Kenyan Christians and Muslims in a tangle over schools

Christians and Muslims in Kenya's coastal region are embroiled in a row over the control of schools, stirring tensions which both groups warn could destabilise peaceful co-existence between the two faiths, reports Ecumenical News International.

"There is a problem here," Anglican Bishop Julius Kalu told Ecumenical News International from the coastal city of Mombasa. "Muslims want to own the existing schools under the sponsorship of Christians, especially Anglicans and Catholics."

Tensions heightened early in August after Zubeir Noor Hussein, a Muslim leader from the region, was quoted urging the government to allow the Islamic community to repossess public schools.

"Muslims want to run all primary and secondary schools at the coast with a Muslim majority," Noor said on 5 August in the Daily Nation newspaper.

Kenyan Christians and Muslims in a tangle over schools