Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho led a group of residents and askaris to bring down a perimeter wall constructed by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) marking a new twist in the row between the county government and the government-owned media house.
County Executive for Lands Antony Njaramba was also at the scene when the youths brought down the wall lying on a 22-acre VOK grounds located in Bombolulu area.
Joho and Njaramba blamed the corporation for refusing to seek county’s approval before constructing the wall last year saying the land upon which the wall had been erected used to be a dumpsite for the county.
Addressing the public at the scene, Joho said that the property is faced with “issues that must be addressed before anything is built on it”.
“We have not approved the construction of this wall. Whoever wants to implement a project in Mombasa must seek approval from the county government. The law is very clear on this, and it must be followed,” he said
However, the corporation’s regional controller Suleiman Mwana said that they had fulfilled all the county requirements including the payments before erecting the building on the piece of land.
“We paid the county government a total of Sh521,100 for approval to put up the wall,” Ms Suleiman said.
Governor Joho however refuted the claims saying their efforts to seek confirmation from the contractors bore no fruit.
“When we ask the contractor about the approval plans, he says we should talk to Marwa. That is why we are saying that everyone should do his designated work,” said Joho.