Over the years, Muslims in Kenya have continued to experience discrimination in employment and access to opportunities, acquisition of national identification cards, passports and birth certificates, all of which are rights for all Kenyan citizens. They have been left out of mainstream political, social and economic national life. Government development policies formulation and subsequent implementation have largely been skewed leaving Muslim dominated parts of the country disadvantaged and marginalized.

The US led war on terrorism provided an avenue for arbitrary arrests of Muslims, illegal confinement and subsequent rendition to foreign lands.

It was this background of extreme injustices that gave rise to the formation of NAMLEF, so that together, Kenyan Muslims could rid themselves of these injustices.  Since inception, NAMLEF has had a number of successes. It successfully pushed for inclusion of expanded Kadhi Courts in the Draft Constitution of 2005.

NAMLEF’s effort to improve the governance environment has since resulted in increased and better representation of Muslims in Parliament and Local Authorities in the Country. In addition, NAMLEF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and its presidential candidate, the current Prime Minister to provide an enabling environment for addressing and mainstreaming of problems facing Muslims. The creation of the Ministry of Northern Kenya and other ASAL regions was a direct result of some of these efforts.