respect and purpose.

Your Excellency, may I take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude to His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin. His Holiness stands as a revered scholar, a global leader and a humanitarian whose lifelong mission places education at its very centre. His vision reminds us that education must nurture the mind while shaping moral character. This way, we will produce graduates with integrity who will lead with both conscious and competence.

This institution offers Kenya a powerful example of value-based education. Education here carries purpose beyond personal advancement in order to serve humanity. Students understand learning as a responsibility towards others and towards society at large.

Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah enriches Kenya’s educational landscape through innovation, mentorship and sustained commitment to youth development. From its architecture to its curriculum, this institution shows how tradition and modernity move forward together. It honours heritage while engaging confidently with [a] rapidly advancing world.

These lessons resonate strongly with our own educational ambitions under your transformative reform. For this reason, Your Excellency, we value our partnership with this institution as it aligns fully with our national objectives in the education sector.

Once again, we commend the leadership, the faculty and students of this academy for their commitment to value-driven excellence, as we thank His Holiness for his enduring contribution to education and humanity. Their contribution ranges from school buildings to infrastructure, to school feeding in our many institutions.  We look forward to strengthen and deepen our collaboration in nurturing generations that will serve Kenya and the world with knowledge, integrity and purpose.

At this juncture, Your Excellency, may I now invite the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Dr Musalia Mudavadi, to deliver his remarks.

I thank you, and happy New Year to all of us.

Hon. Aden Bare Duale, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health

I was here in 2016 with President Uhuru when this centre was new, and I want to thank you for taking your time on a Friday.

In an hour’s time, we’ll go for the prayers, [for the] holy day, to come and have a visit with this great community led by His Holiness.

Your Excellency, His Holiness before he came. This time, he came with a team of doctors, and I really want the doctors to come and stand here. I didn’t have time to go to the theatre, it was the day we were doing the SHA presentation.

The doctors and the surgeons, before I say what they did together with our colleagues at Kenyatta National Hospital.

[doctors/surgeons gather]

They are dressed in religious attire, but these are top surgeons.

And Your Excellency, in total, these great doctors, with our team at Kenyatta National Hospital and Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital, our two premier hospitals, they were able to do laparoscopic surgery for 13 Kenyans who are very, very poor, and SHA has covered the whole cost. They were able to do orthopaedic surgery on 22 Kenyans and urological surgery on 11 Kenyans. In total, they have performed 71 surgeries in two days.

Thank you very much. Their target was 53, but both our team and this great team and we really want to thank His Holiness, and we really want him to help us more in the health sector.

Your Excellency, the second most important is that this great community is supporting us in your health agenda. They are building a level four hospital in Lukoni, and the facilities that they run are SHA-compliant, and we have no issues. So they really believe in the universal health coverage agenda of our administration.

Finally, Your Excellency, you have been a very great friend of the Muslim community. Not now as a President, but even when you joined politics. You are the only person of another faith that we know in this country who has participated in the construction of masjids, in the construction of madrasas, in Islamic schools, more than any other leader who is of another faith. And we are very happy, Your Excellency, because we have a President who believes in faith, who believes in spiritual guidance.

And Your Excellency, since the first of January, when you announced that your administration will deal with matters of drug and substance abuse. The Muslim Ummah and the Kenyan community in general are very, very, happy, very happy when we go to the mosque.

Because these young people here, apart from learning, and I want to say that I’ve attended many recitations, and I was listening to the young man who did the recitation. I think it’s one of the best tajweeds I have come across.

I was in Eldoret the other day, Your Excellency, the other day in the same function. So the teachers here, we should clap for them. Very good tajweed.

So, Your Excellency, you see integration of a community, secular education, religious education, good leadership led by His Holiness and the entire team will mold this community.

And you know it, they are very good in healthcare. They have good professionals. They have good business people. They have good religious people. And I think a lot we can learn from them as a country.

And Your Excellency, on behalf of the Muslim community in our country, I want to thank you most sincerely, and we will work with you. This community, and all of us, will work with you to the vision that you want to deliver on affordable housing, on healthcare, on infrastructure, on energy, and on education, and giving employment to the young people.

With those many remarks, Your Excellency, thank you very much. May God bless you, and may God bless our country.

Hon. Johnson Sakaja, Governor of Nairobi

Your Holiness Dr Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, we are very privileged and honoured to have you in Nairobi. 

The Prime Cabinet Secretary and all other leaders and the entire Bohra community.

Let me take this very brief opportunity to welcome you to Nairobi. I know we have those who are from far and wide, from different countries and from different parts of our region and of our country Kenya.

Karibuni Sana Nairobi. You are part of us and we are part of you.

Your Excellency, for many, many years, this community has been a great part of our country and of Nairobi, and we have a great cooperation with them. This is not my first time at Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah. Could be my fourth time, if I’m not wrong. Your Excellency, I came here as Senator. I’ve come here as Governor. And I will keep coming, and we are working very closely

Your Excellency, the values that this community holds are values that we need in our country.

If you look at how the honeycomb operates, the beehive operates, that many people cooperate, work together, bring different influences from different parts, synthesise knowledge and bring out something beautiful to a society.

Those are values that we need because in that society, there is respect, there is kindness. You look out for each other, for your brother, you look out for your sister. Your Excellency, finally, allow me to really ask that we deepen that cooperation.

They have taught me many things, Your Excellency, and I want you to try.

Because I have seen you making chapati, and I’m sorry, Your Excellency, if you thought you’ll run away from chapati, you will not. It will haunt you.

But next time you have lunch, before you eat, take a pinch of salt and put it in your mouth, before you start. And then, when you finish, also finish with a pinch of salt. It keeps you healthy for a long time, and it nourishes your body.

The first time I came, I was amazed that there is zero wastage of food  in this campus. Zero wastage!

There is actually, every day, there is a group whose work is to finish all the food from the safras to the plates. That is amazing respect for God.

So I will ask Your Excellency, where you have time, when there’s not much activity, come alone and have a real tour because you have not seen half of what is in this campus. May God bless you. Thank you.