Ali Aden Lord

Consequently he filed a number of petitions to the governor Sir Patrick Renison that Somalis be given a greater autonomy in their political, cultural and social affairs. However, it was concluded at the Lancaster House that Somalis from the non-self governing Somali territory of NFD shared a common political destiny with the rest of Kenya despite the findings of an independent Commission appointed by the British Government that Somalis were in favor of an independence and immediate union with Somalia. Though a federal solution was proposed in the Kenyan constitution as an amendment on the eve of Independence, the government suspended the clause and opted for a centralized format in 1964. Jomo Kenyatta vehemently defended his country’s territorial integrity even if took using lethal force.

In mid-1961, Lord and British Secretary for Colonial Affairs met in Nairobi and discussed over NPPP's independent platform. He was allowed to attend the Constitutional Conference at Lancaster House in London.

At the conference, Lord articulated Somalis' fear and concern over their political rights as a religiously distinct and minority ethnic group. He pleaded his case that if Britain did not give the NFD the right to self-determination before it handed over political power to Kenya, “the frontier could expect neglect, bad administration and disregard for their rights at best and at worst oppression”. For this, he became the sole candidate for the entire NFD and won his seat in the Parliament as a KADU-Independent member. Lord became a member of the LEGCO in 1960, a legislative council whose membership had been previously exclusive to white settlers until the late 1950s.

Ali Adan Lord (1915-1961) became the first Somali MP and later the Interior Minister of Kenya. As Interior Minister, Lord included along with Jomo Kenyatta the state delegation that went to Mogadishu during President Sharmaake’s term.

Ali Aden Lord was born in 1915 circa in Nairobi, Kenya. He is a member of the Adan Lord family from Laasqoray, Sanaag region of Somalia. As his last name suggests, he came to own and was bequeathed to him a huge swath of land in the Eastleigh section of Nairobi, including the Air Force base area, as a result of his father’s legacy. Ali Aden Lord also owned many other real estate properties in Kenya.