Joho blasts Uhuru, Jubilee for blocking him from attending rally

Mombasa Governor, Ali Hassan Joho, has accused the Jubilee administration of harassment after he was allegedly blocked from attending President Uhuru Kenyatta’s function in Mtongwe, Mombasa.

Joho says he has been barred from attending the event where the President is expected the commission the new Mtongwe ferry.

“As we stand here we are restricted from attending the presidential function. I don’t know whether to call it an office arrest,” said Joho.

Speaking in his office Monday, March 13 morning, the vocal Governor claimed the move has been made to stop him from defending his Mombasa County Government over claims by the President of poor performance.

Joho has also dismissed the President’s remarks that the County Government of Mombasa has so far received Ksh 40 billion from the National Government saying that the county has only been allocated Ksh 17 billion only since 2013.

Governor Joho was on his way to the event only to be turned back by GSU officers guarding the site of the event.

“We used a bodaboda to access the Mtongwe ferry, only to find heavily armed GSU officers who drove us back,” said Joho.

The governor expressed amusement by the government’s decision insisting that he has a right to attend any public function conducted by the head of state other than president’s party affairs.

Joho termed reopening of Mtongwe ferry is a great move noting that it will significantly reduce time spent to commute between Mombasa Island and Mtongwe inland.

Joho has emerged as a fierce critic of President Kenyatta and the move to bar him from the president’s event is widely seen as an attempt to avert any potential political exchanges with the head of state.

President Kenyatta has recently received a harsh backlash from some quarters over his angry outburst against Turkana County governor Josephat Nanok while distributing relief food and fodder in the drought-stricken Northern Kenya and another incident while addressing the protracted doctors’ strike at a devolution conference in Nakuru.

Governor Joho’s attempt to hold a parallel rally to President Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party rally at Tononoka Grounds in Mombasa was extinguished by police by denying him a permit.

President is set to reopen the Mtongwe ferry services after 23 years. The services were abandoned following a dreaded accident that left at least 250 people dead and scores injured.