State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu during a past media briefing. Photo/the-star.co.ke
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto have defended plans to set up a dry port in Naivasha, Nakuru County.State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu termed Governor Hassan Joho's and Jubilee gubernatorial aspirant Suleiman Shahbal's claims that the dry port will sabotage the county’s economy as baseless. This comes after both Shahbal and Joho opposed the establishment of the port in Naivasha, arguing that it will affect the economy of Mombasa.''I will not allow port operations to be taken to Naivasha. Not negotiable. Mombasa should and must remain the centre at all times,'' wrote Shahbal in a Facebok post on Friday.On his part, Joho argued that the dry port will cause unemployment in Mombasa.“Such a move will definitely create an employment crisis in the Coast region,” he said. Esipisu, however, rubbished the claims saying “It is very difficult to understand how such thinking can enter anyone’s head.”“There can’t be ships landing in Naivasha because it doesn’t have an ocean and can’t be set up in the way a sea port is set up,” added Esipisu during a press briefing in Nakuru.