CORD leaders in Mombasa on September 19th, 2016 clashed over claims that the county government was planning to buy a residential house for its Governor, Ali Hassan Joho.
Led by then-Senator Hassan Omar Sarai, the leaders said the county government would buy the house at a cost of Sh390 million. The storm was kicked off by Omar who claimed that the project was wasteful, claims the governor’s office and county officials dismissed terming them baseless.
The senator organized a multi-sectoral caucus on finance to review the Mombasa County government budgeting process. Omar accused the county government of misplaced priorities saying plans were underway to purchase a palatial home for the governor who was his political nemesis. Omar sought to ouster Joho in the 2017 August 8th general elections.
“You see Mombasa County budget, Sh390 million for the purchase of a residential; the only residential I know is bought in a county if I’m not wrong, is a governor’s residence. When I become governor next year, I don’t need a Sh390 million house,” Omar told participants.
“So you take the levies from a 'mama mboga' to finance your lavish spending and living. That’s an immorality,” he added during a press interview.
But in a quick rejoinder, Finance CeC Hazel Koitaba and office of the governor dismissed Sarai’s allegations, terming them lies. She said the said amount had been allocated for projects initiated by Joho’s administration even as it emerged that Joho did not have an official residence.
“There’s a vote for a residential, but it is creditors. In our budget, there’s no vote called pending bills that do not exist but there are creditors which means that the projects which we started last year, need to be paid for,” said Koitaba.
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