Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho at a past event. Photo: Joho/Facebook.com
Mombasa County director of communications Richard Chacha has cleared the air over Governor Hassan Joho's US trip.This comes after the governor left for the United States on Tuesday, and was expected to land in Washington DC on Wednesday night.Chacha dismissed allegations that the trip was linked to the extradition of the Akasha brothers over drug trafficking claims, saying the governor had gone for a one-week official visit.He said if Joho had been linked to the international drug trafficking syndicate, he would have been denied a visa."The Governor did not face any hurdles in his quest to market the county or present his ideas at the meeting," said Chacha.Mombasa County Education CeC Lewa Tendai Mtana, who is among three other county officials who accompanied Joho on the trip, said officials at the US State Department were impressed with the Governor's 'Mombasa Story' on ending violent extremism, and asked the US Embassy to arrange Congressional meetings with the help of Ambassador Robert Godec."How the Governor presents the Mombasa story has potential to establish a new foreign policy idea in the area of conflict resolution," said Mtana, as quoted by The Star.According to the daily, the team is set to meet Kareem Shora - section chief, office of the secretary, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as well as Russell T Porter - USAid senior coordinator for the secretariat for countering violent extremism.Joho is also scheduled to meet Eric Whitaker, acting deputy assistant secretary, US State Department - the Africa Bureau.
Mombasa is a member of the Strong Cities Network (SCN) - a network of cities across the world to combat violent extremism and promote cohesion.