President Uhuru Kenyatta during one of his tours of Mombasa. With him is Governor Hassan Joho (L) and Tourism CS Najib Balala (R). [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
President Uhuru Kenyatta will be in Mombasa on Friday as he intensifies his campaigns ahead of the August 8 election.
Uhuru will inspect development projects in the county initiated by the national government before officiating at the laying of the foundation stone for the Mombasa Free Port.By the time of the publication of this story, it was not clear if Governor Hassan Joho will attend any of the events the president will preside over.Joho is one of Uhuru’s fiercest critiques. The county chief, since 2013, has been at loggerheads with the president who he accuses of sidelining Mombasa County in development.Uhuru expects to turn events on August 8 by winning more votes in Mombasa, a county that wholly voted for opposition chief Raila Odinga in 2013.Jubilee gubernatorial aspirant Suleiman Shahbal said on Wednesday that the President was keen to initiate more development projects and create job opportunities for the youth.“On August 9, 2017 we will lay the foundation stone for Mombasa Free Port and the guest of honour will be President Uhuru Kenyatta,” he said.“We must think outside the box if we are to solve the unemployment rate in Mombasa. Free Port will ensure that investors come to Mombasa, and therefore create over 50,000 jobs annually. We can’t wait any longer, this is the time.”The last time Uhuru was in Mombasa was on May 31, when he officially launched the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) passenger train.Joho was barred from attending the event which he said he had wanted to use to criticise the President and the Jubilee administration over the alleged inflation of the SGR project’s budget by Sh100 billion.