Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party nominated Member of Parliament (MP) Umulkheir Harun Mohamed has issued a statement after a video showing her engaging in a fistfight with her East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) counterpart Falhada Iman of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) went viral.
Harun, in a statement issued via her official social media accounts on the night of Tuesday, April 8, 2025, blamed Iman for the altercation that culminated in a physical fight.
While regretting the incident, Harun narrated that her colleague EALA, whom she has accused of expressing longstanding differences with her work, acted in a manner that she found unacceptable.
According to her, Iman went to parliament to do nothing but attack her, an incident that she says blindsided her and left her questioning what had caused the ambush.
“Today an unfortunate incident occurred on the parliamentary grounds—a situation I deeply regret both as a Member of Parliament and as a mother. My colleague from the EALA, who has expressed longstanding differences with my work, acted in a manner that I find unacceptable. She came to Parliament to do nothing but attack me, an incident that blindsided me and left me questioning what faulted the ambush,” she narrated.
She went ahead to state that she would not provide further comments on the incident but promised to remain fully committed to upholding the respectful and dignified standards expected of their institution and of herself, particularly as a Muslim woman.
“I sincerely regret this occurrence and want to emphasise that I do not endorse or encourage any form of misconduct. While I am not providing further comments at this time, I remain fully committed to upholding the respectful and dignified standards expected of our institution and of myself, particularly as a Muslim woman,” Harun stated.
She further indicated that she had already filed a complaint about the incident with the relevant authorities, accusing her colleague of assault.
“The political landscape is inherently challenging, but there is never justification for behaviour that undermines the integrity of our work. I hope that together we can foster a more respectful and constructive environment moving forward. I have made a complaint about the assault with the necessary institutions. Thank you,” she wrote on Facebook.
A video that is doing the rounds on social media shows the two women MPs engaging in a physical fight in the premises of parliament, with a fellow woman colleague trying to separate them.
However, a male MP is heard in the video telling those trying to separate the two to leave them to fight, as he recorded the video.
Efforts from those separating the two to stop the male lawmaker from recording the video bore no fruit. Falhada Iman had not yet commented on the incident by the time of publishing this article.