Sir Ali Bin Salim

The man after whom Sir Ali Muslim club is named is no doubt the most renowned Arab personality in the history of colonial Kenya. Sir Ali bin Salim bin Khalfan Albusaidi, belonged to the most aristocratic Omani Arab family of the day. Since the sultans of Zanzibar were Busaidis, fellow clansmen were selected by them to act as governors or liwalis in various coastal towns. Salim Bin Sultan, Sir Ali’s father was a lawali of Malindi before he was transferred to Mombasa late in the 19th century.
Salim bin Khalfan became a friend of the British as Liwali of Malindi, co-operating with them in their anti-slavery operations during the early part of the second half of the 19th century.
With the decline of the independence of the sultanate of Zanzibar late in the 19th century and the advent of the British Protectorate on the Kenyan Coast, the Sultan’s liwalis became part of the new British administration. Salim bin Khalfan became the most senior and the best paid among them, thanks to his most established relations with the British. This privileged position extended to his two sons, Ali and Seif. In 1895 Ali was appointed Liwali of the Gasi and Seif the Liwali of Mambrui. Seif bin Salim’s civic spirit and generosity led to the establishment of the Seif bin Salim library which for many years remained the only public library in Mombasa.
Of the two brothers, Ali proved to be the most successful and dynamic. His role in putting down the Mazrui revolt of 1895-6 led to his being awarded a commemorative medal. The British government also rewarded Ali with a visit to London. In London Ali bin Salim with uncanny foresight decided to study English. Not surprisingly, his qualification led to his promotion from Gasi to the capital of the East African Protectorate, Mombasa where he became assistant to his aged father, Salim with an increased salary. When his father died in 1920, Ali bin Salim succeeded him as liwali of Mombasa. From then, Ali binSalim became the spokesman for the Arabs in the British colonial Administration and he soon became the main adviser on the affairs concerning the Arab community.
During the First World War, he helped the British and that won him C.M.G. in 1918. He became the first nominated Arab to represent his community in the Legislative Assembly in 1912.
In those years of the introduction of western education he urged his fellow Arabs to obtain Western education seeing it as the only way to escape from the economic and political disadvantage the community was suffering from as that time. He played a leading role in the founding of the first Arab school in 1912, and financially assisted those students who could not afford fees.
At the end of Second World War, a second school was opened for the coastal people at Milindi in the premise provided by Ali bin Salim who also endowed the school with a trust – and for that generosity the school was named after him.
Ali bin Salim’s progressive ideas and farsightedness deserve noting. He realized that the community would lose much more than the political independence unless it realistically faced the political, economical and cultural challenges of the time and accommodated them. He was a keen educationist and admired the progress of the West. He wished to see more Arab youths being educated so that the status of the Arabs in the country could be maintained if not enhanced. He admired the Asians and their expertise in commerce and in various professions and wished his community would emulate them. He was ever-willing to contribute generously towards educational and philanthropic and this charitable spirit was extended to non-Arabs. Thus he helped the Goans in Mombasa establish a club and helped the Muslim Asians at the time to establish theirs in Nairobi – Sir Ali Muslim Club.
By the time he died on December 4, 1940, he had been made an honorary captain of the Royal Navy Volunteers Reserve – a singular honour since at the time there were only four such honorary captains, including the Earl of Derby. He had also been knighted by the British.
Sir Ali bin Salim was no doubt the most outstanding and the most powerful Arab Chieftain during the first four decades of the 20th Century. He belonged to the family that has left behind a commendable legacy and social and welfare services to the Arab community and the others.
–Ahemed Idha Salim